Pizza’s birthplace –in Naples

“Pizza has a long, complex and uncertain history that often inspires heated debate. The origin of the word "pizza" is unclear, but it first appeared in 997 in Medieval Latin, and it was in Naples in the 16th century that a galette flatbread was referred to as a pizza.

The innovation that gave us the particular flat bread we call “pizza” was the use of tomato as a topping. For some time after the tomato was brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, it was believed by many Europeans to be poisonous (as are some other fruits of the nightshade family). However, by the late 18th century it was common for the poor of the area around Naples to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and so the pizza was born.

At that time, the pizza was a baker's tool, dough used to verify the temperature of the oven. A dish of the poor people, it was sold in the street and was not considered a kitchen recipe for a long time. Before the 17th century, the pizza was covered with white sauce. This was later replaced by oil, cheese, tomatoes or fish - in 1843, Alexandre Dumas, père described the diversity of pizza toppings. In June 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the chef Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag.”

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

If you only have one day in Naples, you have to try the pizza from the restaurant Gino Sorbillo (that is everyone says). It clams that makes the best pizza in Naples with Excellent-quality ingredients, top-notch wood-fired cooking. The long-time-family-run restaurant is located in city center with two floors (Via Tribunali, 32, phone: +39 081 446643, http://www.accademiadellapizza.it). It is always packed with people for an obvious reason: amazing pizza and very reasonable price.

I ordered a pizza with tomato, mozzarella, special mushrooms and basil (No. 18 on menu). You can see from the picture it comes a giant round pizza. The pizza is really thin and soft, not like those ones in North America. All fresh ingredients are cooked perfectly. It is an amazing pizza. I can have it everyday for the rest of my life!

Granelli –eating testicles and more

First of all, I have never tried it myself. Not yet...

It all started by one of the picture I took in Palermo open-air market. I have no idea what was it when I was there. After coming back to Toronto, an Italian friend translated it to me: Granelli – testicles.

I have been told that some Vietnamese eat that in a TV travel show. But I did not expect that Granelli (ram's testicles) is the famous dish in Florence. At least that is this site clams:

http://www.firenzerestaurant.net/ing.html

This restaurant also calms that they have all the genuine Florentine specialties. How come my Italian friends in Florence did not mention that to me at all?

Apparently people in Iceland also enjoy eating testicles when they celebrate an old tradition called Thorrablot.

Here is an interesting article on food taboo.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0419_040419_TVfoodtaboo.html

I did not know Chinese eat bull’s penis too. Maybe before Chinese eat tiger penis, but now there are not many tigers around. In Beijing, there is a restaurant (the Guo-li-Zhuang restaurant) Serving up water buffalo penis, yak's testicles, and deer penis juice. A very interesting article with photo and video:

http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/07/articles/wacky-and-strange-but-true/beijing-serving-up-water-buffalo-penis-yaks-testicles-and-deer-penis-juice-at-the-guolizhuang-restaurant/

“There is also a wine available that is fast-acting and is said to work better than Viagra (without the side effects). The wine contains extracts of heart, penis, and blood from a deer; it is said to taste like a bitter lemon.”

China's penis restaurant - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/article3552377.ece

Now you know more about it. Will you try it?

Palermo's Street Markets

When I visiting a place, I always visit street market. That is where you can food history, cultural and of course fresh products.
“Sicily's outdoor market tradition dates from the ninth-century Saracen rule of the island, which explains their striking similarity to Arab souqs.”
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art85.htm
I am so impressed by mountains of seafood in the open-air market in Palermo. The market is filled with varieties of products, colors and vendor’s shouting. Unfortunately with short stay and no Italian language skills, I cannot do further study on the interesting seafood I saw. Next time…

Fasolari – Italian big clam

I tried several clam dishes in Palermo. Simple cooking, fresh ingredient and taste great!
The next day in a big open market near the central train station I saw them again. This time the big clam Fasolari caught my attention (top pic). They are palm-size big clam with brown stripes on the shells. The curious ones like to stick their red-orange part of body out in the air. The one in the top left picture is after cooked- so it was wide open. In the market I taped a video of their clam body (the red part) sneak out of the shell and padding in the container.

