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Elba Island; posh prawns and Nutella tarts

30th June 2016 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Leaving the romance of Rome, the next stop on my Italian tour was Elba island, where I met up with an old friend for a few days. Napolean was famously exiled to Elba, and despite it being popular among Italian tourists, the island had an air of secret about it, an undiscovered holiday gem. Crystal clear waters and sandy beaches seemed like such a contrast to the grand buildings and historical sights of Rome, and I was excited to explore.

We stayed in Capoliveri, about 30 minutes away from the main port right at the top of the islands highest peak. Winding little streets opened up onto beautiful squares, sprinkled with shops, cafes and restaurants. We rented a motorbike so could easily whizz down and around the island, and ventured into the larger area of Porto Ferraio looking for a spot of lunch.

The Italians, much like the Spanish, take lunchtime seriously, and so emerges the menu del giorno, typically a two-course lunch with wine included and a coffee as dessert (or a pud too, if your lucky). All the restaurants on the water’s front in Porto Ferraio had a lunch meal going, with everything from lasagna to lobster. We particularly fancied getting stuck into a plate of pasta and were drawn to a sweet little place with a couple of locals lunching away, where the menu offered a main dish of tagliatelle, a starter, water, wine and coffee all for €15.

Seafood starter with smoke swordfish, prawn cocktail and squid

Seafood starter with smoked swordfish, prawn cocktail and squid

Due to an embarrassing lack of Italian language skills, I was not entirely sure on what dishes to expect, but  I was pleased to be greeted with a cold seafood starter for main, featuring a good old fashioned prawn cocktail, sliced squid and smoked swordfish. The stand out item on the plate was the swordfish. The strong smoked flavor on top of the thinly slice silky flesh was delightful, and something I had never eaten before.

The main was an all out winner; soft strands of tagliatelle retained their bite under the creamy seafood sauce, with chunks of white fish, mussels and prawns. The dish was topped with crushed pistachio which added a pleasant crunch against the pillowy pasta.

Seafood pasta for mains

Seafood pasta for mains

The portion was enormous, particularly given that I was already a starter down, but the fresh seafood mingled in with the pasta, swimming in its own creamy sauce meant I couldn’t leave my plate alone, continuing to eat well past the point of being pleasantly full. But then, what’s one to do when on holiday in Italy if not eat excessive amounts of pasta while sipping a bit of wine? So I sat back, thanking my elasticated waistband for its comfort and my cup of coffee for its digestive properties while I soaked up the beauty of the port.

Cacciucco is a typical Tuscan fish stew, local to Elba island. Traditionally made with scrap bits of fish not grand enough to stand alone on a plate, this was a dish I had read about prior to my visit and was eager to try. Again, my lack of Italian lead me to a version of the dish probably quite far removed from its original humble beginnings.

Cacciucco (ish…)

My cacciucco came al vapore, and was certainly not a chuck-it-all-in fish dish; posh, proud prawns lay delicately in the wooden steamer, alongside meaty squid tentacles and a delicate fillet of cod. Not what I expected, this dish was a simplistic stripped back version of what I imagine to be a rich and multi-flavoured stew dish. Steaming the fish and seafood meant it’s flavor stood alone, and while it was undeniably delicious and some of the freshest seafood I have had, I would have rather it be accompanied by a tomato and saffron stew, as is the dish is traditionally served.

After such a light dinner, I was certain breakfast would be more substantial. L’Orchidea Pasticceria had caught my eye from the first drive up into Capoliveri, and on our last day on the island we broke our night’s fast and satisfied out sweet teeth with some of their fine pastries for brekkie.

Breakfast with a view

I normally don’t fancy a pastry for breakfast, but after my cream filled cornetto encounter in Rome, I had come to realise that perhaps Italian pastries were what I needed – for those mornings when only something sweet and buttery will start the day right.

