Maybe I'm biased, but Italian food is hands down, the best cuisine in the world. Most often it's simply prepared but can be as equally elegant as French cuisine. In Italian cuisine, flavors are raw, original and not subverted. While French cuisine is complex, flavor can sometimes be hidden or overtaken. Italian food on the other hand, never loses, and in fact celebrates, the original earthen flavors of its ingredients.
I've been getting better at traveling and now make sure that all my senses experience the places I visit. Ahead of time, I scoped out Venice's top restaurants and made a point of visiting them for dinner. While we dined on pizza for lunch, dinner was always something spectacular. I let Mr. Wild Dingo chose a restaurant exactly one time. He chose Harry's Bar. If Ernest Hemmingway was a frequent guest, it must be good, right? I knew better, but took the chance. He may as well chose Chuckie Cheeses or The Hard Rock Cafe because that had to be our worst dining experience, which is really hard to do in a place like Venice. After that, he was not allowed to choose another restaurant, and we never had another meal below delectable.
One of Venice's typical foods is Sepia Nero, or Cuttlefish with its ink. Cuttlefish are mollusks, among the same class of Octopus and Squid. Recent studies have found them to be one of the most intelligent invertebrates with one of the largest brain-to-body size ratios of all invertebrates. I like fish, but I've never had Cuttlefish so I ordered it. As soon as it came, Mr. Wild Dingo pointed out that it looked like a tick. Naturally we switched dishes after that comment. And he found it delightful.
Note to self: Not only does Mr. Wild Dingo not get to choose restaurants, but he's not allowed to speak during dinner.
The second photo looks like a work of art but very daleicious.
We love spaghetti, it's fun trying to eat it without suffering whiplash 😉
Molly, Taffy, Monty and Winnie
Oh! Those tomatoes!! YUM!
MWD knows that Ernest Hemmingway drank his dinner, right? Which probably goes a long way to explaining the quality of the cuisine. Just saying... I LOVE cuttlefish, although I didn't realize they were the most intelligent of the mollusks. Which isn't saying much, so I don't think I'm going to let that cut back on eating them when I get the chance! 🙂 And since I'm throwing out random thoughts, I didn't realize MWD was allowed to speak, ever. Unless it was to say (with complete sincerity in his voice), "Sure. Buy that. You totally need it." 😀 But since you switched plates after his very thoughtful tick comment, what did YOU end up eating?
-Dr. Liz, who is all full of useless, random observations
@ Dr. Liz: I think he had some sort of mushroom rissotto. So I ate that. I also tried the cuttlefish and liked it. I generally like "nero" or ink pastas and ink risottos. This one happened to taste just a little too strong though at first bite. I would have probably liked it just fine if I had eaten more over time. Sometimes new strong flavors take a few times to aquire real appreciation.
And yes, Mr. WD is rather quiet. But he is allowed to say "buy that."
Those tomatoes look incredible. There are some things that are best kept simple.
I totally understand the "tick" comment - or your reaction to it, more appropriately. My brother made a comment about Cornish Game Hens during a family dinner when we were both home from college/West Point, and I haven't eaten them since.
KZK
Oh, how Mom would love to sink her teeth into those tomatoes - they look too perfect!!!
Yes, please do pass the "tick" dish for Mom too.
Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
As we frequently do, we concur with Rottrover: what gorgeous tomatoes! They're one of mama's favorite fruits, although she eats them like they were a vegetable. Like most people.
Glad Mr. WD has finally mastered the fact that you both dine better if he lets you choose the restaurant. How does he manage when he's traveling alone?
Jed & Abby
Ohhhh.....I LOVE that first picture of the red, red tomatoes!! It should go in one of those fancy, glossy food calendars!
Hsin-Yi