On Top of Spaghetti

This post is about food! It was hinted that perhaps we aren’t detailed enough about our food choices and experiences. One area of our budget where are trying to pinch pennies is food. This means that we aren’t super bold with our palates and since we both are somewhat picky, we stick to what we know. In this case, our main staple since arriving to Italy has been pizza. We eat it for at least one meal a day, sometimes two, and on occasion, three times a day. Now, some of you may wonder why we don’t grow bored or tired of it. Well, in Italy, the pizzas are thinner and are made with fresh ingredients. They are much tastier than what we have in America. Also, they tend to put toppings on that we may find odd, like eggs. Mostly we eat Margharita and sausage and onion. Sorrento so far has had the best sausage and onion pizza. We had it in Tuscany as well and it was good but they used red onion and layered it all over the whole pizza. It was a little overwhelming. Also, pizza is easy here. We can usually buy it by the slice and most streets have 2 or 3 shops that sell pizza.  Sorry if that is too boring but remember cheap is key when you don’t have a job!! One pizza costs between 6,50-10,00 euros depending on toppings and since we share that means we are saving quite a few dollars for each meal. Also, most restaurants have a cover or service charge. This can be 1,50-3,00 euros. But this also means that we don’t tip though we might leave a euro on the table for service that was exceptionally good. When you sit to dine, the waiters take your orders and serve you but they don’t check on you or try to converse with you. Which means sometimes we’ll sit for 20 minutes waiting for the waiter to walk by to ask for our check.

Luke and I have also tried gnocchi in San Gimigano which was delicious, spaghetti and lasagna in Sorrento were our favorites, and in Orvieto we had Tortellini al Ragu which was delicious. The sauces here are more salty which we love. We have tried to try foods/drinks that are popular to the region. For instance, in Sorrento they are famous for Lemincello. It is drunk as a digestive. We bought a small bottle at the store and it was very strong. I didn’t care for it but Luke did. After we ate at a restaurant they gave us small complimentary glassfuls. It must have been a higher quality, and was slightly creamy similar to Kahlua, and much better than what we purchased. We also tried red wine in Tuscany. I don’t like wine but Luke thought it was tasty though he didn’t think it was much different than what we have at home. Sadly we did not go to any wine tastings which I am sure would have had a higher quality of wine especially in the Chianti region of Tuscany.

And of course there is always gelato!! We try not to eat it every day but usually fail at that. It is very delicious and creamy. I tend to get rich flavors like chocolate and yesterday for my first serving I had a mascarpone and nutella gelato. It was soo tasty! Luke leans more towards mint which is good as well. We have tried tiramisu and a chocolate torte which were good but we much prefer the gelato. For breakfast, we usually eat a pastry or some fruit we bought at the market. Unfortunately, Italians are not really breakfast eaters. Though while we were in Cinque Terre we got to eat bacon and eggs, which was a good thing since we were hiking between the towns and needed the protein.

Now as far as sea food goes, the options here are plenty. But for those of you who didn’t know, Luke and I do not care for seafood. The only thing we have tried since coming here is calamari, which was good but there were pieces that were very large and very unappetizing.

On to the coffee. No matter what, every time I get a latte or a cappuccino, it is delicious! Always great flavor and I usually put a small packet of brown sugar in it. It beats Starbucks every time! The espresso is good as well but I am a bit wimpy and don’t really care for it. Luke drank espresso with hazelnut in it and then added two packets of sugar so of course it mostly tasted like sugar and not coffee which he really liked. One thing I didn’t really think about until last week is that I have been drinking whole milk in my coffee. Usually I order non-fat but that doesn’t work here, so without thinking, I have been drinking 2-3 servings of whole milk each day!! Add that to the pizza and gelato and hopefully I will still be able to squeeze onto the plane when it’s time to come home!