Foodtopia Moments

Pranzo (lunch) today was very easy. We had some roasted peppers leftover, and a few tomatoes. We basically raided the fridge for leftover veggies and mozzarella cheese, and had them over pannini (small rolls). Our neighbor also gave us some melanzane ripieno (stuffed eggplant) that she roasted. The aroma of the eggplant as they were cooking was alluring, and the taste was delicious. She used pieces of the inside of the eggplant, as well as tuna, bread, cheese, capers, and tomatoes in the stuffing. It was delicious. 

68 Days of Summer – Days 35 and 36 – Yep, Still Banking

Well the summer flew past the halfway point with lightning speed. My job resumes in a little more than a month, but in the meantime my work here in Italy is not complete. Yesterday I headed to the bank twice and still another visit is needed tomorrow just to get the account fully setup. I do officially have an account open, just not all of the bill paying setup. The next time anyone reading this feels that their American bank is slow, relax. You have no idea what slow banking is.

We also had a great visit last night from good family friend Antonio Monaco, his moglie (wife) Anna and their bambina (baby girl) Doris, who is a little over five-months-old.  We had a great time over pizza, Peroni, and a long passiagiatta (evening stroll).  It was cute when Doris discovered that one of the gifts we gave them lights up and plays music. Her eyes got as wide as saucers.

Today was supposed to be a beach day, but when I got outside this morning, the sky was cloudy, and it rained for the first couple of hours of the morning. Then it was way too windy and cold, so I will have to go another day. We ended up eating pane e pomodori (bread and tomatoes) for pranzo (lunch) and headed out tonight to Ristorante Netti for cena (dinner). Normally, we would have pizza there, but I did not want to fill up on carbs this late, so I went with an order of cozze al vino bianco (mussels in white wine). Mom had a delicious dish of taglietelle Bolognese (pasta with meat sauce).

68 Days of Summer – Day 34 – Banking and a Birthday

Mom, Zia and I headed out to San Severo today to try and handle some banking. But, just like all business in Italy, there are going to be several hoops lined up for us to jump through before they will give us access to my father’s account (the donkey delivering news of his death more than five years ago recently arrived in San Severo).  Though, the drive to San Severo is a beautiful one, passing through some of the richest farmland in the world. The photos I took while driving on a farm road do not do the drive justice.

Tonight we celebrated my cousin Elio’s (from The Netherlands) birthday. The actual day is August 4, but my Dutch family members are returning to The Netherlands tomorrow morning so we celebrated early. Hopefully we will see them again next summer either here or in The Netherlands. We had pizza from Parco del Mare drinks to toast his compleano (birthday). 

Foodtopia Moments

To celebrate my Dutch Cousin Elio’s birthday, we had pizza tonight from Parco del Mare. For the first time this summer, I ordered a pizza capriciossa, which had carcioffi (artichokes), funghi (mushrooms), and prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) on a margarita pizza. The forno a legna (wood fired oven) works wonders on the toppings without overcooking them.

68 Days of Summer – Day 33 – Business, Italian Style

Me with my Codice Fiscale

I’m sort of officially an Italian. No not a dual-citizen, yet. That determination will have to wait until March of 2015, but I do now have a Codice Fiscale, which is necessary to do banking and any major purchasing in Italy. Surprisingly, it was easy to obtain.

We decided to head to a bank in the main part of Campomarino today, thinking it was the right bank. We were wrong, it was a letter off (Carim vs Carime). Either way, I was trying to open an account in my name to pay bills over here. For years, we’ve used my father’s account, but it is time to get one of my own. Once we got to the bank, we needed to wait for the representative who handles accounts to get back from a café (coffee) break. He informed me about the Codice Fiscale so once I obtained one, I went back to open an account. After more than an hour and a half, I will need to go back on Wednesday. When I asked why, he said because they do not have any accounts there (as far as I could understand). But come Wednesday, they will begin to automatically handle the payment of our bills here, except property tax, thus making things a bit easier.

Two other things were handled today. After dinner and a short rest, we headed over to Euronics today. It’s a Best Buy-type store. Our big purchase was a new, 32” Panasonic TV. Our 9-year-old satellite has been working better this year than it has in a long time, and we now get BBC World News, Euronews, Al Jazeera International, and France 24 in English. The most “American” of the channels thus far is France 24. But I can hook my iPod into the TV, so that is good for us. The other purchase was a bug zapper for all of the mosquitoes. We are long overdue in getting one. Citronella candles only last so long. 

