Hold the Crunchy Frogs, Please
Ciao, Goofites. I'm pretty busy here in Milan. I haven't had any real opportunities for sightseeing or picture taking yet, but some of my Italian colleagues took me out for dinner last night at a small rustic restaurant along the Ticino River in Pavia called l'ustaria di Giügatòn (roughly translated: Drunkard's Tavern).
I consumed mass quantities of sparkling red wine out of white china cups and ate a wide variety of delicious local specialties. However, I passed on one dish...Risotto con le rane...which as near as I could tell, consisted of creamed rice sprinkled with tiny little whole frogs. I also tried Grappa, a liquor distilled from grapes, for the first time. I was surprised at how much I liked it since most non-Italians I know who've tried it, hate the stuff.
Comments
Risotto with frogs? They're putting all kinds of freaky shit in that dish these days. But none will ever top that of my Lombardi-born nonna, who just did it plain old school style without all the amphibians.
Posted by: jonmc | September 16, 2003 01:29 PM
Hard to believe, but my nonna was not a very good cook. My mom and I used to live with my Italian g-parents when my dad was on assignment, so I had to endure a steady diet of endive and zucchini from her garden. My grandpa Tony used to drink some sort of awful muscatel, I snuck a couple of sips when he wasn't looking and almost spit it out. Also, judging by the smell, I'm pretty sure that the cigars he smoked had been pulled out of Satan's heinie.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | September 17, 2003 11:21 AM