“Eat”ly A wonderful country of rich history, warm people and scrumptious food.

 

  

Once upon a time two little twin boys, Romulus and Remus were abandoned by their parents along the river Tiber – it was a female wolf who nursed and raised the children and then an entire empire that spread around the Mediterranean across three continents was named after one of these twins. Welcome to the city of Rome’ance, named after Romulus who killed Remus to become the king. A city to eat, pray and love. A lifetime is perhaps not enough to comprehend a place with such rich history and culture.

The city of Rome is a live excavation site, a casual walk through any of the strade and piazza will lead you to discover marvellous art, magnificent sculptures, glorious architecture and infinite ancient stories. It is a place with a living history; some monuments such as the Pantheon and the Colosseum can transport you back in time to nearly 2000 years, into the traditions and the lifestyle of the Roman emperors, their games of treachery and their sport of atrocities.

An artist would take special pleasure at the sight of some of the most illustrious pieces of Renaissance and Baroque styles from the famous Raphael, Michelangelo and Bernini; masterpieces such as the Sistine chapel, Saint Peter’s square, the David in Florence and the many obelisks. The city of Venice is an architectural wonder, often referred to as the floating city whereas Bologna is a city thoughtfully designed with the longest (45 kms) porticos in the world.

The country offers a variety of astonishing tales from the past and just as many culinary varieties to masticate and deliberate upon. Just like the Roman emperors the Italians are fanatic about both gastronomy and astronomy. The Romans travelled far and wide to explore the culinary diversity and bring home the variety of foods, herbs and spices. The origin of pasta has been attributed to the Venetian merchant Marco Polo who got the idea from his travels to China. The Italians have since invented approximately 250 varieties of pasta. A series of ten different cookery books “Apicius” have been written and illustrated to satisfy the appetites of a Roman monarch. The modern day Italians are no different, each region in Italy has a speciality food matching corresponding wines that should not be missed, “Risotto with Bardolino” in Milan, “Pizza with Tuscan Chianti” in Naples, “Tortellini with Sauvignon Blanc” in Bologna and “Cassata with Grappa” in Sicily.

The friendly Italians will love to tell you many interesting stories about their country and their food. It is not unusual that you started to ask an Italian on the street for some directions and landed up having dinner with her family the same evening. Food etiquette is however very essential to all Italians, so please do not make the mistake of ordering a latte post breakfast or asking for ketchup with your pizza, they will not only refuse to serve it to you but you may get a long sermon with fierce hand gestures about how to drink your coffee and eat your pizza, even if you don’t understand Italian. Jamie Oliver once did a cooking show in Italy and was obliged with cooking tips by every Italian on the street.

It might be helpful to get some insider reviews on the country with movies and books such as, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, The Broker by John Grisham, To Rome with love by Woody Allen and Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. You might be surprised to find out that facts are stranger than fiction.