In restaurant was 1 euro each while in market was about 8 euro a kilo. I bought some and prepare to go home to cook. But when my friend’s mom saw them, she told me that she always eating them raw. Why not? They are still alive so there was no danger eating them raw. We cut them open with a simple kitchen knife, enjoying them with a dash of fresh squeezed lemon juice and some wine. I like it better eating raw. It was so fresh and has its own unique taste, so need extra spices needed.

Sea Urchin

If you never had sea urchin, it is your lost. They are small palm size spiky sea creatures what not everyone would love it (I mean to eat it).

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

“According to Under Southern Sea’s there are about 20 species of Sea Urchin in southern Australia and 18 of these are unique to the region. The Black Sea Urchin can be found in Tasmania, Victoria and up through most of NSW.”

In Japanese it is called Uni (served raw). Because the strong taste I often have Uni sushi, rather than eat them on their own. The Japanese Uni tastes a lot stronger and has a lighter color than the Sicilian ones.

“Uni has historically been graded based on color, texture, and freshness. The highest grade is a bright yellow/gold (Grade A) with a firm texture and somewhat sweet. Grade B uni is a more muted yellow and has a softer texture and is less sweet, while Grade C uni is referred to as 'vana' and is often the parts left over from uni that has broken apart during processing or handling.”

http://www.sushifaq.com/sushi-items/sushi-items-uni.htm

This time in Palermo it was my first time see live sea urchin (Ricci di Mare - in Italian), although they do not really move. In the Sicilian restaurant all seafood were displaced outside to attract customers. Of course it works! I ordered some sea urchins and clams to end my day. The sea urchins are freshly cut and served with bread. The clams are perfectly cooked with fresh herbs. I scooped the orange parts of sea urchin with the bread. It definitely taste like sea! But for sure they taste less strong than the ones in Japanese restaurant.

I found a blog where have a better pic and interesting story:
http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2007/08/28/catching-and-eating-ricci-di-mare-sea-urchins/

Oh, did I mention the orange part I eat is the female urchin’s reproductive organ? And I heard because of that some months are illegal to catch sea urchins. We need to give them a chance to reproduce so the sea urchin will not diminish from the planet. Actually it is interesting about how they reproduce:

“The male and the female sea urchins shoot their eggs and sperm directly into the ocean and hope for the best. Scientist are not so sure about the factors that set off this spawning, but it is believed it has something to do with the length of the days and the sea conditions.”

The live sea urchin is pretty funky. And someone was feeding a sea urchin a cookie? Weird. But check it out:
http://www.vimeo.com/225524

Spleen Sandwich –Street food in Sicily

Like in China, in Italy consumption of organs is quite widespread. One of the most famous street foods is spleen sandwich. I have seen it in travel shows and of course while I am in Palermo, there is no way to miss that.

For me, those street vendors always mysteriously appear with a simple cooking stand when the night approaches. My friend took me to the one, which is near his home and ordered one sandwich for me. There were many people in queue getting a sandwich. The smell of cooking spleen is intense and makes my mouth watering. The vendor put a generous amount of spleen on a small sandwich bun. The bread is soaked with the tasty juice while the meat is so tender. I wish I had eaten second one. As a Chinese, I am deeply in love with street food and for sure I am fall in love with Sicilian food.

I found a cool blog about Sicilian food:

http://siciliamo.blogspot.com/2007/08/street-food.html

Also when I search Street Food - Palermo on youtube, I found some good in-depth video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUZ3JmQGTI&feature=PlayList&p=3FE5D45DFC9BDCB8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

Traditional Sicilian food

Wanting to try more local food, a friend took me to a traditional food place. It is not a fancy restaurant; instead, it looks like a “Fast-food” place. All food is precooked displaced behind glass window. You can order a combo with 4 items (1 meat) or 6 items (2 meats). With a history of poor people food, I do not judge food on where or how they are served. But unfortunately, because those places are selling for cheap food, so the quality is not that good. I picked everything traditional, just like my friend said: everything here is traditional. Unfortunately nothing is done especially amazing. They grilled the meat after we made order, but their quality not very good. Although at lunch hour, it was packed with people.