Five On Friday : Eating in Italy

Hello and happy Friday!  Another week over and another weekend is about to begin!

I'm joining in with  Amy's (Love Made My Home) Five on Friday linky party again this week.

  

We returned from Italy on Sunday and I have spent the week recovering from jet-lag (it didn't really hit me until Wednesday, but when it did, it hit me HARD!) and digging through my 1000+ photos taken during our 10 day whirlwind trip. 

I picked 10 of my favourite and posted them here:

Picture Postcards from Italy

Today I'm going to share a few more photos of our trip and I have chosen the very important subject of  FOOD!

Italians love their food and just like for the French, mealtime is an integral part of the day, not to be taken lightly or rushed. 

Each meal or snack has its traditions and "rules" and foreigners are expected to live by them as the Italians do or face the dreaded "stink eye" or even the outward embarrassing "guffaw" straight from an Italian's mouth. They just don't hold back on subjects like these!

Number One: Snacking

Italians love their drinks - Spritz, Prosecco, grappa and wine - depending on the time of day.  And these drinks are always served with some type of appetizing cracker or munchie. In fact, Italian grocery stores have whole sections of the store dedicated to these treats. These sections are completely separate from the bread/cracker/cookie section of the store and are usually found in the same aisle as the wine!

These cute little crackers were served to us on the pool deck of our Rome hotel where we happily sipped Prosecco in the mid-day heat. 

Number Two:  Melone e Prosciutto

I ordered this everywhere we went! The melon was perfectly in season and the contrast of the salty meat twirled around it was complete and utter edible bliss!  And just so you know - no matter where you order this plate of delicious-ness, anywhere, all over Italy, big city, small town,  local tavern or fancy restaurant, it ALWAYS costs 9 Euros.  My hubby and I laughed every time we saw this.  All other foods varied greatly in price, but not melone e prosciutto - it was always 9 Euros!!

Number Three: A Picnic

We spent a leisurely morning in Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet.  After visiting the ancient Roman Theatre and taking a peek at Juliet's (fake) balcony, we headed into Eat's (Verona) and enjoyed a half an hour of food shopping with the plan to picnic on the edge of the Adige River.  Eat's is like the foodhall in Harrod's with tons of fresh food choices - meat, cheese, fresh bread, fruit and veg as well as aisles of delicious prepared food, perfect for the eater-on-the-run.  As you can see, we had no problem picking out some yummy lunch- local meat and cheese, freshly baked focaccia, hazelnut yogurt and a bottle of pear juice.  We enjoyed every mouthful overlooking the river and the nearby Roman ruins.  Absolutely perfect memories!

Number Four: Truckstop Food

Italians even do it right at their highway rest stops! We pulled over on the side of the highway between Rome and the Amalfi Coast expecting dry old paninis and a can of Coke for lunch.  Instead we had the choice of more than 10 freshly made hot or cold meals plated up and served by aproned employees eager to describe what they had prepared for us! Kevin had perfectly grilled chicken legs lovingly covered in an olive and tomato sauce with a side of rosemary potatoes.  I craved a salad with lots of veg and a variety of protein and you'll see below, that is exactly what I received! Looks yummy, doesn't it?  And even the floor tiles lived up to the "elegance quotient"-and all of this in a truck-stop in Italy!!

Number Five: Gelato

Yes! Everyday, sometimes twice a day!  It was swelteringly hot everyday we were in Italy but we pushed ourselves to see as much as possible in the time we had. 

Kevin or I would say, "Lets walk over here, check out this church/piazza/view/etc. and then we'll get gelato, okay??"

Okay!!

 My favourite flavours?  Tiramisu, pistachio and lemon.  Absolutely amazing!

Are you hungry yet?  For Italian food, or just Italy itself??

I have so much more to show you from our trip.  I hope to share another post by the end of the weekend -- perhaps about Venice or our dinner in the Tuscan Hills.

In any case, have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Hugs to all,

Bronwyn