This week’s travel from home theme is Italy. I’m conjuring up the experience of dining al fresco on the piazzas and avenues of Italy’s fashionable cities. What could be more romantic? Whenever I’m in Europe, I try to sit on the terrace for meals and drinks (unless there’s a reason to stay inside). Even though we have restaurants with patios in Canada and the U.S., it’s just not the same. There’s a relaxed vibe to evenings in the Mediterranean that we’ve never been able to mimic.
It’s about watching the passeggiata, the evening ritual held dear in Italy, Spain, and other countries, where a stroll becomes an event designed to see and be seen. The passeggiata is for showing off your baby, dressed in an old-fashioned, expensive ensemble. It’s for nodding hello to acquaintances while wearing a figure flattering dress or brightly coloured trousers. All ages participate, from infants to great-grandparents, who may watch the procession from a nearby bar or park bench.
For us travellers, the performance is alluring, though tinged with a bit of envy: it’s a culture and people on display, and they want to be admired. It’s hard to ignore a parade of beautiful people dressed to kill.
Here are some ideas to recreate the dining in Italy al fresco feeling at home.
What to Drink
Despite the controversial New York Times article about the bright orange Italian apéritif popular the world over, one of my favourite drinks from Italy is the Aperol Spritz. Aperol, mixed with Prosecco and club soda, is really the perfect drink for an evening al fresco. It’s aesthetically appealing, in a brilliant shade of tangerine, and refreshingly sweet and bubbly with just a hint of bitterness. I will not bend to the critics. Aperol Spritz is delightful!
Aperol has been around for just over 100 years, but it wasn’t until the 50s that the Aperol Spritz was invented. Now the drink is popular all over, served in branded glasses in case someone at the next table wants to know what you’re drinking. I can’t quite recall the first time I had an Aperol Spritz, but I don’t believe it was actually in Italy, but rather Greece, and it quickly became one of my favourites to drink back in Bilbao.
It’s very easy to make at home and the instructions can be found on the back of the Aperol bottle. The recipe calls for equal parts Prosecco and Aperol topped off with club soda, served over ice. I usually add a bit extra Prosecco since the Aperol is quite sweet. Don’t forget to stir the drink!
2 oz Aperol
2.5 – 3 oz Prosecco
Splash (or more) Club Soda
Ice
What to Eat
When it comes to Italian food the delicious choices are endless. Their cuisine is famous for a reason. I am one of those people that could eat Italian food every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. I am fully capable of surviving on pasta and tiramisu. In fact, on several trips to Venice I ate primarily those two dishes.
It’s been many years since I was last in Venice, but if you do go there, my suggestion for tiramisu is Al Vaporetto. On our first of three trips to Venice, this place was an unassuming self-serve cafeteria. Despite that, they served large portions of fabulous tiramisu. Sometimes we would forgo a proper lunch and eat nothing but fruit salad and tiramisu. Al Vaporetto was subsequently transformed into a restaurant. I haven’t been there for a long time, but it’s a good place to start for fans of the espresso-flavoured dessert.
For a beautiful meal, go to Campo Santa Margherita and sit on the patio at Osteria alla Bifora (far from the tourist crowds on St. Mark’s Square). You can watch the people mill about in the square while you dine. We ate there several times on multiple trips to Venice, but I remember best my favourite dish, spaghetti alle vongole. The lovely staff even decorated our plates with rose petals.
Despite my obsession with pasta and tiramisu (a dessert I doubt I will ever attempt to make at home), I decided to make risotto for this travel from home experience. Risotto has a reputation for being finicky, but honestly, it is easy to make. You just need to be present. This comes from someone who is not particularly skilled in the kitchen. Risotto takes time, but it isn’t hard. It’s a dish I’ve made many times at home, but strangely I don’t usually order it at Italian restaurants. I’m always tempted by the pasta.
What is Risotto?
Risotto is a creamy rice dish with rich flavours from broth and butter. Cultivation of rice in Italy began in the 15th century, since the Mediterranean was suited to growing short grain rice varieties. Risotto was developed in Milan, where there was a tradition of cooking food slowly. The first recipes that can be called risotto date to the early 19th century, but it is unknown who actually invented it.
There are a few suggested varieties of rice for risotto. Arborio is one of them, and it is easy to find at the supermarket. The ingredients for risotto are variable, which makes it easy to find an option that works with the food you have on hand. My particular favourite is mushroom risotto. I absolutely recommend using wine in the recipe. I actually used Prosecco because it was open already from making the Aperol Spritzes.
Here is a link to the mushroom risotto recipe I used. I cut most ingredients in half (except the butter and the mushrooms) and there was enough for 4 servings. I didn’t have thyme, bay leaves, or parsley, and I didn’t add peas. It was delicious despite the missing ingredients. I did have peas, but I chose not to use them.
As an alternative to the traditional method of making risotto, you can use an Instant Pot. I made a second, plain risotto, in the Instant Pot with this recipe. I would suggest this method if you are tight for time, but otherwise the stove top is better. In my case, the Instant Pot risotto needed to be stirred and to sit for a little while because the liquid had not been fully absorbed by the rice.
Setting the Scene
I absolutely encourage you to have your apéritif and meal outside, weather permitting. It’s a luxury of which we don’t always take full advantage. Sit on the deck, the patio, the balcony, or even have a picnic on the grass in your yard. You won’t get to experience the passeggiata, but you can certainly create an alternative ambiance with a bit of music. Tastes vary, of course, but I’m partial to Puccini, the Italian composer of some of the most famous operas the world over. Visiting his house in Tuscany is on my bucket list! You can find a playlist of his greatest hits on Spotify.
If you like Puccini, but want some variety, try the soundtrack to A Room with a View, which features Puccini, but has other music as well. A Room with a View happens to be my favourite movie of all time (the book is fantastic, too). The beginning of this film is set in Italy. You will be transported to E.M Forster’s vision of Florence in the early 20th century. The ethnocentric mindset of the British tourist of the time is on full display here, mind you, as Forster critiques British society abroad and at home. Yet, it recalls a time when travelling was much more in depth, when people really got to know a city, rather than just passing through. It’s a type of tourism to which we should aspire, minus the cultural insensitivity, of course.
Besides E.M. Forster’s novel, Sarah Dunant’s books bring Italian history to life, and Donna Leon entertains with her detective fiction set in Venice. For a dark non-fiction read, try the Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.
I hope you enjoy bringing Italy home and dining al fresco, as I did. Arrivederci until next time! Want to travel from home in the UK instead? Try Cream Tea without Crossing the Pond.
This brought back delicious memories of drinking Aperol Spritz on the Lido. Even better, Campari Spritz on a lazy afternoon.
The sea makes everything better!