Torino - Food, Glorious Food!

After I mentioned earlier that I planned to try and have pizza every day to break my 21 day University record, Barry wrote me to say that he would NEVER speak to me again if I came to Italy and ate nothing but pizza. Believe me, I had no such intention, the food here is too good to only eat one thing every day. However, I am reserving lunch (or breakfast, no kidding) for having at least one slice each day (and have done so every day so far).

They have some unusual pizza topping combinations, so I plan to award a Pizza of the Week to the strangest slice I've had each week. Last week, the award goes to the Tuna and Potato Pizza. The current front runner for this week is the Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Pizza (with mayo), but we still have until Wednesday to top that.

The food was so bad in Athens (from the NBC commissary) that I had Greek salad for almost every meal, but this is not going to be a trip where I lose any weight, even with the large amount of walking we have to do to get into and out of the IBC. The food in Torino has been a real pleasure (even though I am still mostly eating in the commissary). There is a wide variety of food available, but they seem to eat a lot of meats and cheeses, some pasta, and some seafood. There is ALWAYS pizza available.

The standard meats like steak and chicken have been ok, but the fish, pork and ham have been terrific. They also make amazing mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. Lots of the salads have meat or seafood in them also. The canneloni has been amazing, stuffed with various cheeses (the best was the feta).

In Athens, I had the best feta cheese ever, and here I seem to have found the best blue cheese ever. It is creamy and tasty, and they have bowls of crumbled pieces available to put on your salad. Unfortunately the lettuce quality and selection is not so great. There are also lots of other kinds of cheese that I do not recognize, but that are also very good.

Breakfasts have also been a treat. I am not a fan of sausage in general, but WOW, do they know how to make a nice sausage here. It is like eating fried pepperoni or salami, and they have had quiche with pototo, tomato, and spinach. They have lots of croissants, but no muffins or bagels, and they have toast, but no peanut butter (only nutella, chocolate and hazelnut, and you'll know why in a moment).

Did I mention that Torino is famous for chocolate? This is where the first chocolate bars were made. Orginally, cacao had been imported from Spain and been used to create a chocolate drink (which was made legal in 1678, making you wonder why it had ever been illegal). Only in the 18th century did the chocolate artisans of Piedmont (the region in which Torino is located) begin solidifying the chocolate into bars. They even claim that the Swiss came here to learn how to make chocolate.

Torino is famous for a local chocolate confectionary made with hazelnuts called Gianduja, and for their version of "hot chocolate" which is a thick creamy drink, as well as for a secret 200 year-old coffee/chocolate drink called the Bicerin. The legend is that there was a time when coffee beans were scarce, and in order to make their supply last longer, they began to mix coffee and chocolate together. They now also add milk or cream. There is some dispute as to where in Torino this was invented, and it is available in almost any café, but the Caffé al Bicerin is apparently the premier place to go to have a glass of this delectable drink (the drink is served in small glasses, not coffee mugs).

Even though I don't like coffee, I'm told that I will like the Bicerin, and I have located where the Caffé al Bicerin is on the Torino downtown map, so I plan to stop by some morning to give it a shot. I also plan to try the hot chocolate, and the Gianduja in time. My hours look like they will be noon to midnight, which is actually pretty good, as it will give me a few hours of daylight in the mornings to try and do some sightseeing.

I've saved the best for last. Not only is the area famous for chocolate, they are also famous for ice cream. I can honestly say I have never had better ice cream ANYWHERE! It is so good and so rich and so creamy, that a small scoop is really all you can eat before it starts to feel like too much (which I guess fortunate for me). The best so far is the Hazelnut ice cream, but the French Vanilla and Chocolate are also excellent.

I think I can control myself not to over-indulge, and hope that the extra walking and long work hours will cancel out some of those extra calories. We've been so busy getting ready for the Games to begin, that I've really only stopped by the MV bar for a beer after work a couple of times, so that should help keeping my weight manageable. On the other hand, there are a lot of good wines to sample and write about too (but I'll save that for later)!

Ciao for now!