Food wise, the Italian’s have got it pretty much spot on. Simple recipes, quality ingredients and a real appreciation for seasonal cooking. Oh, and Nutella. Sod the exquisite veal dishes, creamy carbonaras and crispy pizzas baked in wood ovens, it’s the Italian obsession with this chocolate hazelnut spread that attracts me most to their cuisine. What sweet item isn’t improved with a hearty spread or delicate dollop of Nutella? It’s never too early for this nut-chocolate delight to make an appearance; see exhibited in the photo below.

Can’t decide what pastry to choose? How about all of them?

The chocolate hazelnut tart topped with pine nuts was essentially Nutella baked on a pastry crust, and it was wonderful. How about a chocolate hazelnut croissant? Also delicious. Almost in fear of too much of this divine chocco spread, I balanced it all out (flavor wise, most certainly not nutritionally) with a custard raisin roll and some amaretti biscuits.

I’ll clarify that I was not hitting the hard liquor prior to midday, and what appears to be an espresso martini is actually just an iced americano. Far less fun, but definitely more socially acceptable.

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The very gorgeous Isola de Elba

Elba island was beautiful in every sense; the scenery, the people, the food and its overall atmosphere make it one of the most special places I have ever visited. When your only complaint about a holiday is that the fish stew you anticipated came steamed instead of slow cooked, I think that’s the sign of a great trip!

Filed Under: breakfast, food writing, Italian, travel bidmeadbites, travel writing Tagged With: breakfast, elba, italy, nutella, pasta, seafood

Roaming around in Rome – a whirlwind food tour

18th June 2016 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Rome is a city that I’ve always wanted to visit; the romance, the history and overall Italian-ness of it all made it next on my list of city breaks. While in Colombia I lived with my very own Roman called Chiara, and after a year and a half apart I decided to pay her a visit in her hometown.

Chiara, a born and bred Romana, shares my interest in all things edible and exciting, and she took me on a food-filled tour of the city. After being welcomed to the city with a fantastic three-course meal at home, we started the next day with an amble around her local area of Tor Pignattara. Taking rest from Rome’s strong midday sun, we grabbed some lunch at Necci.

Necci, opened in 1924, was a favourite haunt of the famous Italian poet and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, and today serves up a menu that is focused on classic Italian recipes with a slight twist. We shared two plates, a Panzanella salad and a black rice dish with anchovies and an asparagus cream.

Posh Panzanella bread salad

The traditional Panzanella salad had undergone a modern makeover, turning up perfectly shaped and formed into a cube. Breaking into this building of bread, the soft and chewy carby bites absorbed the flavours of the vegetables and oil perfectly. The creamy ricotta was delicious in mouthfuls on its own or smeared across the deconstructed bread tower.

For the rice dish I expected a risotto-like recipe, but was pleasantly surprised with a lighter plate of al dente grains with crunchy anchovy breadcrumbs and a smooth green asparagus purée. A more flavoursome, Italian touch on the health food power bowl craze, I liked it a lot.

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Black rice salad with crumbled anchovies and asparagus cream

Having practically eaten a salad for lunch (discounting the fact it was made of bread and rice), plenty of room was left for dessert. Gelato, to be more specific.

Although Rome is filled with gelaterias, finding the very best could prove a tough task for the average tourist. Luckily, my local guide took me to what she guaranteed to be some of the best the city has to offer. “But how do you know?”, I asked. Apparently it has a lot to do with the flavours. Really good ice cream parlours here will choose their flavours according to the seasons. Il Come Latte, Chiara’s gelateria of choice, not only had all the fruits of the season but many more creamy, nutty and chocolatey flavours too.

Ever eaten a cornetto ice cream cone and thought how good that little bit of chocolate is at the end? Clearly the owners at Il Come Latte have too, as they offer the option of drizzling hot melted white or dark chocolate into your cone before the ice cream is scooped in. This chocolate solidifies and becomes like a mini chocolate bar, hidden inside the wafer holding up your mound of ice cream. As well as this, they top the gelato with freshly whipped cream flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon, lemon or left plain. Oh, and then just an extra drizzle of chocolate on top too.