Foodtopia Moments

We had limited time for lunch today, but I managed to whip up something delicious. I took a cipolla (onion), pomodorini (little tomatoes), basilico (basil), patate (potatoes – three fingerling), and zucchini chopped them all into small cubes, and cooked them in some olio di olive (olive oil). Then I boiled some ditalini pasta, and once they were cooked and drained, I added them to the veggies. The result was light and delicious. For a meat, I used a feta di tachino (turkey cutlet) and cooked it in olive oil and lemon juice over a bed of rosemary. Basically the turkey did not directly hit the pan, but kind of steamed in the rosemary, lemon juice and olive oil. Add in a little sale marino (sea salt), and the result was delicious bite after bite.

68 Days of Summer – Day 32 – On the Road Again

Mom arrived this morning right on schedule, and we picked up our Volkswagon Golf compact wagon (see 4-door hatchback) for our six-hour journey. There was no traffic today, which would’ve been surprising to me considering we hugged all of the major Adriatic beach towns except it was raining most of our drive.

Once we got back, we relaxed, mom napped, and we managed to get some forno a legna (wood fired oven) pizza from Parco del Mare, a restaurant located right at the entrance to the beach. The place boasts a special; one margarita pizza and a half liter of wine for five Euros. Not a bad deal for delicious pizza. He definitely changed his crust from last year,  because it has so much more flavor. It went from being cheap and close to my house, to now being those things and good.

68 Days of Summer – Day 31 – Milano Bound

Mom is arriving in Milan tomorrow morning, so I came up the night before. I began my day at 7 a.m., carrying my 25 pound overnight backpack on a 30 minute walk to the train station. I managed to see Campomarino as it was just waking up. The Piazzas were empty, as were the streets. The butchers and bakers were just opening their gates to the public. The farmer’s market was still hopping. I had a little bit of a wait at the train station, but I was in Termoli with about 30 minutes to spare before my six-hour train to Milan. Thankfully I had splurged the extra 30 Euros for first class and for a direct train with no switching. It was funny on the train at about 1 p.m. Like clockwork, passengers began rummaging through their bags and pulled out snacks, Panini (sandwiches), and patatine (potato chips). The citizens of the Italy have a feeding schedule, and they stick to it.

Once I got to Milan, I made the decision to do some sightseeing before going to the hotel, which would’ve set me back two hours in my sightseeing efforts. It also meant doing all of my walking today with a weight on my back. Just more exercise and a definite savings in time.

I managed to see the Duomo inside and out, as well as walking through the fortezza (fort). With all due respect to the Milanese, this city should never make it onto someone’s bucket list. It is a nice city for locals, but lacks the draw, history and feel of more interesting cities like Rome, Florence and Venice.  The Duomo here is very nice to see. It has a gothic style, and inside it is very dark and impressive. The fort was an interesting sight as well, and the grounds behind the fort serve the Milanese as a sort of Central Park with activities for kids and adults like running tracks, basketball courts, and playgrounds. There is also a large amount of open green space, which attracted several people with Frisbees.

Looking for a restaurant was not as simple as I would’ve thought. I was searching for about an hour with no luck. Everything I saw was just bars with burger menus, quick service pizza places, and steak houses (I’m overly cautious with European beef – see Mad Cow Disease). So I went back to the airport, and I ate dinner at the hotel bar at the Sheraton, where I will be staying with Mom on August 20. Then I made my way to the Holiday Inn Express, grabbed a gin and tonic at the bar, and headed off to bed. Tomorrow is a long drive back to Campomarino.

Foodtopia Moments

Trying to have no refined carbs for pranzo (lunch), I needed to find a suitable pasta substitute to have my leftover tonno e caperi (tuna and capers) sauce. Enter, diced zucchini, which made a delicious supplante (substitute). I cooked the zucchini in a small amount of olive oil, then added the leftover sauce. The zucchini took on the flavor of the sauce, and complemented it perfectly. I think zucchini might just be my go to substitute for pasta at this point.  

