Raw eggs ect..

[gtaus]

One thing we did eat in Italy that we don't in the states is carpaccio (raw beef). The meat here is not the same and I don't know my butcher well enough for that here.

I was stationed in Naples, Italy for 2 years. I really loved their carpaccio (raw beef) and mozzarella di bufala (buffalo cheese). The buffalo cheese is mixed down with cow's milk, but they leave enough buffalo milk in the cheese to give it a good kick. Our mozzarella here in the states does not compare. There was a lot of great food in Italy that we cannot get here in the USA.

 

[AgnesGray]

I was stationed in Naples, Italy for 2 years. I really loved their carpaccio (raw beef) and mozzarella di bufala (buffalo cheese). The buffalo cheese is mixed down with cow's milk, but they leave enough buffalo milk in the cheese to give it a good kick. Our mozzarella here in the states does not compare. There was a lot of great food in Italy that we cannot get here in the USA.

We miss so many foods from Italy! Mozzarella di bufala is a delight, for sure! And in Naples, you were right where the best of that cheese originates.

We also loved stracchino cheese. Even when we find cheese by the same name here, it's not quite the same. We were in farm country and could get raw milk and fresh cheese and other dairy products from a vending machine that were exquisite! When we go back to visit family we have a long list of foods to try to enjoy while we're there.

 

[gtaus]

We miss so many foods from Italy! Mozzarella di bufala is a delight, for sure! And in Naples, you were right where the best of that cheese originates.

Naples may be considered by some to be the black sheep of the Italian cities, but it has some of the best food in Italy. And speaking of raw food, we would often go to buffets in restaurants and there would be a great big spread of all kinds of raw seafood delights to try out. We would get visiting people from the states and they would ask what it was they were eating because there was never a sign on the food dish. We would just tell them to take a small portion and try it out for themselves. We did not know half the food we were eating and maybe it was better that way - if you know what I mean. But yeah, lots of raw seafood on those platters. Good stuff. Don't know half of what I was actually eating, but sure do miss it!

 

[AgnesGray]

Naples may be considered by some to be the black sheep of the Italian cities, but it has some of the best food in Italy. And speaking of raw food, we would often go to buffets in restaurants and there would be a great big spread of all kinds of raw seafood delights to try out. We would get visiting people from the states and they would ask what it was they were eating because there was never a sign on the food dish. We would just tell them to take a small portion and try it out for themselves. We did not know half the food we were eating and maybe it was better that way - if you know what I mean. But yeah, lots of raw seafood on those platters. Good stuff. Don't know half of what I was actually eating, but sure do miss it!

You would probably be impressed with yourself if you knew the things you tried! In the south there are many organs that are a delicacy that aren't much eaten in the north that was our home. I was in Sicily for a while and bull testicles were one of those. Up north we had some great delicacies of our own though, one of them that I am making soon is cow tongue sliced thin like salami with a green herb sauce. You wouldn't know what it was unless told but it's delicious! Another favorite piemontese treat is fried brains on the fritto misto (plate of mixed fried foods). On a recent trip back, my husband left my mother in law in the car for a minute with the morning's grocery haul which included some items from the butcher. When he returned to the car he found her sneaking bites out of the raw sausage package and looking slightly guilty, but not sorry about it. haha