Cinque Terre: Monterosso, Manarola & Vernazza

Another trip on the blog today - and this time, it's the Italian Riviera! Otherwise known as Cinque Terre (The Five Villages),  where candy colored houses and beautiful views from the hills line this Ligurian coastline. This region is especially known for it's famous sauce, basil pesto as well as foccaccia bread.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site includes Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I got to explore three of the five and that was just enough. Read on to learn a little more about this beautiful place:

Hiking

One thing I definitely recommend for this coast is to do a hiking tour of a few of the towns. I loved hiking through all the mountains (especially in Manarola) and the views were STUNNING! Plus since its a bit of a climb, you will definitely feel proud of all the calories you burned off to earn your next pasta binge later in the day. 

Beaches
The beaches here are so beautiful. Monterosso was my favorite (and also favorite town of all the ones I visited) because it seemed to have the most options of things to see, eat and do. You can sit on the cliffs and swim in the Mediterranean, tan by some cute & colorful umbrellas and even take a boat tour of all the towns if you want.

Pisa Pizza
Ok so I know this is not in Cinque Terre but I just had to include it since it was so good! On our way to Cinque Terre (I went twice so this was round two for me and round one for Mom) there was a train strike when traveling from Florence. My Mom and I were basically stuck at multiple stations for a whole day while trying to get there - it was awful. One of the places we stopped in was Pisa. Since we were hungry and wasn't sure how long we'd be stuck there for, we went to a place only a short walk away from the station and at first glance it seemed a little rough. However, their pizza menu was extensive - more options then I think I ever saw in the country! We settled on a sausage and walnut concoction and it tasted better than I thought! The nuttiness of the walnuts and the saltiness of the sausage mixed perfectly together.

Cuisine
The food here was a little hit & miss, definitely not my favorite compared to the other parts of Italy I've been to but still good! The highlights were definitely the walnut cream ravioli after our hiking day and the chicken dinner we had at Ristorante Ely our last night. Both were heavenly - especially the crispy potato medallions on the side of the chicken, yum!!

Overall, I loved the beautiful views of the towns but since there wasn't a whole lot to do, I recommend just staying a night.

Ciao!

Diamonds of the Kitchen: Truffles

For those that know me, you know that I haven't stopped talking about truffles since returning to the States - and it's not the chocolate ones. These so-called "diamonds of the kitchen" are flavorful little fungi that grow near the roots of trees in Italy & France. The only type I can speak on are the Italian kind but if you want to know more about these little beauties and why they are amazing keep on reading!!

So what makes these so rare and expensive? Well, one reason is because both white truffles as well as black can't be found without the help of dogs (and sometimes pigs, but that's more of a French technique) to find them. They are also only found in Italy and France (nowhere else) and only grow during a certain time of year. In fact, they hold a festival every September to celebrate the start of the truffle hunting season! 

Truffles can be purchased in a variety of ways, one being the ever-famous truffle oil. 

White truffle oil is sold in a can (keeps the oil fresh longer) or a glass bottle.  No oil actually has truffle in it, though, instead the white truffle is put in olive oil and then after the aroma is released, the truffle is removed. When purchasing truffle oil, make sure it is authentic (only lists white truffle aroma and olive oil as ingredients) but you don't need to spend a fortune on it since there is no actual truffle still in it. Pricing can run from 10 euros and up depending on the quantity purchased.

Fake oils have a chemical in them as well as the olive oil and aroma - you can tell if you taste the oil and you immediately taste the truffle (if it's real, you first taste the olive oil then the truffle since the truffle is put in the bottom of the bottle and should take time to come through. 

Truffle has a very strong taste so either you love it or hate it. The best way to use the oil is mainly pasta and bread, but also can use with salad or just about anything savory.

Truffle Oil Gnocchi

White truffles are more expensive and more prized than black truffles since they are harder to find and taste better as well as a shorter season for harvesting. The most expensive one was a world record size and went for 330,000 euros - no joke!!

Black truffles, on the other hand, are still expensive but are more accessible than white truffles and so are cheaper. These truffles can be sold as is to be grated over dishes, mixed with porcini mushroons into a creamy spread, or cooked whole. 

Black Truffle Gnocchi

Black Truffle Ravioli with White Truffle Cream Sauce

Black Truffle Fries

Black Truffle Carbonara with White Truffle Oil

White Truffle Oil Pizza Topped with Black Truffle

Black Truffle Cream, Pecorino and Salami Sandwich

Is your mouth watering yet?

If you don't believe me, try some the next time you see it on a menu!

One place to look for is Zaza's - they have multiple menus and one is dedicated to all things truffle!! Almost all of the black truffle meals pictured are from there (except the pizza and sandwich).

