Those closest to me are probably a little worried. “What’s going on with her?”......they might
be asking. “Why hasn’t she written
anything about food yet? The woman
writing this blog may be some imposter posing as our foodie friend Colleen.”
No, I haven’t suddenly switched to the “eat to live” camp. It’s just that since I’m going to be here for
so long, my budget can’t handle eating out all the time. So I eat out two or three times a week. Okay, some of you might be thinking, why
aren’t you raving about the wonderful food you’ve eaten those two or three
times? Well, I might be if I could keep
an internet connection long enough to really check out which are the best
restaurants in Sorrento. The best meal
I’ve had so far was a dinner at a lovely beachside restaurant in Positano, with
my New Zealand and Swiss pals. It was
sea bass, prepared to perfection, in a simple olive oil and lemon sauce. I lingered over every bite. (There, doesn’t that sound more like me?) Their caprese salad, fresh tomatoes with
fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and basil was also wonderful.
My landlady, Signora Cacace, owns a trattoria called Da
Emilia. Emilia, her mother, opened the
trattoria in the late 1940’s, and now daughter Irena runs it. Rick Steves has recommended it, so it gets a
lot of business. Her Sorrento style
gnocchi are really good—in tomato sauce with fresh basil—and there’s a platter
of lightly fried local fish that I also like, including fresh anchovies, a new
experience for me. Here are some
pictures I took at Da Emilia:
The restaurant has two seating areas, one right by the water…..
Plus a covered patio and seating in the trattoria proper.
Signora Cacace (and me)……
Here are some of the items on her menu:
Insalata mista, which is on every restaurant’s menu and is
different at every one of them…..
Insalata with tuna and tomato…..
One of my favorites, gnocchi Sorrento style (with tomato
sauce and basil)……
Ravioli (with ricotta
cheese inside)…..
Lightly fried sardines, yum……this technique of lightly
battering fish and frying them is typical in the Napoli region…….
Lightly fried squid…..
A delivery of fish that were caught that day……
I’ve also been to a
couple of other restaurants in the marina and had some very good seafood
risotto at this one…….
This restaurant is owned by five sisters, but only two of
them were there when I took these pictures…..
Both these sisters are quite aggressive….they call to people
as they walk by, asking them to eat at their restaurant, and sometimes they
walk up to people and hand them a menu.
They have a bad rep in the marina for their aggressive behavior, as well
as pretty mediocre food. Their
restaurant is attached to my apartment building.
Yes, I’ve had pizza,
too, but I’m probably not the one to judge whether the pizza here is better than
the U.S. or not, because I rarely ate pizza at home. The options for toppings are more limited
here, as with everything else. The best
pizza I’ve had so far is one I ate in Cassino when I visited my friend Antonio. I had the classic Margharita style, and the
buffalo mozzarella and the crust were both divine. (Yes, it really is me.) The Napoli region is known for its buffalo
mozzarella and, fresh or aged, it is absolutely delicious.
Sorrento is a pure tourist town. The menus here tend to be very similar, and
everything is a la carte. Frankly, I
haven’t been wowed by the food here, which was a disappointment, because I had
such a wonderful culinary experience when my niece Shelley and I were in Italy several
years ago. Maybe that’s because I had
done a lot of research and selected great little trattorie for our meals. She and I would usually order an antipasto, a
primi (usually pasta) and secundi (meat or fish) and share each plate. And, of course, we had our daily gelato
fix. I don’t have gelato every day—maybe
three times a week, and my favorite place has about 80 flavors. I won’t be here long enough to try all of
them.
As I mentioned in my last post, I ate Chinese food in
Cassino, and it was quite different than what we get in the U.S. The spring rolls I had were very crispy, but
I couldn’t identify anything but cabbage inside. I ordered rice spaghetti with seafood and got
a lot of spaghetti and a smidgen of seafood.
The sauce was very bland. I
finally saw a little bar in Sorrento that has hamburgers, and I went there this
week to have my “cheeseburger fix”. It
was at the quality level of McDonald’s….a bit disappointing….and yet, it was
enough to remind me of what a burger tastes like.
There are typically no sides that come with your entrée, so you have to
order a side salad or vegetable to go with your pasta, fish, or meat. Even if you order just one course with a side
salad, your bill will usually be 20 euro or more, because you pay for water and
there is a table cover charge included in your bill. (I’m told it’s for the use
of the cutlery and table linens). But, you don't have to tip here, unless you want--according to my Italian friends, it isn't expected.
I haven’t been able
to cook here like I did at home, because:
a. I don’t
have all the kitchen equipment I need—e.g., no food chopper, no food processer,
no blender, not even a vegetable peeler or a whisk. I tried to find the latter two in a kitchen
store here and they don’t seem to have heard of either.
b. I can’t find many of the ingredients I need for
my favorite recipes in the supermarket, e.g., chicken broth! I really don’t like broth made with bouillon
cubes, so I guess if I want to make soup, I’ll have to buy a whole chicken and
make my own.
When I do cook, I get my fresh fruit and veggies from Signora Carolina....
More on food when I get to Sicily.
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