68 Days of Summer – Day 30 – Odds and Ends

The Friday market was back in town today, so I made it a point to walk from end to end and back. Before 1:30 in the afternoon, I had 10,000 steps in, and was making today a non-carb pranzo (lunch) and cena (dinner). Today I took care of sweeping the place in and out, hooking up our blue light, which illuminates the parking lot side of our building for the neighborhood to see. Colored lights were all the rage here about 10 years ago, and some of us have kept it going. I also prepped my overnight bag. Tomorrow I’m training it back to Milan and the Holiday Inn Express in anticipation of Mom’s arrival on Sunday. Then it is a long drive back to Campomarino.

I managed to get a photo from the road of our building. It’s the one with the blue accents. Zia’s place is right above the Bar on the corner. My place can’t be seen from this angle, but it is down the driveway from the Bar.

Foodtopia Moments

Along with the religious part of the Festa de Santa Cristina comes the festival food and flea market. There are people roasting corn on the cob, various meats sausages and different kinds of nuts. People were stopping for crepes with Nutella, as well as licorice candy. I decided I was going to try a couple of things, as well as eat a favorite sandwich of mine.

One of the first things I tried was a delicacy I’ve seen for years, but never knew exactly what it was. Strictly old people approach the lemon adorned push cart and ask for a small helping of the local favorite from a time gone by. What I’m talking about is the meat and fat from around the jaw of a cow. In Bizarre Food’s fashion, I asked the local merchant to try a sample, which he, wrongfully, did not think I would enjoy. First, he slices the meat moderately thin, about as thick as a slice of Oscar Meyer bologna. Then he salts the meat and squeezes fresh lemon juice over it. The taste is a smoky, tart and salty all in one, with a decent consistency throughout.

Next, I picked up a piece of pampanella, which is spicy roast pork. It might be the only food here that is actually piccante (spicy) when they say so. I waited until I got home to eat the pampanella due to the fact that there is a lot of fat to trim (almost half was fat that some people eat, not me). I then headed for the torcinello sausage guys. There were quite a few people grilling and selling the local favorite, which is basically a piece of liver with some parsley wrapped in intestinal tubing, not stuffed. When grilled, the tubing snaps when you chew it, unleashing a distinct meat flavor.

Lastly, I hit up the stand with the panino kebab (kebab meat sandwich). It is one of my favorite sandwiches in Europe as many EU nations have adopted the Turkish inspired dish. There were no less than a dozen stands to choose from, and each one offered toppings that ranged from lettuce to roasted peppers to seasoned eggplant.

While I ordered the kebab sandwich, the place was just dishing up an batch of French fries. I’m not sure why, but the fries in Europe are different. They stay consistently textured even when they’ve been out of the fryer for a little while. They also have a lot of good sauces to put on them.  Along with my sandwich and fries, I tried a Peroni Chill, Italy’s version of a shandy. It was delicious, but mostly tasted like lemonade.  

68 Days of Summer – Day 29 – La Festa di Santa Cristina

As my summer zooms toward the halfway point, with another marathon sprint of a school year looming in the not too distant future, I fully enjoyed all that my town offered today. I made my way downtown in the morning for a bite to eat for breakfast (zucchini pizza). Then I went to the beach, where I met my Dutch cousins and spent time under the sun and in the Adriatic with them. The water this year is much clearer than in the past, not that it was ever Jersey shore murky.

After pranzo (lunch) with Zia, I did some laundry, read a little and relaxed as I prepared to walk to Campomarino sopra (the part of town on the hillside). Today is the Festa di Santa Cristina, and all over Italy, little towns like ours are celebrating in their own way. By heading up to the town by foot, I surpassed my step goal of 20,000, reaching more than 21,200.

Walking around the closed streets of the festival, one can get a real sense of life for the locals. In the beach area where I live in the summer, people are from all over Italy and Europe, and just vacationing here. When I head up the main part of town, that’s where you find the people who live here year round.  

As I was sitting the main piazza (square) and admiring one of the most serene vistas overlooking the local farmland and the Adriatic, I heard a local band approaching. I went to see where they were, and marching down the antique streets, past the vista on their way to the piazza della chiesa (church square) was a full marching band. As they approached, they made sure to stop and serenade the locals while standing under the watchful eye of a rendering of Santa Cristina. Then the band serenaded the procession as the townspeople, led by their church priest, made their way, along with a Santa Cristina statue, through the narrow streets of Campomarino. They wound past the local murales (murals), and attracted onlookers who peeked out their windows as the procession passed by.

