The best thing I ever ate -Italy
May 17th, 2010, 09:42 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The best thing I ever ate -Italy
I love watching "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network, and my husband and I started talking about all the great meals we've had in Europe. What is the best thing you ever at in Italy? I will start - the mixed seafood appetizer at Vecchia Roma in Rome!
May 17th, 2010, 10:14 AM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 363
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
..was also one of the most unusual. At Osteria Francescana in Modena I had a foie gras popsicle. It was foie gras wrapped around a center of 40 year old balsamic vinegar and rolled in toasted hazelnuts and almonds, served on a popsicle stick. But there are a lot of close seconds.
May 17th, 2010, 10:28 AM
#4
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,899
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
midnightsun, WOW, that sounds truly fabulous!
I could write for days about all of the best things I have eaten over the course of 18 visits and 36 years of visiting Italy. There are too many fabulous things to list and I have to mention more than one:
Swordfish freshly caught and roasted on an outdoor grill at our beach side hotel in Taormina in 1978.
Fresh porcini mushrooms grilled and served with olive oil and garlic in Rome in 2008 - simple and excellent! They were over 30 bucks an order and we had two, one for dessert!
A simple stew made of zucca and plum tomatoes with olive oil eaten at a picnic table at a rural farmhouse in Tuscany on our last trip there in fall of 2008.
I could write for days about all of the best things I have eaten over the course of 18 visits and 36 years of visiting Italy. There are too many fabulous things to list and I have to mention more than one:
Swordfish freshly caught and roasted on an outdoor grill at our beach side hotel in Taormina in 1978.
Fresh porcini mushrooms grilled and served with olive oil and garlic in Rome in 2008 - simple and excellent! They were over 30 bucks an order and we had two, one for dessert!
A simple stew made of zucca and plum tomatoes with olive oil eaten at a picnic table at a rural farmhouse in Tuscany on our last trip there in fall of 2008.
May 17th, 2010, 12:34 PM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,513
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It was in two different Agriturismi. One in San Gregorio Magno and one in Menfi. I can still remember every luscious bite of every morsel of the whole meal. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
May 17th, 2010, 02:00 PM
#11
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,076
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Good lord, where do I begin?
Our boat-tour captain took us to a private beach on the Amalfi Coast and served us about a 10-course, gut-busting lunch once. The main course was his catch of the day, sliced and drenched in hand-squeezed lemon juice with just a pinch of salt and some cracked pepper. Amazingly fresh.
Also of note on that same table: the best pineapple I've ever tasted in my life, and serve-yourself jugs of local homemade limoncello.
Our boat-tour captain took us to a private beach on the Amalfi Coast and served us about a 10-course, gut-busting lunch once. The main course was his catch of the day, sliced and drenched in hand-squeezed lemon juice with just a pinch of salt and some cracked pepper. Amazingly fresh.
Also of note on that same table: the best pineapple I've ever tasted in my life, and serve-yourself jugs of local homemade limoncello.
May 17th, 2010, 03:25 PM
#12
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mr_go, you would happen to have the name of that boat-tour captain?! It sound divine and something I would love to do in 2012!
tough call, but I would say the artichoke heart and egg dish at Sostanza in Florence
tough call, but I would say the artichoke heart and egg dish at Sostanza in Florence
May 18th, 2010, 12:20 PM
#16
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A pesto dish from a hillside restaurant in one of the towns on the Cinque Terre in 1999. I still think about it.
Too bad at that stage of life I didn't write anything down so I don't know which of the towns or the name of the restaurant.
I also had a fantastic meal at the Hosteria Romano in Rome just this last December. From the appetizers to the dessert and coffee it was soooo good. And our charming waiter (an older gentleman that looked like he could have been a boxer in his younger years) served everything with a flourish and a flirt which made the experience even better.
Too bad at that stage of life I didn't write anything down so I don't know which of the towns or the name of the restaurant.
I also had a fantastic meal at the Hosteria Romano in Rome just this last December. From the appetizers to the dessert and coffee it was soooo good. And our charming waiter (an older gentleman that looked like he could have been a boxer in his younger years) served everything with a flourish and a flirt which made the experience even better.
May 18th, 2010, 12:24 PM
#17
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,004
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I was shown the raw porcino head before it was sauted in butter and thyme. This at Il Rossellino in Pienza, having seats for less than twenty. It was all that was on my plate as entre. Sensational.
May 18th, 2010, 12:37 PM
#18
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,741
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sadly, the restaurant is now closed. But we had the most incredible meal at Semidivino in Florence in 2007.
The best was little pasta pockets filled with a piece of fresh pear and a chunk of gorgonzola cheese. It was then served over a balsamic cream sauce and toasted pine nuts were tossed over it. OMG! My mouth is watering...
Good thread!
The best was little pasta pockets filled with a piece of fresh pear and a chunk of gorgonzola cheese. It was then served over a balsamic cream sauce and toasted pine nuts were tossed over it. OMG! My mouth is watering...
Good thread!
May 18th, 2010, 01:37 PM
#20
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 45,322
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To many meals to just zero in on one. In fact the only meal in Italy I ever thought was disgusting and couldn't eat was a seafood salad smothered in mayonaisse and drowned in olive oil, lol. And the waiter was disgusted with me and did not take the price off our bill even though I ordered other items. Not a bad record considering all the food I have eaten in Italy however.
I am so fortunate as due to knowing so many people in Italy I have to say that the meals I most remember are the home cooked meals. I am a good cook but good grief, the Italians really are usually over the top fantastic cooks.
I am so fortunate as due to knowing so many people in Italy I have to say that the meals I most remember are the home cooked meals. I am a good cook but good grief, the Italians really are usually over the top fantastic cooks.
