Osteria Perbacco

For dinner tonight we went to a small and dimly lit restaurant called Osteria Perbacco. It was literally a hole in the wall and we never would have found the place if it were not in the guide book. I finally felt like I was eating in a traditional and authentic Italian osteria. There were no other diners in there but us. The waiter, and owner of the restaurant I presume, spoke very little English. He appeared delighted to have young Americans in his osteria and he served us extremely well in a friendly and efficient manner. Thus far, the Osteria Perbacco has been my favorite Italian dining experience. As for the food, I ordered pasta with pork, cheese, and mushrooms (figure 1). Genna ordered polenta with ham on top (figure 2). I sampled her polenta since I had never had it before. It was excellent. It had a spongelike texture to it. The ham on top made it easier to digest. Emma ordered orange chicken with a little slab of polenta on the side (figure 3). We washed down our food with some acqua naturale and red house wine. In short, the food was amazing and the prices were cheap. I will definitely be back!

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

First Post

Unfortunately, my Italian food experience has been pretty limited thus far. Aside from an occasional gelato or margherita pizza, I have not fully immersed myself in the Italian food culture. Hopefully this will change soon.

When I arrived to Verona a week ago from today, I made a trip to the popular Italian supermarket called Pam. Pam is very similar to the American supermarkets that I am used to. The produce is in the front of the store while the frozen goods are in the back. My shopping spree was uneventful. I stuck to the products I was familiar with. I bought some salami, bologna, and bread to make sandwiches; the Italian equivalent of Frosted Flakes called "Frosties" which still had Tony the Tiger gracing the front of the box; some latte for my Frosties; a few cans of Pepsi; a one-euro bottle of wine; and some white chocolate as a reward for surviving the long haul across the Atlantic. Needless to say, the food tasted exactly as it does back home.

During the course of the last week, I have treated myself to some margherita pizzas (soon I will leave my comfort zone and start ordering pizzas with unusual toppings, such as shredded horse meat), risoto con pesce (I was surprised to find that "pesce" was not a whole fish, but rather a couple measly steamers placed on top of a bowl of rice), gelato, and some bottles of Valpolicella wine. Last Tuesday in Venice I ate a "mushroom role" for lunch. It was mushrooms and tomato sauce wrapped in soft bread. While in Venice, I also tasted some Italian beers. Tall bottles of Birra Moretti and Forst costed less than two euros. The deal was too good to pass up!

Today, our class traveled to a Doner Kebab shop to dine on some kebabs and see what all the hype was about. I got my kebab loaded with lamb, chili sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, French fries, yogurt sauce, ketchup, and mustard. I washed it down with a warm Pepsi. The whole meal cost four euros. I definitely got four euros worth of food, but I don't think I will be returning to the Doner Kebab anytime soon as I am enduring a mean case of heartburn as I type. A kebob similar to the one I ate today is pictured below (picture taken from pt.inmagine.com).