ITALIAN FOODS IN SANTA TERESA

in #blog5 years ago

The hotel where I am staying in Santa Teresa is owned by an Italian couple and naturally I have been exposed to some Italian cultural things as a result.

The Italian community here is strong in numbers and friendships. There are not many Italian tourists traveling here because it takes so long to get here. But there is however a relatively large Italian community that spends their winters here.

I have enjoyed listening to all of them speak Italian and interact with one another in very affectionate manners often involving touch that are certainly not seen often in the USA .

With the semi-permanent Italian population here there are naturally a lot of Italian restaurants.


*Typical Amici crowd



One of my favorites is certainly AMICI which translates to FRIENDS in English.
This certainly holds true as the staff are very welcoming and friendly. There is a wood fired pizza oven situated right next to the bar and an open air lovely seating area with the choice to sit in the covered area by the bar or in the cozy atmosphere of their tropical garden terrace.

I tried a couple of new things that are of note.

There was this amazing oil for dipping our wood fired bread sticks in that was infused with lemon peel. This type of oil, we were told by our waitress is an Italian tradition and it "is very strong"... she explained to us also that "we may not like". As it turns out we DID. It was a lovely light flavor with in the richness of the olive oil. A nice balance of flavors.



*Milanese


The next Italian cuisine that I had never been exposed to was Milanese. It is a type of steak that is tenderized/pounded and breaded. It dates back several centuries and was a traditional meat dish in Milan, Italy back in the day. We were instructed to squeeze lemon over top and eat. My boyfriend loved it! I was.... em..... not impressed. But I'm willing to accept that it may be an acquired taste. (I definitely prefer the Venezuelan steak we had the night before)

Finally, one of my FAVORITE Italian things of the dining experience was a traditional Italian cocktail. It was a Aperol Spritz Martini.

Here is what it consists of:

*Freeze a martini glass for 30 minutes. Combine the Aperol and vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Cover and shake vigorously until thoroughly chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into the chilled martini glass. Top off with 4 to 6 tablespoons prosecco. Garnish with the orange twist, and serve immediately.

Evidently, it is one of the more famous drinks in Italy.


Bon Appetit

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Nice post, I really love Italian foods.

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