Eating in Italy - Varenna

Where to begin...google traditional Italian meals and you'll read about the bread, antipasti, first course pasta dish, second course meat/fish dish, the vegetable dish, the dessert, the coffee and liquor that follow with the fruit and cheese...it's a whole lotta food. And meals last for hours. You pay a lot at restaurants, but you can stay as long as you want. Do Italians eat like this every day? I highly doubt it, and looking at most of their trim frames, I would put money on it that they don't. But the mysteries of the full Italian meal were revealed to me because Kathy is an amateur foodie and made reservations for our little group at a restaurant recommended in the Rick Steves' book and by the hotel. At 7pm, the owner, waiter, and chef came to pick us up in his minivan. Up the hillside, through winding narrow streets he drove us the 15 minutes to his restaurant. His menu included a recommended pre-set meal with each course. It sounded great and was made up of dishes unique to the Lombardian region: a duck, ham, and Gorgonzola patte/spread tray; hams, salami, cured dried beef, and speck; a tray of pickled vegetables (the mini red pepper stuffed with cheese and honey was the best); risotto with porcini mushrooms and apples (my favorite); pasta with ham and cheese; and then either veal or fish (I got the veal and loved it, but tried the fish and wish I had gotten it). We ordered at 7:30. We left the restaurant at 11.

Clockwise from left: Melanie, Karen, Dana, Me, Ann, Cathy

pate tray

mixed pickled vegetables: mushrooms, onions, mini peppers stuffed with cheese and honey, pickled peppers and cucumbers, and sardines wrapped in cucumber

cured meats

risotto with porchini mushrooms and apples

pasta with cheese and ham (almost like carbonara)

the fish, caught in the lake

veal with ham and potatoes in a wine-gravy

After sleeping in the next day and missing breakfast, I needed a good lunch before my hike. I chose a pizza with that dried, cured beef, arugula, and Parmesan. :)

For dinner, three large ravioli stuffed with grouper, shrimp, and covered in an arugula and almond pesto and a side of broccoli. Um, WOW!

The lake fish, sardines, other seafood, and pesto of northern Italy (including Venice) is superb. It was an adventure every day that I wouldn't mind experiencing all over again!

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