Tag Archives: Italy

The Little Sandwiches

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Little french bread sandwich with jamon

One of my favorite discoveries in Europe was these little French bread sandwiches that had either jamón or prosciutto on them.   They were typically just a couple of euros and absolutely delicious.

We first discovered them during a layover in the Madrid airport but we also saw them all over Germany and Italy.

When I had it in Madrid, it was around breakfast time and it seemed like what everyone was eating.   Why can’t we bring this to the USA?  Instead of the Egg McMuffin, why can’t McDonalds serve this?

Five Things Different About Food in Italy

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Montepulcino

Sorry for my absence.  Got married and whisked my bride off to a honeymoon of a week and a half in Italy.  It was AMAZING.  If you’ve never gotten lost in Central Italy, I’d highly recommend it.  Now, I’m back and I’m ready to write a lot.

Being that it was my first time in Italy (and really Europe), my eyes were opened to all kinds of funny differences in our food cultures.  Here are just a few that I noticed…

Espresso & pastries EVERYWHERE.

There’s good espresso and pastries everywhere.  You could go into a gas station on the side of the highway and they probably have an espresso machine on par with a lot of coffee shops in America.  Plus everywhere you go there are folks selling really good pastries.  Do people really eat these every day?  If so, how do they stay so thin?

Give me some of that orange Fanta

I never thought of Fanta orange soda as something that was that big of  a deal.   Their wacky commercials are the kind of thing that get seared into the back of your head but… Yeah, so Fanta is HUGE in Italy and it seemed like in Spain and Germany too where we had brief stops.   You could find it everywhere.  (Hmmm now I’m craving Fanta.)

No fountain soda

Speaking of soda… one thing that you didn’t find very much was fountain soda.   Just about everywhere you went you were served cans or bottles.  No refills for you!  Maybe this is one reason why obesity & diabetes are such a big issue in America. We’re all running around with our Super size me big gulp sodas.

Uncut Pizza

We stopped by a few pizza places and noticed that the pie wasn’t cut into slices.  Nothing too life changing about this.  It was just funny and didn’t match our expectations when the pizza was served to us.   This was actually kind of nice because you cut better control your portions based on how hungry you were.

Gelato… so much better and healthier than Ice cream

Seriously, why don’t we eat more gelato in the states?  It’s so much better than ice cream.  In Italy, I think we had gelato everyday.  It was glorious.  Like ice cream, it comes in all kinds of flavors.   And… it’s actually healthier than ice cream.  It contains less butterfat.

That’s all for now.  Will have more photos and updates soon.

Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk on Dolcetto

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Yesterday, Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk had a pretty rockin’ episode where he dished some knowledge about the grape varietal Dolcetto that’s predominately from Northwestern Italy.

It’s definitely a wine varietal that I need to dive into more.  When you think of Itallian grapes, all too often you just see things like Sangiovese and Chianti.

If you’re a Dolcetto nube like me, this episode is a great place to start.

Have you tried Dolcetto wines? If so what do you think?

Prosciutto – Ham Never Tasted So Good

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If you said the word ham to me, the first thing that would pop into my mind is probably the ham that my mom would put on my sandwiches for my school lunches when I was in elementary school.

Until recently, I never knew the world of ham that was out there.

I recently fell in love with a new type of ham prosciutto, which is Italian for ham.  According to Wikipedia, it’s typically dry-cured and uncooked.  It typically derives from Northern Italy, in regions like Tuscany or Emilia.

The process of making prosciutto can take a while, from 9 to 18 months.  It’s salted, pressed, and hung in a dark and ventilated environment.

LifeInItaly.com writes about how there are actually regional standards in Italy for prosciutto.  If you want to be labeled as “Protected Denomination of Origin or PDO Prosciutto”, you have to meet those standards.  When buying prosciutto, make sure that you look for the brand mark or the log of the local consortium.

And most important… it’s delicious.

So, in additional to whatever various meat products that you’re consuming this Labor Day, go out and try prosciutto.  It’s worth giving it a whirl.

If you’re really looking for something new, look for duck prosciutto.  This is something that I tried for the first time over the weekend and really enjoyed but for $30/pound, it’ll definitely be a rare treat in my life.

Next up, I really wanna try Serrano Ham.

Ferrero Pocket Espresso – Pure Pocket Sized Genius

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Last night, I was introduced to a new piece of genius which apparently you can only get in Italy, Ferrero Pocket Espresso.  It’s kind of like a juice box for espresso.  It’s a very little punch filled with espresso and this tiny little straw.  You could easily throw it in your bag to have it handy for that quick energy boost, whenever you need it.   Can’t wait to hear what my friend thinks of them.