Cilento

Last weekend, my study abroad group and I travelled to Cilento to learn more about the Mediterranean Diet and its benefits to one's health. I was looking forward to this trip for a while as I've grown to love a number of key ingredients to the diet since coming to Italy- some of those being olive oil, red wine, and vegetable types of antipasti.

To me, the most interesting part of the trip is when we went to the museum of the Mediterranean Diet, because this particular triangle seems to have the right balance of foods for someone trying to practice these habits:

It's tricky how they add the exercise in there. Of course that helps people to maintain healthy weight, but I have never seen it as a part of a health triangle before, so that was interesting. Also, I agree with how the red meat is at the top of the pyramid. Lean meats like chicken are the best sources of protein if you want to avoid too much fat. The most surprising part, to me, is that so much pasta can be consumed. It's obviously a lot of carbohydrates, but, I suppose, if you exercise enough, the carbs can't do too much damage.

The weekend was a great combination of delicious food (pasta alla melagizione, calamari, mozzarella di bufala, I could go on), beautiful weather, and fun times with my friends. It was great to have the opportunity to go to a region of Italy that is not touristy and to get a look at the "behind-the-scenes" methods of food growth when we visited the kiwi farm.

Cilento is a great place to go for some healthy food and relaxation.

-Sarah

Apertivo In My Tummy

What a beautiful idea, Italy. Apertivo. Buy a drink, get access to a buffet! My American ears perk up at that idea, so a few friends and I stopped by a little ristorante in Trastevere the other evening to try it out.

Not only was it a great deal financially, at only 8 Euro, but we got to try an array of different finger foods.



I liked the couscous and the small rosemary foccacia breads best, although it also included some cucumber sandwiches and skewered prosciutto that was pretty hard to beat. We may have embarrassed ourselves, however, what with our third and fourth trips back to the buffet line. I'm not entirely sure if it is supposed to be filling, as in a light dinner, or a sort of elongated appetizer hour.

Either way, the Bellini we chose was a great accompanying beverage and I would love to do this more while the weather is nice and we can sit outside to watch the passersby.

-Sarah

Bon Appetit!

his past week, I spent my spring break in Madrid and Paris. I would have to say that I really enjoyed the deals that I found in both countries, pertaining to dining out.

In Spain particularly, I liked the concept of tapas. It was similar to apertivo in that many times a drink was included with the meal. The meal, however, is not quite that; instead, it is a combination of 2 or 3 smaller dishes so that you can try a variety of foods. My favorite was paella- a slow-cooked rice dish that can have a number of different ingredients involved. I chose seafood and chicken, which was a great decision on my part.



Then, in Paris, i found that as a poor student traveller, they had great "formulae", or 2 course meals with a dessert and drink for a set price. The best deal we could find was 8 euro, but it ranged to about 20 euro. I tried to choose things that I normally would not eat, so I tried mussels, duck leg, beef bourguignon, and millefeuille, among other things. Millefeuille reminded me of bruschetta because of the cooked tomato and parmesan cheese that went on top of a salad.

Both countries offered delicious foods at affordable prices, which made my trip that much easier for me. Next up- I need to try apertivo- the Italian take on things!

-Sarah Cason