Italian Taste Treats
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By Rick Steves
Pesto
The Italian Riviera (specifically the Cinque Terre region on the Ligurian coast) is the birthplace of pesto. Basil, which loves the temperate Ligurian climate, is mixed with cheese (half parmigiano cow cheese and half pecorino sheep cheese), garlic, olive oil, and pine nuts, and then poured over pasta. Try it on spaghetti, trenette, or trofie (made of flour with a bit of potato, designed specifically for pesto to cling to). Many also like pesto lasagna, always made with white sauce, never red. If you become addicted, small jars of pesto are sold in the local grocery stores and gift shops. If it's refrigerated, it's fresh; this is what you want if you're eating it today. Get the jar-on-a-shelf pesto for taking home.
Sweet Italian Wine
The vino delle Cinque Terre, respected throughout Italy, flows cheap and easy throughout the region. It's white — great with the local seafood. D.O.C. is the mark of top quality. Red wine is better elsewhere. For a sweet dessert wine, the local sciacchetrà wine is worth the splurge (about $5.50 per glass, often served with a cookie). While 10 kilos of grapes yield seven liters of local wine, sciacchetrà is made from near-raisins, and 10 kilos of grapes make only 1.5 liters of sciacchetrà. The word means "push and pull" — push in lots of grapes, pull out the best wine. If your room is up a lot of steps, be warned: sciacchetrà is 18 percent alcohol, while regular wine is only 11 percent. In the cool, calm evening, sit on the breakwater with a glass of wine and watch the phosphorescence in the waves.
Eating with the Seasons
Italian cooks love to serve you fresh produce and seafood at its tastiest. If you must have porcini mushrooms outside of October and November, they'll be frozen. To get the freshest veggies at a fine restaurant, request "Un piatto di verdure della stagione, per favore" ("A plate of veggies in season, please").
Here are a few examples of what's fresh when:
- April–May: Calamari, squid, green beans, asparagus, artichokes, and zucchini flowers
- April-May and Sept-Oct: Black truffles
- May–June: Mussels, asparagus, zucchini, cantaloupe, and strawberries
- May–Aug: Eggplant
- Oct–Nov: Mushrooms and white truffles
- Fresh year-round: Clams, meats, and cheese
Dessert?
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Gelato is an edible art form. Italy's best ice cream is in Florence — one souvenir that can't break and won't clutter your luggage. But beware of scams at touristy joints on busy streets that turn a simple request for a cone into a €10 "tourist special" rip-off. A key to gelato appreciation is sampling liberally and choosing flavors that go well together. Ask, as the locals do, for "Un assaggio, per favore?" (A taste, please?; oon ah-SAH-joh pehr fah-VOH-ray) and "Che si sposano bene?" (What marries well?; kay see spoh-ZAH-noh BEN-ay).
Here are some of Florence's best gelato spots:
Grom uses organic ingredients and seasonal fresh fruit. Their traditional approach and quality give locals déjà vu, reminding them of the good old days and the ice cream of their childhood. Marco, who really cares, describes his "gelato as cuisine" approach to ice cream, and posts special notes on his various flavors on the wall in English (Via delle Oche 24a).
Gelateria Carrozze is a longtime local favorite (on riverfront 30 yards from Ponte Vecchio toward the Uffizi, Piazza del Pesce 3).
Gelateria Carabè is particularly famous for its luscious granite — Italian ices made with fresh fruit. Antonio, whose family has made ice cream the Sicilian way for more than 100 years, can tell you why that's important (from the Accademia, a block towards the Duomo, Via Ricasoli 60 red).
The venerable favorite, Vivoli's still serves great gelato — but it's more expensive and stingy in its servings (closed Mon, Aug, and Jan; opposite the Church of Santa Croce, go down Via Torta a block and turn right on Via Stinche). Before ordering, try a free sample of their rice flavor--riso.
For gelato served in a brash, neon environment, stop by Festival del Gelato or Perchè No!, located just off the busy main pedestrian drag (Via de' Calzaiuoli). They serve a stunning array of brightly colored, kid-pleasing flavors (Festival del Gelato is at Via del Corso 75; Perchè No! is at Via dei Tavolini 19).
Updated for 2008. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' Italy guidebook — or join us on one of our free-spirited tours in Italy.