Spicy hot chocolate

One bar in Rome offers this brand of hot chocolate with 12 different tastes. I tried the spicy hot chocolate. It was very creamy but not spicy at all. Maybe spicy in Italian means different than what I used to.

Mirto Drink

I saw these berries in the countryside of Rome and later found out what is it.

“Mirto is a liqueur popular in Sardinia and in Corsica, obtained from the myrtle plant through the alcoholic maceration of the berries or a compound of berries and leaves. Myrtle grows freely in Sardinia.

Mirto rosso (red) is made with the berries and is sweet.
Mirto bianco (white) is made from the leaves.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirto_(drink)

Shit Coffee: Kopi Luwak

The world most expensive coffee is from the shit of Asian Palm Civet (a cat-sized mammal). The coffee is called: Kopi Luwak. In Brussels, a small cup of that coffee cost 9 Euros. Does it really worth it? Any coffee lovers should let me know!

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

“Kopi Luwak (pronounced [ˈkopi 'luak]) or Civet coffee is coffee made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets.”

Natural is a wonder!

Greek coffee

Greek coffee is a strong, rich brew, served in demitasse cups. It's made from a fine grind of specially roasted beans and the grounds are served with the coffee (they settle to the bottom of the cup).

I had my first Greek Coffee in the new Acropolis Museum. They served me with some soft sweets and I eat the sweets with the coffee. Just like the way the Turkish drinking their tea.

It is debatably the Greek coffee’s origin, from Greece or Turkey? My Greek friends say the Greek started it. I am not going to argue with them. ☺

After lunch coffee

After a hearty winter soup, it is time for an Italian coffee. We crossed the Piazza Duomo and entered this 100-year old bar. The place is spacious with beautiful paintings on the ceiling. I had a really creamy hot chocolate made by an elegantly dressed bartender.

Hot Chocolate in Naples

Having a hot chocolate in a cold winter day is absolutely a delight. But I shouldn’t have had it right before lunch. It was at noon, in downtown Naples. I was hungry and waiting for the restaurant open (it was already pass 12pm). But things are different in Italy so I have to wait. There is a hot chocolate place open next to the restaurant so I ordered a small cup of hot coconut chocolate. To my surprise, it is very heavy almost could be a meal. The hot chocolate is very creamy and dense. To be fair, it is heavenly yummy!

http://www.eraclea.it/scelta.asp

Ragù Sauce with Pasta

A friend Davide in Bologna prepared a special dinner for my last night. Starting with salami, cheese and a drink: Spritz - a wine-based cocktail commonly served as an aperitif in northern Italy. Davide add a dash of liqueur into white wine and some ice and orange. This time the drink is lighter so I liked it a lot. Very refreshing with the cheese.

Then the main course is pasta with home-made Ragù sauce.

Ragù is an Italian term for a meat-based sauce, which is traditionally served with pasta. A ragù is usually made by adding meat to a soffritto (a partially-fried mixture of chopped onions, celery, carrots, seasonings, etc.), adding tomatoes and other flavourings, and then simmering for a long time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rag%C3%B9

It is special because he stole the Ragù sauce from his mom’s fridge. Ragù sauce takes hours to cook – like his father says, it takes 3 hours. So for a quick version, Davide just got the whole pot of sauce from his mother. I am so honored to taste homemade Ragù sauce in Bologna. Although his mother is not originally from Bologna, the sauce is not exactly the traditional Bolognese sauce. But I am not in Italian food protection association neither. All I know is the sauce taste great with pasta!

Korean Yogourt Drink-- Yakult???

The other day I bought some yogurt drink in Korean supermarket on Bloor Street. Unlike regular yogurt drink, it is very watery. It tastes sweet and sour and doesn’t have white color. It is so refreshing when just taking out of the fridge. Since I don’t understand any Korean ( all Korean letters printed on the bottle), I don’t know what the name of the yogurt. I am sure they have more than one kind in Korean. I have to go there to find out one day…

My Korean friend Soojin to give me more info: “They claim that they use special lactic bacterium for fermentation. I think that's why it has different figure and texture.”

I read online somewhere, and it says:” …It’s Japanese actually, developed for ingesting friendly bacteria pleasantly.”

Now I don’t know who is the first one developed it now.

I really love that drink! I remember many years ago, some Korean restaurant used to give the drink at the end of meal as complementary. Somehow, they don’t do that anymore. L

But they are available and cheap to buy in Korean and Chinese supermarket in Toronto. They are also widely distributed all over the world. If I am not mistaken:

http://www.yakultusa.com/products.htm

10 tiny bottles of yogurt drink are wrapped in plastic and sold as $2. The only thing is that they are only sold in tiny plastic bottles. I feel guilty of wasting plastics bottles, because I can drink all of them at once!