Until soon...

Hey Readers,

So I am about to head off to do some traveling in Italy and beyond as my semester here in Bologna comes to a close. THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE BLOG, but simply a warning that my updating will be particularly intermittent during the next 20 days. I should be able to update in about a week, and then again a couple weeks after once I'm home, so definitely stick around. Just wanted to let you know about the delays.

Also, I've started doing a bit of food-related posting on my twitter account. So feel free to follow me here.

Please do check back because I am going to have some fabulous pictures and updates soon enough! And some type of verdict on the long-term future of the blog.

Best,
Will

P.S. Hope you enjoy the picture of the €1100 tomato purse (borsa pomodoro?) by Braccialini I saw in Bologna. Now I'm thinking that would be prefect with a buffalo mozzarella ball necklace?...

Day 134

Off to the wonderful city of Amsterdam today. This city is known for a eclectic assortment of Dutch and international cuisine, with Indonesian, Thai, Argentinian, and Italian restaurants lining the streets and canals, as well as wonderful bakeries, cafes, and Dutch pancake houses too.

Perhaps nothing better represents Amsterdam's international cuisine than my first meal of the day at Pancakes! (Berenstraat 38, Amsterdam). Pancakes!, located in the delightful "9 Streets" district of Amsterdam, serves Dutch and international pancakes of all shapes and sizes in their small, fun cafe. I ordered a dutch pancake topped with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, guacamole and sprinkled seeds. This was delicious, the pancake flavorful and well cooked, the topping nice and fresh. And with the check, Pancakes! even gives you a key chain with a wooden clog with their logo painted on. Can't beat that.



For a snack, we tried Amsterdam's world famous french fries at what may be the best french-fry stand in the world at Vleminckx Sausmeesters - say that 10 time fast (Voetboogstraat 31, just off the Spui). These are worth going to Amsterdam for. They are perfectly golden fried, not-too-thick-not-too-thin, and topped with whatever you like (from plain old ketchup to "hannibal sauce," which the man at the counter would not tell us what was in it: "you just have to try it.") I had mine with mayonnaise and ketchup. And they were oh-so-good.


Then a little later, a stroopwafel - the classic Dutch cookie-waffle of thin, brittle cookie with sugar cream inside. They are addictive, so watch out.


For dinner, some Thai food. On a recommendation we went to Thai Snackbar Bird (Zeedijk 74, Amsterdam), a small hole-in-the-wall serving fantastic, fresh, flavorful Thai food. We started with spring rolls, and then I had a beef salad with cilantro, onion and cucumber in a flavorful broth. Sarah's green curry was super tasty too!

Day 133

For lunch, a prosciutto panino. Doesn't get any more Italian than that.

Day 132

For lunch, went to Taverna Mascarella (Via Mascarella, 22, Bologna) for some pasta. The pasta was with a ragu, accompanied by fried chicken fritters and sauteed eggplant. It was all ok, but overall a bit oily and overcooked.


For dinner, Alessandra made some delicious vegetable lasagna! Creamy, fresh, delicious.

Day 131

For breakfast/lunch, a fried egg on toast with jam, some slices of fresh plum, and some pieces of gruyere cheese. Yum.

Day 130

The semester is quickly coming to a close! For the "Cena Finale" (final dinner) for ECCo, the program that I am on, we all went to Rita's for some delicious-as-always food and drink.

We started with some of these fried calzones (I don't remember the exact Italian name) stuffed with ridiculously tasty, tart cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The dough was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, spilling out with wonderful treats inside.


There were a selection of Italian frittatas, some with mushrooms or greens or meat.


On her patio, they grilled up some amazing prosciutto wrapped melon. The prosciutto was warm, salty and crispy. The melon - sweet, smooth and still cool. What a truly perfect combination.


Also some other snacks, including a pasta dish, pictured here.


For dessert, fresh strawberries with custard and chocolate (I skipped the chocolate).


This was our last time eating with Rita. As always, the food was great and I will certainly miss our time at her lovely apartment. Thanks Rita!

Day 129

For lunch today, I stopped at Tamburini (Via Caprarie, 1, Bolonga), one of the well-known salumeria/food shops in central Bologna, for a porchetta sandwich. The porchetta (roasted pork, often roasted whole) was peppery and delicious. The sandwich, a little dry. Italy! Wake up! It's called mayonaise! And it's tasty! I promise!

Day 128

Well, for lunch I finally got around to going back to Osteria dell'Orsa. Now, I owe a big thank you to Leah and Solveig for convincing me to order the tagliatelle bolognese, which they always order and I've never ordered, because, well, it's kind of, you know, the best thing ever. Chewy, fresh, thick noodles, deeply flavored, rich sauce. It's everything this classic should be. And oh, it's so good.


For dinner, a salad with white beans, broccoli, and mozzarella. Healthy.

Day 127

For lunch, a piece of white vege pizza from Due Torri. Always sooo good and flavorful!


For dinner, the classic: pasta and tomato sauce.

Day 126

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER! And a little taste of America. Pancakes with syrup, french toast, hash browns, banana bread, eggs, strawberries. Yes!

Day 125

Woke up and did what? Went back to the bakery. What did we get? Well, of course the walnut tart and some potato focaccia, as well as some cheese focaccia (that's the one that looks like a slice of pizza).


So we were jut going to get that, until the woman behind the counter told us that we had to smell this leek, potato and ricotta tart that she had just pulled out of the oven. We had become pretty friendly with her at this point, and she insisted we get a piece, offering us some free samples of another tart as we waited. Well of course we got some! And it was delicious! Creamy, flavorful, with a light, crispy dough. So good!

