Se si parla di mangiare, deve essere italiano

Well for those who are wondering what is that title all about, its just Italian for " If it is food, It has to be Italian". Firstly all of you need to know a fact  which is "I love Italian food". Being vegetarian hasn't limited me from trying out different cuisines and Italian has slowly become one of my favorite,  Generalizing my love for stuff Italian, I love their wonderful Horror movies, their fantastic football League (Serie a), their traditional motor industry, their mafiasco way of life (though I don't support or appreciate it in anyways), their exotic and landmark tourist locations and best of all their mouth watering cuisines. Below is an account of the places where I have tried Italian cuisine (Bangalore and Bangkok).

                                An Italian Meal ready to be devoured!

Prior to my arrival at Bangkok, I wasn't exposed to any other cuisine (except Indianized Chinese) and best of all, my mom was cooking the Indian recipes hence they were incomparable. Once I started working there , the proposition of eating the local food (the smell was a little disturbing initially) and me cooking (Yuck!) was not too encouraging. Also with very long and strenuous working hours it was not possible to go out searching for food. However as luck might have it I got hold of a Italian restaurant joint called "Spaghetti Factory". With my limited knowledge of Thai I convinced them to cook Italian dishes without meat for me and that initiated my love for Italian cuisine. They also did take aways and some of their dishes were absolutely fantastic. This prompted me try other Italian restaurants around Bangkok and was lucky to visit Scoozi Restaurant, Trattora Felice, Terrazzo Restaurant and Maria Pizza Restaurant. I started to even eat Italian at  Black Canyon Restaurant or my favorite Pan Pan Restaurant.

                                         Scoozi @ Thonglo Branch

Once back at Bangalore I tried to continue my journey into hearty Italian Wonder Cuisines and was introduced to Little Italy (best vegetarian Italian restaurant PERIOD!), Spaghetti Kitchen, Via Milano and recently to La Vigna. Some of the recipes I have tried have been absolutely amazing and some were so-so but all were memorable nonetheless. Well with my love for Italian food already in full swing I decided to read a bit about Italian food and below is my understanding of their full course meal

 

Yummy Starter

1.  The Starters ( Spuntino & Antipasti) : These are traditionally light and heavy starters respectively. They can range from simple crisps, nuts, cheese dips to sandwiches, salads and  all cold starters. For people who can eat meat, there are a wide range of ham and fish based starters available. The basic understanding is that this is lighter than a first course of the meal.
2. The First Course (Pasta, Gnocchi, Spaghetti, Risotto .. , etc) : These are hot food which come after the starters and are most of the time void of meat and fish. This is one of my personal favourite section of the Italian meal course and some of my personal favorites come in this section. The Lasagna's at Little Italy and La Vigna are really wonderful. Gnocchi recipes are generally my favorite over other types of pastas and the rissoto dishes of Via Milano are really mouth watering. There are various dishes that are done with the combination of a sauce, any type of pasta with different flavoring.
3. The Second Course : These are generally very heavy meat based course with many referring this as the main course of the Italian cuisine. For people who like to try non vegetarian main course dishes they would probably love this part of Italian cuisine. Generally pork, beef, steak, turkey, cod, salmon, chicken, lamb are used in this course and recipes are more regional based on availability of meat from the region. I cannot talk too much about this course since I have not tasted too many items from this section.
4. The Desert and Coffee : All our yummy desserts such as Tiramisus, Pandoro, Panna Collata, Various Tarts & Pies, Gelato & Sherbets  and many many more come under this course of their cuisine. They are genuinely sweet and incredibly rich in their taste. Some of the desserts have to be tasted to be experienced. I am sure people will have their favorites sorted out when they taste the wonderful array of dessert on the menu list of good Italian Restaurant. Coming to coffee, Espresso is drunk very strong at the end of a meal to conclude the meal. 
5. The Drinks : Along with the meal Italians generally have their drinks running through out their meal. The commonly preferred drinks are wine (both red and white), Champagne, Sparkling drink which sometimes are given before the starters but are served through out the meal. Digestivo is a post meal digestive juice and generally herbal drinks or lemon alcohol is chosen for this.
                                       
   
   
                                            Vegetarian Lasagna
   
   My personal favorite menu would include a couple of starters with bread, vegetable and some crisps. Then will have a lasagna and a gnocchi based dish. If they don't fill me I will have any rissoto recipe to complete my main course. For dessert it has to be either a tiramisu or a couple of scoops of gelato. I would prefer red wine for my drink and some herbal drink as a digestivo.

                                          Wonderful Gnocchi Dish 

I also try to cook the ready made Sunfeast Pasta which is also a very tasty evening snack. May be not comparable in taste to the restaurant ones but still very enjoyable. Planning to start cooking some Italian dishes from home but I am afraid i will lose my appetite eating my own version of the fantastic Italian Cuisine :D.


Good Italian Recipes : Italian Food
Useful links : Italian Food forever
                    : Chef's Recipe
                    : Italian Recipes