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Ice-cream heaven has been reached

Opting for a combination of blueberry, salted caramel and hazelnut, this gelato was a thing of beauty. The three generous heaps of ice cream stacked onto of each other formed an orgy of nutty, fruity and sweet flavours with just a touch of salt. The texture was perfect – the bite and satisfaction of a quality ice cream, with a hint of the ever so moreish smoothness that the Carte D’ors and McFlurrys of the ice cream world possess.

Chiara’s love of food is clearly a family trait, as her brother is a professional chef who works at Baccano, an upmarket wine bar/restaurant in the city centre. We went to visit him to sample the drinks menu and were treated to some of the kitchens produce; mini sandwich bites with freshly baked brioche bread and hand made sausage inside. I opted for an amber spritz to drink, a sourer twist on the classic bright orange Aperol classic. Chiara enjoyed a peach Bellini – her first ever, it turned out, and it got a thorough thumbs up.

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The very lovely Chiara, and our drinks and panini bites

Pizza is everywhere in Italy. But without a Dominos or Pizza Express in sight, on almost every corner you’re able to find genuine Italian pizzerias, baking in wood ovens and lacing the streets with the warm, wafting smell of thin crusts and tomato toppings.  For dinner, Chiara took me to a little place called La Focaccia, where pizza options were plentiful.

You had the choice of pizza al taglio, where smaller slices are cut a larger rectangular pizza, a wafer thin larger pizza romana, or focacciotti, small individual round pizzas with puffed crusts and various toppings. Between three people, we each chose one of the smaller focacciotti pizzas; a classic margarita, one ‘alla norma‘ (with aubergine, basil and ricotta) and one with radicchio, gorgonzola and spec.

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Our mini focacciotti pizzas

The charred, airy crust crumbled in my enthusiasm to tear into my  mini pizza, a wonderful trio of flavours – the strong gorgonzola cheese, salty ham and tart radicchio leaves. Beer is the perfect pairing for pizza, and as I sipped a pint of freshly pulled local pale ale, I wondered why on earth I hadn’t visited Rome sooner.

Yet sadly, after just a day it was nearly time to leave to start the next leg of my Italian tour. But of course, I wasn’t going to set off without a proper breakfast in my belly. Chiara’s local neighbourhood of Torpignattara is filled with little local gems, from the freshest fruit and veg in the shop on her corner to top-notch take-out pizza and pasta joints. She took me to her favourite bakery Pasticceria Zampilli, which serves up the classic Roman breakfast: cornettos and coffee.

No, the Roman locals don’t start their day with a Wall’s ice-cream – a cornetto is a traditional Italian pastry, similar to a French croissant. They can be semplice (plain) or ripieni (filled), with popular fillings such as crema marmellata (jam) or cioccolato (Nutella). As my friend Chiara is on friendly first-name terms with the owner, we got a very special breakfast treat; a freshly baked cornetto semplice, taken into the bakery and returned with an injection of sweetened ricotta and chocolate inside.

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What a way to start the day

To balance the sugar overload I choose a dark, strong espresso, but when learning I had the option to add a sweet hazelnut drizzle to it, I couldn’t refuse. This is called crema, and apparently a very popular way to sweeten coffee. As someone who never adds sugar to coffee, but absolutely passionate about hazelnuts, I think I have been converted to the sweet side.

Although the cornetto was incredibly sweet as a whole, actually the pastry itself is not, which allows for the rich filling to provide a sugar-rush to start the day. The bakery itself was filled with cakes and tarts, and I got a chance to admire the traditional roman treat of maritozzi – a cream-filled bun, that looked brilliant yet beastly.

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Can anybody say cream?

Rome treated me well; beautiful buildings throughout the city, a sense of romance and fun in every area I went, fantastic company and some of the best food I’ve had in a long time mean I will most certainly return. Leaving the city though, I was headed to Pisa for a night, and then onto the Island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast. More food filled posts to come!

Filed Under: food writing, Italian, travel writing Tagged With: food, ice-cream, italian food, italy, rome, travel writing

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