Italian appetizers

A friend Simone prepared typical Italian appetizers for me: tomato, buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto (Italian ham that is usually sliced thin and served uncooked) and anchovies (small, common salt-water fish).

“Anchovies are abundant in the Mediterranean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of Sicily, Italy, France, and Spain. They are also found on the coast of northern Africa. When preserved by being gutted and salted in brine, matured, and then packed in oil or salt, they acquire a characteristic strong flavor. In Roman times, they were the bases for the fermented fish sauce called garum that was a staple of cuisine and an item of long-distance commerce produced in industrial quantities, and were also consumed raw as an aphrodisiac. Today they are used in small quantities to flavor many dishes.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchovy

I love Buffalo mozzarella a lot even since I first tried it in Rome.

“Buffalo mozzarella (Italian: mozzarella di bufala) is a mozzarella cheese made from the milk of the domestic water buffalo rather than from cow's milk. ”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozzarella_di_Bufala_Campana

To accompany the appetizers, my friend also made me a drink with liquor, blood orange and ice cubes. But to be honest, I am not much an alcohol drink. It tastes too bitter for me.