talk, of the small sort
Me: so…
Coworkers 1 & 2: *smile*
Me: what’s your favorite Italian food?
Coworker 1: pasta
Me: nice…any particular type?
Coworker 1: mmm, no, just pasta
Me: *nod and smile* what about you?
Coworker 2: i like pasta
Me: yeah… pasta is pretty awesome.
Coworker 2: what is your favorite Italian food?
Me: well…I’ve basically only had pasta so far. haha, so i guess it’s pasta?
[insert silence here]
Me: so…what other types of food do Italians eat?
Coworker 1: mmm…usually just pasta. and some meat and vegetables.
Me: so is Italian food basically just pizza and pasta?
Coworker 1: yes.
Coworker 2: yes, i think so.
well…i guess the stereotype is true then.
and speaking of the pasta here, personally I think it tastes the same as the pasta that I make at home in the U.S. but who knows, maybe i just haven’t gone to the right places to eat. the pizza tastes pretty similar too (to thin crust pizza).
however, there are three foods here that I find to be noteworthy:
balsamic vinegar(aceto balsamico)- it just tastes different here. and by different i mean a lot better. i don’t really know how to describe it. all i can say is that i could probably do shots of this stuff. and for those who are less willing to drink large amounts of acetic acid, the vinegar goes great with some olive oil and bread (see next item below).
bread (pane) - although the bread itself is not anything super special (besides that fact that it is almost never salted), i love how it is always freshly made. Italians will rarely ever eat super processed/pre-packaged bread (goodbye Wonderbread) and prefer to buy fresh bread (only containing 5 ingredients!) every 1 or 2 days. i really wish that i could buy fresh bread everyday at MIT, but there is no way that i can incorporate a trek over to a nearby bakery into my daily routine.
tomatoes (pomodori)- not only are they pretty cheap (in comparison with those in the states), but you can definitely tell that they come right off the vine. they’re super sweet and are just the right consistency - not too mushy, not too hard (the goldilocks in me is beaming). none of that crap from concentrate.
