Gastronomic weekend

October 15, 2007 · Filed Under Italian Food · Comment 

I kissed goodbye to my diet last weekend. The temptations of interesting Italian food just proved too darn strong. It all started on Saturday with a trip to our local rosticceria. There I found that they were doing wild boar cooked in a Barolo sauce. I simply could not resist the temptation and ended up with it and some polenta. It was delicious. The Wild Boar was tender and the sauce was exquisite. My other half and son, who are not partial to wild boar, had to make do with some ‘polpette’ - meatballs, and a courgette flower frittata - a type of thick omelette. I wanted to get them some lasagne and gnocchi alla Romana, but both dishes had sold out. And I managed to get to the rosticceria well before midday. Well, that was Saturday. The best was yet to come.

On Sunday we went to the Paolo Sarpi street fair here in Milan. I will admit to having been a little worried about the size of this fair in view of the ever diminishing number of Italian shops in Via P Sarpi, but luckily, although numbers were down slightly on last year, there were plenty of stands. This is just as well because this annual fair is very well patronized. At 11 on Sunday morning the narrowish street was packed, and I hate the think just how many people would have invaded during the afternoon. Seeing as the weather was fine, I imagine that the crowds would have been on the wrong side of acceptable.

Anyway, we managed to get there early enough to grab one to two goodies. My other half got some wonderful truffle salami and some equally yummy Barolo salami. Then there were the porcini mushrooms, which were immediately turned into a risotto or fried. I ignored the risotto in favour of the fried porcini, which I love. Although I will cook them next time, because I would like these mushrooms to be fried just a little more and with less oil. Then they would be absolutely perfect!

In addition to the salami and mushrooms, we also picked up some Fontina, which is rich and creamy, some delicious long stalked capers, olives and some wine. I picked up some of my favourite honey grappa and a bottle of woodland fruits grappa, which I shall leave until Christmas, by which time it should be perfect. Next we have the Cunesi chocolates which are the most diet ruiningly scrumptious chocolates available in Italy, or so I think.

And finally there was this cheese I had never tried before, but I’m going to devote a whole post to this delicacy because it deserves much more attention.

Yes, I did put on a bit of the weight I had managed to lose, but, what the heck. A little bit of what you feel like does you good. And it did!

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La Rosticceria

September 30, 2007 · Filed Under Life in Italy · 4 Comments 

A ‘rosticceria’ is possibly the Italian equivalent of fast food, only this does not mean hamburgers or pizza and the like, but ‘real’ food.

Rosticceria’s are quite common here, some are average, and some are excellent. They are basically shops which prepare and cook a variety of dishes, both cold and hot, ranging from roasted meats and pasta to vegetables, all of which are kept good and hot. You simply choose what you appeals and it is all nicely packaged for you. Then you just go home and tuck in. Just the thing when you can’t be bothered to cook, or even, possibly, when you have unexpected guests.

These really useful places are open throughout the week until the early evening, and often open on Sunday mornings. You can often book beforehand, if your Italian is up to scratch, but watch out at weekends, because all the best stuff goes pretty early.

Yesterday, my other half paid a visit to our local rosticceria which is about 10 minutes on foot from our house in Milan. On our menu yesterday was: Lasagne, ‘Capriolo’ - or Roe dear/venison, cooked in a red wine sauce, polenta, and lentils. It was all extremely yummy, and the venison was wonderful, as usual.

Now, this particular rosticceria does not do venison every day, but that is part of the fun, the ‘menu’ is quite varied. During the cooler months, read, more or less from now on, venison - Roe, Fallow or Red deer, and wild boar dishes become more common. But even if there is no game, there are often roast chicken (and you can only purchase half a chicken if you are not ravenous), ‘lo stinco di maiale’ - pork shin(very good), and veal dishes. All is very well cooked and ready to eat.

All this good food comes at a price, of course, but for around 30 Euros, three people can eat very well, and seeing as this is only about 10 Euros more than good old MacDonalds, well, the choice between the two places is pretty easy. Try finding similar quality food in a restaurant for around 3o Euros in Milan, and you will be hunting around for rather a long time.

Ah, the rosticceria, yet another great reason for living in Italy. And before anyone says anything, I put my diet on hold yesterday - I mean, I don’t get to eat venison that often, and I love it.

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