The sinfully creamy rich yellow mini custard tarts of Portugal. Long ago young women were sent to the Catholic convents to become nuns if they angered their father or refused an arranged marriage. The young nuns were not pious or committed to God, but were often rebels and troublemakers. So, in order to prevent too much idle time, the nuns were expected to spend their time making delicate little sweet morsels of confectionary sugar which were then shared with convent visitors or sold to local markets. These delicacies were glazed in egg white, leaving tons of the rich yellow egg yolks unused. Rather than waste the egg yolks, sweet custard was made and poured into light flaky pastry tarts.
Gazpacho in Spain, a tangy cold soup of tomatoes and cucumbers, and the selection of hard cheeses, like Pecorino, my personal favorite.
Italy, well, of course the list started as soon as we arrived, including focaccia bread, pizza al taglio, pizza by the slice, handmade pasta and gelato. What we did not know is that different regions of the country have different specialties of preparation, like the focaccia bread that we found in the Portofino, Cinque Terre region was the best we would find anywhere in Italy. If I had only known, I would have frozen as much as I could to save. The focaccia was especially tender, soft, soaked with olive oil and lightly salted with large salt crystal similar to a soft pretzel. Yum. Now that we are in southern Italy I am buying, cooking and ordering meals with the ever so delicate but robust porcini mushroom. The grocery stores feature heaps of them, both dehydrated and fresh. They are worth their weight in gold. Luckily it only takes a few to render a rich savory flavor to a dish.Yesterday we took a ferry to Naples just to find a certain pizza! I heard a saying, “Italy makes the best pizza in the world, Naples makes the best pizza in Italy and Da Michele, ‘Il Tempio della Pizza’, makes the best pizza in Naples”. How could we be in Italy, so close to Naples, and not find Da Michele’s pizzeria? So, we went, and found pizza unlike any other pizza we have ever had! Da Michele is a small place, only two rooms, which necessitates waiting out on the raucous streets of Naples for a seat. There, we meet a 74 year old Neapolitan chef, who claims that without this place, Naples would not have pizza. He is alone, a regular, as most people are I would guess, and when Michael invites him to sit with us he looks at us as to say, why? I am here to eat pizza not to socialize. There isn’t a menu, for they offer only two types of pizza, a classic margherita or marinara, made with pure extra virgin olive oil, a sweet tomato sauce, mozzarella di bufala and fresh whole leaves of basil which infuse the entire pizza with the authentic flavor of Italy. In the simplicity, it is crust which becomes the focal point. Ahh, the crust, unlike anything I have eaten before and very difficult to eat without getting it all over you. As we look around we see a slightly different version of one of the pizza and learn that it is a margherita blanca – without the tomato sauce. Lots of people seem to have it so we order one of each. They arrive, thin crust draping over the sides of the large round plates, bubbling with cheese and what looks like a small lake of yummy olive oil. Picking a piece up and getting it into your mouth becomes a tangle of dripping cheese, tomato sauce and crust as the whole thing folds in on itself. Eating it with a fork would be irreverent, missing the sensory experience of the moment. As I return from the bathroom I pause long enough to just watch the men in action as they make and shovel these delicacies in and out of the wood fired ovens. The dough is not rolled or thrown into the air, but rather pinched and patted into position. An elderly man stands reigning over the proceedings and so I approach him and ask him if he is the proprietor. He says yes and points to a picture on the wall of his father. His family has been creating this pizza since 1870.
A word about some of our favorite food:
