One night...

One night, maybe a week ago, I was with Sara and Nick and we did not want to cook. It was a hot summer night and we were at the Pan trying to decide what to have for dinner. And then it hit me. Why not have cold cuts? Many times this is my breakfast, dinner or snack, so I thought we would fill ourselves up with it. We bought two types of cheese, one soft and one hard, salami and prosciutto. When we got hot, we cut it all and made the plates look pretty (like afettati misti). To my surprise, the selections were better than expected. Everything was so fresh, so tasty, so delicious! I was even more surprise when I tried the hard cheese. The cheese tasted like a type of cheese that I used to love in Uruguay. In the United States, I went everywhere looking for this cheese and I never found it. In Italy, I buy a random cheese and it happens to be the one that I had been looking for for so long. The soft cheese was ok, but not something that I would go crazy for and would buy on my own. I would just eat it if I had to. As far as the meets, they were so incredible, specially the salami. Its freshness gave it the most amazing taste of all. It was juicy and soft. Again, this was a taste that I had not experienced since I left Uruguay. The prosciutto was a new taste for me, since Italians have a different way of cooking from what I am used to. It was a great flavor and something that I look forward to try again.

Food in Italy

As an Uruguayan, I feel like I am home in Italy. Uruguay is made of 50% Italian immigrants and 50% Spanish immigrants, therefore there is a great Mediterranean influence in my country. Italy has reminded me of the great tastes that I have not experience for so long. The sauces, the pasta, the meat, even the water, have been tastes that I have forgotten about. Even though I still eat these kinds of foods in the United States, the ingredients are not as fresh, therefore there is a great lost of taste. I love the fact that the meat is so fresh. The meat tastes incredible exquisite, and the only factor that changes it is the freshness of i. I am not a vegetable eater, but I can see the difference in color of the vegetables as well. Also, I was told by my classmates that the fruits and vegetables are super delicious.
One thing that really caught my attention was the use of wine. Italians drink as much wine as they do water, and they drink lots of water. I was very surprised to find wine as part of the drink selection in the cafeteria of the university. I guess that wine is very healthy for people and it seems that is wine of the many contributors to the healthy lifestyle that Italians lead.
I would have to say that my favorite dish so far has been the Kabab. Even though is not an Italian dish, it shows the great influence of spices and flavors that have reached the peninsula, specially from India.
Another thing that I have forgotten about was the portions sizes of the meals. In the United States, the portions of the meals are double the size of the meals in Italy (and Uruguay as well). Even though Italians have two dishes for their meals (primo e secondo piatti), these portions are not very big. Again, I think that this is another factor of the success of the Mediterranean diet.
These are some of the the influences and distinctions that I have encountered so far in my travels through the peninsula of Italy. As a go along, more experiences will come.