Italian food is world famous and pretty popular in the US. Whether your talking about family spaghetti night or a five dollar Little Caesar's pizza, most everyone I know knows their way around a good Italian meal. Getting to taste some authentic dishes is sure to be one of the highlights of Italy. However, here are a few Italian foods you might not be familiar with (at least I wasn't):
Lardo di Colonnata - has been made since Roman times by curing strips of back fat with salt and spices in marble basins, and is ideally cut paper thin and served on warm bread.
Lampredotto - is a round bun stuffed with tripe made from a cows fourth stomach and simmered in a broth of herbs and veggies.
Cieche Fritte - are fried baby eels that migrate to the coasts of Europe and North Africa at the end of winter.
Coda alla Vaccinara - is a stew made with oxtail and vegetables.
Bottarga - also known as poor man's caviar, is the roe pouch of tuna, grey mullet or swordfish, dried in sea salt and coated in beeswax until it becomes hard. It is then served grated over spaghetti adding a pleasant fishy and salty taste to it.
Casu Marzu - means "rotten cheese", it is a fermented goat cheese filled with fly larva and, on account of being considered toxic if the larva is dead, it is eaten when the maggots are still alive and can jump as far as 6 inches (120 mm).
So should we steer clear or seek out some new "cultural experiences"? Click on post to view poll.
Lardo di Colonnata - has been made since Roman times by curing strips of back fat with salt and spices in marble basins, and is ideally cut paper thin and served on warm bread.
Lampredotto - is a round bun stuffed with tripe made from a cows fourth stomach and simmered in a broth of herbs and veggies.
Cieche Fritte - are fried baby eels that migrate to the coasts of Europe and North Africa at the end of winter.
Coda alla Vaccinara - is a stew made with oxtail and vegetables.
Bottarga - also known as poor man's caviar, is the roe pouch of tuna, grey mullet or swordfish, dried in sea salt and coated in beeswax until it becomes hard. It is then served grated over spaghetti adding a pleasant fishy and salty taste to it.
Casu Marzu - means "rotten cheese", it is a fermented goat cheese filled with fly larva and, on account of being considered toxic if the larva is dead, it is eaten when the maggots are still alive and can jump as far as 6 inches (120 mm).
So should we steer clear or seek out some new "cultural experiences"? Click on post to view poll.