Food Glorious Food - Please Sir, Can I Have More?

Lorri Antosz Benson
17 hours ago
6 min read

Updated: 8 hours ago

Well, this is the one you’ve been waiting for. Three months in Italy . . . you HAVE to talk about the food! And yes, it has not disappointed. In. The. Least. The food truly is a top reason to come here. And I’m not going to just tell you about it. Today’s photos will prove my point. I missed snapping most of our meals, but there were MANY times the camera had to eat first. Prepare to enjoy some Italian foodtography!

So the first thing we noticed on our first day was the taste of freshness. We had ventured out and, as reported before, made the discovery that our “grocery store” was a teeny, tiny market with hardly any offerings. We came away with low expectations- bagged lettuce, butter, a container of fresh pasta, a jar of sauce, a bag of parmesan, and some tomatoes. I was disappointed- I’d expected everything to be fresh, not bagged and jarred.

To say it was the best meal we’d ever had would not be true, BUT it was fantastic! We sat out on our patio and looked at each other in amazement as the simple lettuce and tomato salad and pasta melted in our mouths. Everything tasted as though it was made that day, including the bagged and jarred items.

Some of our early meals at home

Time for old-fashioned bolognese with fresh roasted tomatoes!

There is just something about the freshness and no preservatives. Since then, we discovered actual big grocery stores, veggie markets and the wonderful Como fresh market. The food from all of them just tastes better than in the US. The one down side is that food doesn’t last very long either. Fresh bread starts to get stale the next day. Fresh pasta can last maybe 5 days. Lettuce will go bad in a couple of days. We quickly learned from experience not to buy ahead and just shop more often. But the taste trade-off? Definitely worth it. And one more thing- it’s really true that through some miracle of chemistry and/or biology, you can eat pasta and bread here and not automatically gain 5 pounds.

Some of the fresh market experiences- amazing fresh pasta . . .

Panzerotti's at the famous Luini's in Milan

Lorenzo and Federica- our butchers at the Como fresh market. So sweet and funny.

Because we didn’t have a car, but had an amazing view, we mostly cooked at home for the first month, but went out for pranzo- the Italian lunch. We found we liked that concept; big meal around 1 or 2pm, light dinner around 7. We may try to keep that going back home.

Every aspect of meals was an adventure. Shopping, especially at the Como fresh market, getting the groceries home (again, no car), fitting things in our tiny refrigerator, cooking without all our usual kitchen paraphernalia. Eating the meals was the easy part.

Here are some of our early pranzos:

Our pranzos were such a treat as we explored the lake. We learned there’s definitely a difference between food in southern Italy, and food in the north, and also a difference between food in the mountains and food in the towns and hamlets. The traditional food in the Italian mountains leans towards polentas, stews (often involving wild game,) and a buckwheat/whole-wheat pasta dish called pizzoccheri. One walks away from a mountain meal feeling stuffed like a papuga, as our Ukranian friend Dianna says.

One of our favorite lighter meals was soup made with an Italian base that our friend Jerry brought. We need to find this at home.

Another favorite light pranzo or dinner has been a nice charcuterie board. We've especially liked (probably a little too much) tarallis, those small crunchy circles. We learned which place had the best ones and stocked up!

While southern Italian food is known for simpler cooking, relying on fresh sun-loving ingredients and lots of olive oil, in the northern towns, you find more refined experimentation, heavily influenced by their French, Swiss and Austrian neighbors. You find less ricotta and more aged Parmesan Reggiano and Gorgonzola. We were surprised by all the tasting menus, and complex preparation of some of their dishes. There was plenty of pasta and pizza, but some of the ingredients and recipes were wildly creative.

Each arm of this "star pizza" is stuffed with different ingredients

A sweet little town called Brunate produced these beauties- a wild boar pappardelle

and a unique and outstanding lasagna (probably my favorite lasagna)

We’ve had some amazing food experiences during our time here, ranging from the whimsical to the fantastical. During a visit from our villa’s Italian owner, we were treated to chestnuts (from the on-property tree) literally roasting in the open fireplace, and topped with whipped cream. Our favorite local spot changed the menu every week or two, serving amazing pizza, and fascinating takes on pasta. And the best bread we've ever had.

Chestnuts roasting on the open fire

and winners from our local Briisa's:

This was Briisa's chef's entry in a local chef competion- an imagining of the lake to the mountains with a local fish in a broth surrounded by local veggies and mushrooms. Definitely not spaghetti and meatballs, although their spaghetti and meatballs was lit too!

We took cooking lessons at The Wild Villa, a home with a view above the lake. We learned how to make a traditional fritter called sciott, home-made hand-cut pasta, a yummy beef ragu sauce, a filled chicken roll and tiramisu! It was all so good we went back to celebrate hubby’s birthday there!

Steve's Wild Villa birthday extravaganza - a "From the Lake" theme. First, the amuse bouche

Perch meatballs!

For a guy who loves tiramasu, a whole tiramasu cake!

We may have learned something- chef Steve created this masterpiece with fresh blueberry pasta, chicken and veggies

We were thrilled to experience the magic of two pranzos at Passalaqua, the newest diamond on the lake. I'd read about it before our trip and hoped to go and have a meal and walk the incredible property. We were so happy with our first visit, we had to go back! I'll spend more time on my birthday visit there in a separate post, but here's a couple pics from our second visit.

Ah, the Dover sole!

Perhaps the most fantastical encounter was during our overnight in Modena. On a friend’s recommendation, we booked a night at the amazing Casa Maria Luigia, said to have “the best breakfast in the world.” A couple nights before leaving, I discovered the world-renowned chef Massimo Bottura owned not only the inn, but the two Michelin-starred restaurants on property. One of them, his small personal kitchen, served only his favorite dishes from the past decade in his 3-star restaurant in town. Why hadn’t we heard that? Even I, who never watches the food shows, have heard of Massimo. We don’t feel the need to search out Michelin stars, and actually planned to eat somewhere else, but this was an important detail to know. Of course they were booked, but when we got the call that they could fit us in the small kitchen, we said no. Kidding! We said YES PLEASE. I will let the pictures tell the story of how we were not disappointed. I will also be doing a story soon on the making of all these amazing dishes, so fellow foodies, watch for that.

First up, an oyster starter that's not an oyster

Such a beautiful dish- turbot porcchetta

This was the prettiest, and most delicious pasta dish

Chef Massimo's famous 5 temperature parmesan dish- outstanding!

In the master's kitchen- quite the thrill

Filet mignon in the center of pureed vegetables and truffle - probably my favorite. . . maybe . . . so many choices.

Actually NOT a real banana, but a banana tasting dessert

And finally, Chef's famous "Oops I dropped the Lemon Tart"

No question, it was really fun falling into that amazing night. The thing about Italy, though, is no Michelin stars are necessary. You can walk into the smallest, most unassuming place, and have a fabulous fresh meal. One of my most memorable meals of all, however, was my "big" birthday celebration- cooked at our place by my favorite chef, (you guessed it, my hubby) surrounded by family and friends. That’s Italy . . . great food, great wine, great connection.