Italy, you’re an endless snack and the whole dang meal.

From bonjourno all the way to buenoserra, there is a pastime in Italy that I never tire of: eating.

I’m pretty sure Italians don’t either. And as the saying ‘when in Rome’ goes, we joined right in.

Teenage me would never have admitted this fondness for food. But grown up me, who knows that life and travel are both too short for bad eats, relishes in every moment to take a bite out of somewhere and something new. And in Italy, wow, is it all delicious.

I’m not including coffee in this post because by default, every cup we drank – from cappuccinos in the morning to espressos and macchiatos after lunch (because anything other approach is just WRONG, as we’ve been told). But it preceded every day of eating, so it deserved this honourable pre-amble. And a couple pix..

But, this post is dedicated to Italian food, and all of the things we ate. Alora, here we go!

Pasta

Is there any other food you can start with on a post about Italy? In every shape and every sauce, it was delicious.

Gelato

We took a great food tour in Rome and learned a lot about Gelato. Our guide told us that the good places are small, have a kitchen and don’t make an extensive list of flavours. That insight explained the one bad gelato experience we had, and helped us never make that mistake again. Great gelato was eaten henceforth.

Seafood

Because we travelled through Lake Como and then spent time in Venice, seafood warrants a separate shout for both quality and style. We tried some new things, and some familiar things in new ways.

Pre-pizza

One of the most important things we learned was that pizza in Rome requires a very specific type of appetizer to open up your stomach and get you ready for pizza. (Mind – and tastebuds – blown!)

Behold, the Suppli. Named from the French word for surprise, it is a fried ball of tomato sauce risotto with a delightful shock of melted mozzarella in the middle. It’s is my new favorite part of pizza night, and Js project to make at home.

Pizza

You might think this is a ‘save the best for last’ approach, in which case, I’m sorry to disappoint. Italy makes some phenomenal pizza – but less-so in the places we visited.

Bologna is the birthplace of pasta, so we didn’t want to miss out on all the best of it while we were there. In Venice, open flames aren’t allowed, so pizza is more of a ‘topped focaccia’ situation (it looked beautiful, but IMO, I’d rather just have the salad on top and skip the ‘pizza’). And Rome has its own style of pizza, which is more ‘cracker like’ – J compared it to something between naan and a cracker. (He suggests calling it ‘non’).

To be fair, pizza is not my jam. Sure, I can appreciate a good pie, but give me a great plate of pasta over pizza any day. So seeking out the best pizza in our travels is always j’s department.

Rest assured, we ate some decent pizza.

The best pizza: A Pocket

In a shocking turn of events, the best pizza we ate wasn’t pizza at all! It was a Trapizzino, a focaccia style pocket stuffed with a variety of sauce options. We loved this so much that J may explore bringing this franchise to Canada.

And more…

There were also a few more bits and bites that didn’t quite for any category, but warranted a nod. Tops on my list of these such items is artichokes.

If I had to pick a favorite vegetable, this one might top the list. Fun to eat, versatile and delicious, we consumed them fried, a la romana and in salads. It there was an artichoke on the menu, I wanted to try it.

Apertivo

Now here’s the part where I’ve saved the best for last. Because IMO, there is no happier hour anywhere on earth than Apertivo hour in Italy.

This pre-dinner window to go out and have a cheap spritz or simple amaro cocktail comes with snacks. And if you know me, then you know bar snacks to be my favorite.

Ciao for now!

I usually cringe at the thought of being ‘A good eater’, but on this trip I would proudly say we were great ones! We tried delicious things, sometimes stopping at more than one restaurant in a meal just to make sure we didn’t miss a thing.

This photo is the ideal summary of a great week in Italy. It was a perfect trip, right down to the last bite.