That's all for now - ciao!

Florence Finds: Chocolate Tasting

Last week we went to a chocolate tasting and had a crash course in all things cocoa.

Here's a few takeaways from the mini lesson on the process of making chocolate as we know it:

The difference between "cocoa" and chocolate - cocoa is a raw material, chocolate is the finished product.

Cocoa has only 100 flowers that can turn to fruit - it matures after 6 months and produces 30-40 cocoa seeds with the pulp fermented and distilled then dried (kinda like coffee).

Chocolate is a product of cocoa and cocoa mass, cocoa butter (main part of the flavor), and sugar. White chocolate is made with just cocoa butter & sugar, hence the lighter color from the butter. All chocolate is produced in Europe (especially Italy), where the highest quality of chocolate is made.

What's the origin of name? Cacacau / chocolatl (the Aztec name for it) means "food of the gods" and made from the cacao trees in central and South America as well as west Africa.

Chocolate bars were invented in Italy - not Switzerland as everyone thinks, and is known for a special kind of chocolate with hazelnuts called Giandua. 

Richard Lindt invented milk chocolate (to be eaten in bars as we know it now) in Switzerland in 1875.

The types of chocolate include: forastero- strong & bitter, sour (80% of the worlds production), criollo- delicate but intense flavor 7% of the worlds production and quite expensive, and one other.

You need to pair chocolate with sweet wine to melt the sweetness of the chocolate and the wine together to taste best & need a high alcohol content. It can be a very fragrant (white) and also tannic (red wine) to drive the saliva to come to your mouth and mix with the sweetness to make it more flavorful.

Now that you have a few fun facts on chocolate, on to the tastings!

School of Eataly

Vin Santo

This is a very sweet wine and pairs pretty well with the chocolate.

The first time I had Vin Santo I wasn't really a fan, but it was alright with the chocolate!

This was on the Chianti tour I went on too, see my post about the history of it here.

Sauce Tasting #1

First up was the vegan chocolate sauce - it was so good and we were the first people to ever taste it since they were meeting with executives and buyers the next day about it! Too cool!

We honestly had no idea it was vegan until it told us at the end.

Bar Tastings #1-3

The first bar seemed to melt very fast but was oh so good! Definitely my favorite of the three and pretty light in flavor.

The second was quite dark & bitter and 70% cocoa - it tasted much darker and richer. The flavor was a little strong for me but not bad.

The last was also dark but more bitter, coming in at a whopping 80% cocoa. I wasn't a huge fan of this one as it was too strong for me but for dark chocolate lovers - this one's for you!

Hope you all enjoyed your chocolate lesson and see you in the next post!

Ciao for now!

An Evening In Roma

Hi friends!

For the first school-sponsored trip of the semester, I went to where dreams are made of - Rome of course!

Fulfilling my Lizzie McGuire childhood goal of going to Rome was so exciting and, overall, a great experience. Here's a little summary about how each day went.

Day 1

The Vatican Coat of Arms

The Spanish Steps

(currently under construction)

The Fashion District with Dior, Gucci, and it's own fountain!

Trevi Fountain

Making Wishes

 One coin means you'll return to Rome in the future, two coins is that you will fall in love with an Italian, three means you will marry one!

Gelato - yum!

The Outside of the Pantheon 

The Inside of the Pantheon 

St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

Each person on the fountain in front of the church represents a famous Italian river.

Amazing ravioli!!

The sauce was so creamy and rich.

Ice Bar

Everything including the glasses for the drinks were made of ice!

Minus five degrees calls for some fashionable tents for us to wear.

Day 2

Castle Sant'angelo 

View from the top!

All the people going to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican for the Jubilee!

The Vatican Museum

So pretty outside and in!

Map of Italy - here's Florence!

Vatican Coat of Arms with the Keys & Bees

Aristotle's School of Athens

Sistine Chapel

Shout out to my friend, Emily who took this since I was too scared!

The thinnest pizza I've ever had - it was similar to a tortilla!!

St. Peter's in the Vatican

Prettiest church I've ever seen!!

A cardinal walking by!

Toulouse-Lautrec Exhibit

Fried rice ball with mozzarella and marinara - amazing!

Love you too, pizza :)

Day 3

The Colosseum 

The Arch of Constantine

Hello again

All the secret basement areas of the arena - so cool!

Circus Maximus

Orange Spritz

Focaccia with Mozzarella & Prosciutto 

Almost like a pizza & oh so good!

So there you have it, Rome in a nutshell.

I loved seeing the city, except it only made me miss the calmer vibes of Florence more - definitely glad to be back!

I have a few new posts coming through these next few days so be on the lookout.

What's your favorite city in Italy and why?

Let me know in the comments below :)