When in Rome, as they say, do as the Romans do. In this case, that means eating excellent Italian food and drinking excellent Italian beverages.
I’ve been known to say now and again on this here Italy Travel Guide that it’s all but mandatory (in my opinion, anyway) that you have gelato every day during your Italian vacation. I feel completely guilt-free making - and living by - this recommendation, because Italian gelato is far less fattening than American ice cream. Besides, you’re inevitably going to be doing a ton of walking - in many cases far more than you do at home - so it balances out. At least that’s what I tell myself.
So far, I have not made it to Sicily. But something tells me that when I do, I’m going to have to either cut back on the amount of gelato I consume or I’m going to have to go without the gelato accompaniment Sara talks about here - gelato in a brioche.
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After posting the Limoncello Recipe a couple months ago, I was inspired to make some for the members of my Italian conversation group. And I figured that while I was at it, I’d document the process for you, the Italy Logue reader! So take this post in tandem with the post about with the recipe for limoncello, so you can see how the stuff develops.
This is a photo of the ingredients necessary to make limoncello - a large jar with a tight-sealing lid, grain alcohol, a vegetable peeler and a pile of lemons. I made a double batch, so I had 16 big lemons in that bowl, all thoroughly washed.
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A gal I know who happens to have unhappy reactions in her stomach every time she eats garlic was wary about a trip she had coming up in Italy. She asked, “Will I be able to find anything that isn’t covered in garlic?” A mutual friend suggested she try everyone’s favorite bean defense (which she glowingly reported worked like a charm), but when she returned from Italy she said that she’d been surprised at how little garlic she actually found in the food. Little did she know, she was in Italy in the midst of the Garlic Wars.
Many Italian chefs still adore and use garlic, but some Italian chefs these days are eschewing it. But they’re not stopping with just eliminating it from their own kitchens:
Critics have started a ferocious campaign for garlic-free dining, and the debate has moved out of culinary circles. Corriere della Sera, Italy’s top daily, devoted a page to the matter this week, listing celebrities in each camp under the headline: “The Crusade of Garlic Enemies.”
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Summer in my house means that I’m making gelato every week out of the fresh fruit available at our locals farmer’s market. It’s a real treat, and there is absolutely nothing like bringing home fresh strawberries in the morning and turning them into ice cream that afternoon. I’ll have to post my tried-and-true recipe for strawberry gelato here at some point, especially as it requires zero cooking whatsoever (that’s part of what makes it such a treat).
It’s fresh fruit season in Italy, too, and two bloggers I read have written about different fruits lately. Deirdré posted pictures of cherries and plums, and KC posted pictures of figs.
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I’m not much of a cook - I leave that to the husband, who actually enjoys it (I don’t) - but there are a few things which I like to make. Ice cream is one of them, and I’ve got a batch of strawberry gelato waiting to go into the ice cream maker as we speak. There’s nothing quite like fresh berries being turned into ice cream the same day that they were picked! Another thing I enjoyed making the two times I’ve done it was limoncello, that heady and potent lemon-flavored liqueur popular throughout primarily southern Italy. It’s a fantastic summertime dessert drink and is exceptionally easy to make. I’ll include the recipe I’ve used at the bottom of this post - I got it from the woman I consider to be the mother of the Italian community in Portland, so I think it’s pretty authentic. The nice weather lately has got me thinking it’s time to make another batch.
The other thing that got me thinking about the goodness of lemons was this article about two different kinds of lemons - Amalfitano and Siciliano. The former is from the Amalfi Coast and the latter, not surprisingly, is from Sicily. I’m not sure I’d be able to tell a difference, but maybe if I spent enough time around them I would. At any rate, there’s a recipe for a lemon pasta on that page which I might have to convince the husband to try, if for no other reason than we’re going to have to figure out something to do with all the lemons we’ll have lying around if I make limoncello.
>> Be sure to check out this limoncello recipe in pictures, too!
Limoncello di Lucia
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What’s the best way to combine the very Italian love of not-always-good-for-you food (are you listening, carbs?) with the also very Italian love of looking younger than your age? Why, the anti-wrinkle pizza, of course.
A nutritionist in Italy has created what he’s calling an “anti-wrinkle” pizza which, thanks to its ingredients, gives an added anti-oxidant boost to the body thereby helping to keep wrinkles at bay. This fancy new pizza is made with wholemeal flour, for starters, and also has several toppings which are high in magnesium and iron - including garlic, basil, …
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I wouldn’t think these dancing vegetables and hunks of cheese would do much to sell Parmigiano Reggiano, but obviously someone thinks they’d work.
The annoying thing is that even though I think the ads are silly, I’ve found myself singing the stupid jingle without even realizing it. You are hereby warned.
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As I mentioned yesterday, each summer I begin my Saturdays at my local farmer’s market, and during most of the early summer (and sometimes longer if I’m lucky) my favorite stand has the biggest and sweetest strawberries I’ve ever tasted. The trouble with strawberries is that they spoil so quickly, so I try to transform them into strawberry gelato by Saturday afternoon.
This is a recipe I got from a gelato class which was taught by the owner of Portland’s best gelato shop, Mio Gelato (the best gelato outside Italy). I’ve modified it, mainly because I’m lazy, but it still turns out brilliantly. The best part is that there is no cooking necessary, so it’s easy to whip this up even in hot weather when you don’t feel like going near the stove. My modifications are underneath the recipe as I first learned it.
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Regular readers might think I’m overdoing it a bit with the constant posts about how friggin’ hot it’s going to be in Italy this summer, but I can’t help it - it’s what I’m reading and hearing. And really, you don’t even have to wait until August to feel the heat. It’s apparently already stifling just about everywhere. So, in addition to my previous ways to stay cool this summer, I’d like to introduce you to two cold beverages (courtesy of Shelley of At Home in Rome) you can enjoy
…
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Picture, if you will, a hot summer day in Rome. You’re a tourist, and you’re visiting Rome’s big sights, many of which are outdoors or require long waits in outdoor lines, with little to no protection from the rays of the oppressive sun. Perhaps you’ve chosen to visit the Roman Forum at midday. Perhaps you’ve not gotten up at the crack of dawn to get an early entry to the Vatican Museum. Perhaps you don’t find yourself close enough to those lovely burbling fountains when you need them. Whatever your situation, you are going to be thirsty - and that’s where the Aqua Store comes in.
Situated in the Galleria Centrale of Rome’s Termini train station, the Aqua Store, opened in 1999, is an entire shop dedicated to that most humble of beverages - water. The idea behind the store is that there are many different types of waters, and they are useful for different kinds of people at different times in their day or life. When you go into the Aqua Store, you are confronted with a dazzling array of choices in modern refrigerated containers, but don’t be overwhelmed. A handy touch-screen questionnaire (in Italian, mi dispiace, but I imagine you can find either an employee or a new Roman friend to help you translate) will help you choose the right water for you - you simply answer a series of questions, and out pops a recommendation.
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