I interrupt our regularly-scheduled food posts to talk about...well, to still talk about food. I've been in Italy for the past couple of weeks for a study abroad program. Italy is amazing, and the food here is sooo good. And so, I devote this post to some of the things I've been eating/want to eat/can't stop eating. The picture above is of slices of Parmesan cheese. From Parma. Like, this is THE Parmesan cheese from the home of Parmesan cheese. And I bought half a kilo of it and have no idea what to do with it....
Our program is based in Venice, which is heart-achingly beautiful. It seems almost unreal -- it looks so perfect. This is my fourth week here, and sometimes I wake up in the morning and still can't believe I'm living in Venice.
And the food has been just as spectacular. Spectacularly expensive as well, but very good.
Oh, and here's a documentation of me documenting food. Thanks Henry for the photo....
This is cuttlefish spaghetti, a specialty of Venice. The ink from the fish is used to make the sauce, which is why it's black. And delicious.
We visited the Jewish Ghetto in Venice. The word "ghetto" apparently came from Venice.
A Jewish bakery in the Ghetto. I didn't eat there, but I sure need to.
There are tons of open-air fruit markets in Venice (mainly for the tourists) with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Speaking of open-air markets, here's one in Parma:
...of clothing. There was this huge market in Parma center with ham and produce...and tons of cheap clothing. This picture is just of a tiny corner of it.
Here's some famed Parma ham, hanging in a store.
And prosciutto di Parma.
I know croissants are supposed to be a French thing, but man the croissants here are good. This picture is from Florence, but there's this place in Venice we go for breakfast every day that has these amazing Nutella-filled croissants; they're warm and flaky and perfect with a cup of coffee.
And then there's the gelato....Oh, the gelato. It is amazing. Thicker than ice cream, yet also lighter, so the fat from the cream doesn't cling to your tongue.
A gelateria in Florence, with the gelato beautifully presented.
Here's a gelateria in Parma, around 10 at night. The place was packed, and the line went into the street. So of course, I had to try it even though I had just eaten dinner and was stuffed.
And it did not disappoint. I ordered the special "Emilia" flavor, or white chocolate gelato with chocolate syrup swirled in it. This was probably some of the creamiest gelato I've had in Italy. It almost looks like it came from a soft-serve ice cream machine, but it actually came from a container of freshly-churned cream (you could see the ice cream machines going in the back), and scooped with a spatula and teased into pyramid on top of the cone. Yum. (Note: photo has been carefully cropped to cut out all the Italians looking at the random Asian girl taking pictures of her ice cream.)
Ciao,
Caroline