Turnip Tops
and retired chickens
Eating in
Italy
If we are going to be honest we weren't expecting much from the food in Italy. Our experience of eating Italian food in England always left us feeling a little deflated. Menu's tend to consist of pasta bakes, garlic bread and over priced pizza's.
But oh wow - how wrong we were. The food in each region is very different with each having their own specialities. Lombardy's love of polenta, Emilia-Romagna's pasta and parmigiano, Calabria's 'nduja and tropea onions - the list goes on.
Across all our journeys to Italy we have not had a single bad meal. In fact it has been some of the most delicious food. What made it even more amazing was cracking the code to eating the Italian way - sharing a dish for each course.
So what is the reference to turnip tops and retired chickens you ask?
Lets start with the turnip tops - travelling around the Apuglia region we noticed that the pasta dishes were centred around vegetables and one vegetable cropped up time and time again. Turnip tops. For two weeks we ruminated over the fact that we had never seen turnip tops in the supermarkets at home and more importantly what happened to all the turnips in Apuglia as there was no dishes containing turnips!
Our discussions continued when we got home and I kept my eyes peeled for the elusive turnip tops in the supermarket and farm shops and still I continue to be at a loss.
Until our journey to Caserta where I opted for the Orchiette and Turnip Tops. The dish looked surprisingly like Orchiette with Brocolli and a quick google led me to the conclusion the Turnip Tops are from the same family. I am not sure why Turnip Tops aren't widely available in the UK but at least I have an alternative.
I still don't know what happens to all the Turnips in Italy though!
Chicken is a staple diet in our house - it appears in one form or another at least once, if not twice, a week and our son who likes the gym eats it for lunch daily. In fact the only meal it doesn't appear in is breakfast - unless you count it in the form of an egg!
So we were surprised at the lack of chicken dishes on the menu in Italy. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't longing for chicken, or bemoaning the lack of chicken dishes just surprised. Especially considering the amount of eggs they must use to make pasta. What happens to all the chickens? Do they go to the same place as all of the turnips that are discarded after taking the tops?
Our conclusion was that if we were a chicken being born in Italy must be heaven where you get to live a long clucking life, basking in the sunshine in exchange for a few eggs.
Other surprising facts about eating in Italy - Pizza is not for lunch (unless you are in the cities). In our head we thought a quick Pizza for lunch would be ideal - but no - in restaurants you will generally find that the Pizza menu is for the evening.
Don't expect to find garlic bread on the menu to go with your pasta. In fact I have stopped serving it at home when I do pasta now too.
Oh - and its not usual to get your ice cream in a bun. Brioche con gelato - this seemed to be a favourite in Sicily especially.
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