Nice to be back

[sallyseachange]

Hi everyone! Back from holidays and it's nice to be reading all your posts. Had a wonderful time and even managed to stick to Atkins faithfully. And lost a few pounds while lazing the days away, too! No easy feat in Sicily, with all that wonderful food... so I guess I'm preening a little.

:wave

That's it! Just a quickie hello again.

Sal

[ann mayes]

Please tell me about the food in Italy!!!!

We are going to be there in Sept. and I have no idea what to eat.
We are spending a week in Switzerland then on to Venice then Rome, Paris and London.

Want to stay on plan as best as I can.
Any advise would be great.

Thanks

[DebbietheHugBug]

Welcome back Sally!! And congrats for staying on course! It really isn't easy over there!

Ann, Italy is awesome! I went to Verona and Venice last year. You will have to be strong. They have THE best wine and coffee EVER! And the pasta...... mmmmmmmm........... but they do have other wonderful things to eat besides those nasty carbs!

Which is good because........ no offense Sally........ but their pizza SUX!!! And I didn't care for the spaghetti either. But everything else.... all I can say is stay as busy as you can!!! :nod

[sallyseachange]

Thanks Debbie for the welcome back; and Ann… like Debbie says, you’re gonna need to be strong to resist the Italian carbs. They are a real temptation. I think Italy has to be one of the most difficult places to stick to Atkins, particularly if you’re just visiting and eating in hotels and restaurants etc. It’s easier for me as I live here, so do most of my own cooking.

Anyway… there are lots and lots of wonderful things to eat besides “Pane, pizza and pasta”. If you are at the seaside, then you get all the wonderful antipasti di mare (seafood hors d’oevres) and the fish. Swordfish sicilian style (with capers, olives and cherry tomatoes), spigola, mupa…and of course the clams and mussels. Oh, and the thinly sliced raw fish in lemon. As for meat, well apart from the usual international choices, there are some wonderful dishes like “chinghiale in umido” (wild boar cooked in red wine, laurel and juniper berries), roast lamb… younger than the lamb we see.

Antipasti are good… prosciutto di Parma (with melon, if you are at that rung of OWL). Platters of salamis with cheeses and olives… Minestrone is a good choice of first course if you are at the legumes rung (but check they haven’t put potatoes in). A fav of mine is bresaola (a kind of cured, thinly sliced beef) with rucola (rocket or arugula) and shards of parmesan. “Fave con pecorino” (raw baby broad beans and pecorino cheese)… with a glass of wine if you are at the alcohol rung. Cheeses are great too. Caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with extra virgin oil) is another good one. In Rome, a wonderful traditional dish is “Coda alla Vacinara” (oxtail cooked in red wine and celery). “Straccetti con rucola” (shredded beef with arugula) is another good one.

In places like Tuscany and Umbria, you get black and white truffles (expensive!) and porcini mushrooms; also "lardo di colonnata" (a kind of pork fat - sounds horrid, but it's fabulous). Oh and "pecorino di fossa" which is a cheese aged in an underground pit.

The list could go on and on...Sorry if it isn’t in any kind of order… dishes keep popping into my head, random! And hey! I’m getting hungry now!!!

Breakfast is more of a problem. They tend to eat cornetti (croissants) here…though if you are in a hotel, they may do eggs. Otherwise you might have to have do-it-yourself breakfasts.

Anyway… I’m sure you’ll have a simply wonderful time, not only foodwise! September is a good month too. Not too hot and not as crowded as August.

Buon viaggio!

Sal

[ann mayes]

Thanks for the infomation.

Looks like it will be my first test. :yes