 After the procession passed by the center of town, I decided to make my way into the festival area, and partake in two of my favorite pastimes; eating and shopping for watches. I managed to pick up five more watches, some of which are likely gifts. I also managed to eat some food that would make Rick Steves jealous, but might make Andrew Zimmern yawn.

Foodtopia Moments

For pranzo (lunch) Zia and I had a fish meal. I got up early this morning to cook the tonno e caperi (tuna fish and capers along with tomatoes) sauce. Then we had gamberi (shrimp) scampi, cozze al vino bianco (mussels in white wine sauce from Ristorante Netti), salmone con rosamarino e limone al forno (baked salmon with rosemary and lemon), and frittura di merluzzo (fried cod). We also had some zucchini and onions as a vegetable. For dessert, we had a sweet melone giallo (canary melon).

While I was out with my cousins from The Netherlands tonight, they treated me to a gelato. I had three flavors of gelato in my sundae: pistachio, cassata Siciliana, and Malaga (which was like rum raison). 

68 Days of Summer – Day 28 – Fish Day

It seems that every year that we’ve been coming here, at some point Zia starts craving a grande pesci pranzo (big fish lunch).  In the past, my father would head to her condo and the two of them would talk and eat for hours (mostly talk, but lots of eat). Lately, I’ve tried to appease her cravings, and today was that day. I woke up early to start cooking and cleaning fish, like taking the heads off of the shrimp. Then I headed to the farmers market and bakery before returning to prep all the fish.

Dopo pranzo (after lunch), I made it to the beach for a couple of hours, running into my cousins from The Netherlands. Later on, we all hit the center of town, stopping at the arcade, and then heading out for gelato. The streets were pretty hopping tonight. People were waiting patiently for their crepes with Nutella, and I saw there was a new watch salesman on the street. He started off at 20 Euros per watch, and I talked him down to two for 26 Euros. Only one is for me, so when I get back Bova can pick out which one he wants. Both are nice and heavy, seeming like better quality than in the past.

I also put in 19,250 steps for the day, with a goal of 20,000 for tomorrow.

Foodtopia Moments

The other morning I roasted a mix of veggies that included pepperoni rossi (red peppers), patate (potatoes), cipolla (onions), basilica (basil), zucchini, melanzane (eggplant), and pomodorini (small tomatoes). I was sure to cook a lot of it so that I could use it different ways. Today, I used the mix at lunch over fresh pasta, and tonight I used the same mix with buffalo mozzarella over top of a panino (small roll). 

68 Days of Summer – Day 27 – And the Rain Continued

Yesterday’s post spoke of rain, which it did all morning. Today, though, the rain only threatened the morning before arriving with thunder and lightning in the early afternoon. In between the raindrops of yesterday and today, I managed to take a 4 miles or so walk up to the main part of Campomarino, which is on the hillside overlooking the Adriatic coast. When you get to the top of the hill, it is another world. Instead of imported palm trees, there are olive trees. Instead of sand and pine trees, there are soil and tomato plants. And instead of a sea of condominiums, there is an ocean of rich farmland being utilized to support the nation.

Tonight, since the rain has left around 7, my biggest accomplishment has been drinking with my Dutch cousin Mariella and her husband Nic. I knocked back a couple of Keglovich (from Czech Republic) vodkas and tropical juice cocktails. It also happens to be a cold night, and I’ve been in a jacket while outside since 5 p.m.

Foodtopia Moments

For pranzo (lunch), I scarfed down an Italian 5-buck lunch (5 Euros actually – so like a $6.50 lunch) of cozze al vino bianco (mussels in white wine sauce). Being a seaside town where anyone can go out to the offshore rocks in the morning and pick free mussels, the delicacy is cheap in this area. And they are melt in your mouth delicious.  

68 Days of Summer – Day 26 – Cloudy and Wet

I had a feeling rain was due sometime, and it arrived today. There was no fanfare, no lightning or thunder, just a drizzle at times and a pesky downpour others. Then it “cleared” up to just an overcast, cloudy day. Needless to say, the beach was out, and I did not feel like exercising in the rain. Maybe a walk later on is in the cards.

