Let's Talk Cibo

I’ve had a number of new dishes since I’ve been here, and enough pasta to create a new stomach lining.  In the States (at least in my household), pasta dishes always involve garlic and a lot of some herb, generally basil.  The dishes I’ve had here have been more basic than that; really just a cooked noodle and a tomato sauce.  And obviously topped with Parmeggiano Reggiano.  A popular dish in Reggio Emilia is tortelli, which is a rectangular noodle (similar to ravioli) stuffed with either spinach (tortelli verdi) or pumpkin (zucca).  I like both, but I prefer the Verdi because the zucca has a sweetness that doesn’t fit well with tomato sauce for me.

When I think of tortellini, I think Yale Dining Hall chicken broth soup with cheese-stuffed crescent-shaped noodles.  The dish in this region that is most similar to this is called cappelletti.  The name comes from the Italian word for hat (cappello), because the noodles look like little bonnets.  The little bonnets are usually stuffed with meat.  This is an extremely common Reggio Emilia dish, served in a light broth.

La seppia frita is a decadent dish I’ve recently tried.  [I notice that most of these dishes are meant for the kids, whose metabolisms are burning rapidly.]  It is a breaded and fried ball of squid the size of a fist, stuffed with a cheesy bread mixture.  The texture is chewy like calamari, but all the flavors together are rich and delicious.  You can also order the seppia grilled, but as long as it's not a daily occurrence I recommend the fried.

I’m still having a hard time with auditory learning of Italian, so I had to use google to find the name of the new pork dish I tried tonight: ciccioli.  It appears to have the same consistency of blood sausage’s innards, but is served in a patty wrapped in pig fat (I was assured this dish contains the healthiest kind of fat…).  You remove the outer layer of lipids and eat the tender patty inside.  The salty flavor and the tenderness of the meat reminded me of corned beef, which launched me into a conversation about St. Patty’s day.  St. Patrick’s day does not interest Italians.

November 11 is the day of Saint Martin, so San Martino was scheduled to have a festival full of food, wine and historical reenactments.  I woke up feeling like it was Christmas, and looked out my window to see…nothing but rain.  Due to weather the festivities were canceled, so I spent this Sunday at the house with my host family, though I am technically off on the weekends.  It’s nice to spend time with the kids when they have a free day, as they go to school six days a week, and I really enjoy being in the house with the family.  We took a break from playing Guess Who (Indovina Chi? One turn in English, altra nel'italiano) and Hotel to make biscotti.  The just-barely-sweet batter had a hint of lemon, which was quite good.  We rolled the dough out and used cookie cutters to create stars, flowers, moons, bells and other less-identifiable shapes.  After the biscotti cooked we were rewarded with a sample.  I had mine with green tea, which was a match made in Sunday afternoon heaven.