Moral of the story? Go back to bakeries often, you will be fed well. Especially in Italy. Especially in Cinqueterre. Especially in Riomaggiore at Via Colombo, 88. We're also now friends with them on Facebook.

We came back on the train later that day. For dinner, a salad with lemon grilled chicken that we made at home.

Day 124

For breakfast, we ran to the bakery and brought some treats back to the room. This included some of the regions famous walnut tart. This is truly some of the best pastries I have ever had - buttery and cookie-like, it's simply addictive. Also, some more potato focaccia and sun-dried tomato focaccia as well, in addition to a lovely piece of rice cake (think of rice pudding).


Well, that wasn't enough. There were 5 of us, and that food is simply too good to stop there. So what did we do? Immediately went back about 10 minutes later, of course! This time, plain focaccia, an apple tart and some more walnut tart. We were starting to become pretty friends with the people there at this point.


For lunch, had some of the well known pasta in the region, called trofie, at Al Carugio (Via San Pietro, 9), with tomato sauce and scampi. The pasta was fresh and chewy.


Stomachs full, we headed out into the rain and hopped on a boat to see Cinqueterre from the sea. The sky started opening up and within no time it was sunny again. We went back to Riomaggiore, and then to Vernazza for dinner (the photos on yesterday's post are from Vernazza). We ate at Gambero Rosso (Piazza Marconi, 7). The warm atmosphere and super friendly young waiter set the atmosphere for a perfect dinner. They brought us some fried bacala (salt cod) on the house to start! Light, crispy and salty.


For our meal, I had mixed grilled seafood, including fish, squid, and scampi. With just a little lemon - what could be better?


For dessert, some cake soaked in liquor with all the toppings. Yum!

Day 123

Only a couple weeks left in Italy! What the future of MangiaQuestoBologna will be after that is yet to be determined... but if you are already feeling pictured deprived, I recommend the inventive, hunger-inducing blog Scanwiches. The blogger literally scans a cross section of every sandwich he eats. And some of them just look ridiculously good. Nothing better than a good sandwich.

Ok, so I am off to Cinqueterre, the five seaside villages on the Ligurian coastline that seem to have been dreamed up in some Italian fairytale. These five towns are small, truly rustic villages are mostly void of cars and accessible by train or boat (ok, there was the "old people's van" in the village we stayed in, but come on, they're old). The tows are nestled into rolling valleys covered in grape vineyards and olive groves, each more charming than the next. The streets are lined with little shops, restaurants and bakeries. Food wise, Cinqueterre is known for its seafood, focaccia, and pesto (which is originally from this region. Our hostel referred to it as the "special green sauce of the region." Best special sauce I've ever had). They make a great sparkling white-wine from the grapes that grow above the villages, appropriately called Cinqueterre.

My favorite two towns were Riomaggiore (where we stayed) and Vernazza, pictured below. These two photos were taken from the same time, one facing towards the sea and one into the town. Did someone say breathtaking?



As a snack we picked up some rosemary-potato focaccia from a small bakery in Riomaggiore, Panificio Sacchelli (Via Colombo, 88, Riomaggiore). It was chewy, salty, oilve-oily, and perfect. Far and away the best I've ever had. We ended up going to this place a total of five times in two days. It was just that good.


For dinner, we went to La Lanterna (in Riomaggiore by the marina). We ate on their patio overlooking the sea. Our waiter, an friendly older man who clearly had years of experience at this place and served the entire place, recommended some fried calamari for starters. Yes please.


For the main course? Why not pick one of the freshly prepared pastas from the blackboard. Which do you recommend? They're all delicious. How about the penne with octopus sauce? Excellent choice. And yes it was.


For dessert? Those strawberries that man is eating over there, covered in the limoncino cream sauce. Is that all? And some walnut cake. Why not add some semifreddo? Well, if you insist...

Day 122

For dinner we went to a little local restaurant that always seemed to be frequented by locals: Michelemma' (Via Riva di Reno, 60). They had seafood and delicious southern pizza. We had a little sampler plate of seafood, and a super tasty tomato and mozzarella pizza.

Day 121

For lunch today, went back to La Tua Piadina where I had a delicious piadina stuffed with mozzarella and vegetables including eggplant, zucchini and red pepper. These are the best (doesn't hurt that the dough is made with lard)!


For dinner, went to the market where I picked up some ingredients for baked pasta. The pasta had panna (cream), broccoli rabe (cime), radicchio, chicken sausage, red onion, garlic, parmigiano, and pecorino cheese. It was creamy, warm, and super flavorful.


We also had a tomato and basil salad.


And fresh, sweet strawberries for dessert!

Day 120

For dinner, I used some of these little pancake like bread things they have here, and stuffed them with mozzarella cheese, mortadella, arugula and red onion.

Day 119

For lunch, I made some pasta with a fresh cherry tomato sauce. Simple and delicious.


I had been meaning to try one of these gelato-on-a-stick things, so I finally picked one up today. This one was pistachio and covered in chopped pistachio. These are pretty good - like gourmet popsicles - but to be honest I'd rather just have some actual, creamy gelato. A fun idea though.

Day 118

Just a few pictures from lunch today for you. Went to the bakery around the corner where I got an arancino (though this seems to just be made of starch than actual rice, filled with prosciutto cotto, and a slice of mushroom pizza.