Ristorante Netti, my favorite restaurant in Lido di Campomarino, was my only stop today on my short bike ride following the end of rain. I picked up some cozze al vino bianco (mussels in white wine sauce) and pollo alla spiedina (rotisserie chicken). While I was there I noticed that they now have a hamburger and hot dog menu. I’ve seen three other places featuring hot dogs this summer, so maybe they are en vogue. That American style menu took the place of the Choco Kebab, which arrived everywhere around here in 2010, and basically was a gyro meat shaped piece of chocolate that they would shave pieces off of and put them in a crepe. Lots of production value for a chocolate filled crepe. 

Foodtopia Moments

Zia and I were invited for pranzo to her friend Jeannette’s condo for dinner. She made a delicious pasta al forno (baked penne), and for seconds we had sweet Italian sausage and veggies. We also
had a type of sausage wrapped in pancetta (Italian bacon) that was a first for me.

Tonight during my walk, I got a little hungry, and I stopped at Lo Spuntino, which is my favorite place to get pizza d’asporto (pizza to go). I picked up one slice with tomato sauce, onions, and some cheese. The other piece was white with pepperoni verde (green peppers), salsiccia piccante (spicy sausage) and mozzarella cheese. The dough they use is delicious, made with locally produced flour. 

68 Days of Summer – Day 25 – Lots of Walking

When I woke up this morning, I was determined to exercise today. I started off the morning with a long walk past the lungomare (beach clubs), and over to the farmer’s market. As I made my way back to the condo, I remembered why I usually skip the beach on weekends, tourists. The Sunday crowd was arriving in droves. So I came home, cooked some veggies for tomorrow, and did some light reading (currently reading “The Men Who Would Be King: The story of DreamWorks”).

For pranzo (lunch), Zia and I were invited to have lunch with her lifelong friend Jeannette, who lives upstairs in our building. She made a delicious Italian lunch, and we stayed and talked for hours.

After lunch, I helped Zia dust the top of her cabinets, then decided to exercise more. On my walk tonight alone, I put in nearly 8,000 steps for a total of 17,500 steps for the day (8.6 miles). The nice thing about a twilight walk is that you see some of the truest lives of the locals. Passing through the town, I noticed the old ladies sweeping their entries, the 8:30 ringing of the church bells signaling the end of another mass, the kids still in their bathing suits getting cranky and pulling on their parents’ arms, and the teens playing beach volleyball at the edge of the Adriatic with a beautiful tramonte (sunset) as their backdrop.

I wound my way through town and made it all the way to our last beach club area before the sun finally hid for the night. I managed to snap a photo of Termoli in the distance from that last point before grabbing a couple of slices of pizza and heading home for the evening.

68 Day of Summer – Day 24 – I Hit the Beach

Sometimes one must make sacrifices. Today, I took the TV that was my father’s birthday gift to me when I turned 26, and I passed it on to Zia. Her set blew out this week after nearly 25 years of service. So I am without TV, which is not a bad thing considering I only had a few clear channels to watch anyway, with others coming and going depending literally on which way the wind blew. When mom gets here, we’ll use the rental car to go and get a new TV for the next 12 years.

I woke up late this morning after taking a midnight passagiatta (evening stroll) to the lungomare (beach block) for a night of music and dance crews yesterday. I also had my first gelato for the summer, opting for marscapone with fig, and cannoli flavors.

This morning flew by, but I did manage to get my bike fixed and go for a ride before lunch.  I also got but by a little dog, but it left only a bruise, no broken skin. I was all set to go for a long walk this afternoon to the higher elevation part of town when my cousin called and told me he would be here in an hour or so.

Change of plans. I scrapped the walk and went to the beach instead. It was nice how they had the path to the beach all paved over this year. No more sand to trudge through the pine forest. The free beach is much smaller this year, but I still easily found a spot.

When I got back to the condo in order to host my cousin Vincenzo and his wife, Mariella, I saw that my family from The Netherlands had also arrived so it was a very fun night. I went for a walk back to the beach with Vincenzo and Mariella and we saw a beautiful tramonte (sunset).

When we got back to the condo, my Aunt Dini, cousin Mariella and her husband Nic, and their youngest son Elio stopped by the house to catch up. It has been two years since they were here. Sadly they are here to meet with a realtor to sell their condo. If anyone reading this wants a one bedroom condo at the beach in Italy, with a large balcony big enough to use for dining and sleeping, it is available for only 50,000 euros. And I believe they will be leaving it fully furnished.