Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eating Rituals
I
n many of the places that one travels, it seems that people enjoy similar things: music and
films, food and wine, and the other good things in life. Certain people, however, may take a
special interest in one of life's pleasures. For example, people who can tell you the names of
supporting actors in a movie you saw fifteen years ago along with the names of other films
by the same director might be described as “film buffs”. What's unique about Italy is that the
percentage of the population that might be described as “food buffs” is probably somewhere
around 99.6%.
In the bigger cities where there are tourists aplenty, you can find some mediocre restaurants.
They know that as long as they keep their doors open, the flies will come in and the day-
trippers are quite likely to follow. In the smaller towns and villages, and in the countryside,
the restaurants are always good. If they weren't, no one would come to eat there, and they
would go broke in the course of a season.
Even the chain restaurants along the freeways often have delicious entrées. Imagine having
a shrimp risotto at an Autogrill where the shrimp are sautéed and blended with the rice and
broth right before your eyes in few minutes for a mouth-watering dish. It may not be quite as
good as a first-rate restaurant risotto, but it beats a fried clam sandwich at Howard Johnson's
any day of the week.
There's a little town near us of about 1500 people where I often stop for my morning coffee
after dropping off the girls at school. The proprietor of the local café-bar was a gracious wo-
man named Bruna whose untimely passing was mourned by the whole town. I remember
the first time I complemented her on her coffee and asked if it might be possible to purchase
some to take home with me. She told me that they were running a bit low, but that she could
order some extra for me for the following week. I asked if it was a particular brand that I
might be able to buy at the market. She smiled and grabbed a scoop, then returned a moment
later with her scoop filled with coffee beans.
“There are the four different beans that I mix. The dark ones give the coffee its kick. These
are the ones that give it body. The little ones like this one give it a pungent flavor. And then
I mix in a sprinkling of these to sweeten it just a touch.”
I'm standing there in a mild state of shock and astonishment when she adds the kicker:
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