October 17, 2025 • 24 mins
How many memorable meals have you enjoyed on your travels? We're sharing unforgettable food memories from over 30 years of travel in Italy. From mozzarella in Naples to seafood in Sicily, hear how food, company, and beautiful settings create lingering Italian travel experiences and inspiration for your next adventure.
Read the full episode show notes here > untolditaly.com/295
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Editorial Information
The Untold Italy travel podcast is an independent production. Podcast Editing, Audio Production and Website Development by Mark Hatter. Production Assistance and Content Writing by the other Katie Clarke
Read the full episode show notes here > untolditaly.com/295
NEW! - the Untold Italy app - access our entire podcast history ad free and searchable - DOWNLOAD FOR iOS • DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID
The app is FREE to download and check out our Milan guide and general travel content. Upgrade to PREMIUM for a one time fee to access Rome, Florence, Venice, Sorrento, Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast, Capri, Ischia, Tuscany, Lake Como, Lake Garda, Veneto, Lombardy, Campania, Lazio, Puglia, Abruzzo, Calabria, Umbria, Molise, Sardinia with much more to come
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Editorial Information
The Untold Italy travel podcast is an independent production. Podcast Editing, Audio Production and Website Development by Mark Hatter. Production Assistance and Content Writing by the other Katie Clarke
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Some meals and moments fade, but others stay with you forever.
In this episode, I'm sharing some of the unforgettable bites
and memories I've had initially that changed how I see travel, food,
and even life itself.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Tawatuti and Benvenuti Tuan Told Italy the Travel podcast to
where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes,
hills and coastlines of Bella, Italia. Each week, your host
Katie Clark takes you on a journey in a search
of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato, and of course,
(00:40):
a whole lot of pasta.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
If you're dreaming of.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Italy and planning future adventures there, you've come to the
right place.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Dreaming of arriving in Italy is rolling into a Jelatia
and ordering your gelato with confidence. If you've been learning
Italian with language apps but still can't string a sentence together,
it might be time to try another approach. My friend
Michelle from Intrepid Italian offers a practical way to learn
travel ready Italian. Thanks to her unique eighty twenty method,
(01:19):
Michelle teaches you exactly what you need to know to
connect with locals. And have more authentic travel experiences. There's
no getting bogged down in awkward phrases and unnecessary grammar.
As an adult learner herself with Italian heritage, Michelle really
knows how to bridge the gap between English and Italian.
As Roma from London said, the learning methodology is great.
(01:42):
I progressed much faster in the last four weeks than
I ever did on my own or using other language apps.
To find out more and claim your free Italian travel
phrase guide, visit untold Italy dot com, forward slash Italian
or visit the link in the show notes. As a bonus,
you'll also get an exclusive twenty dollars coupon code to
use on any of Michelle's online self paced courses. So
(02:05):
visit untold Italy dot com, forward slash Italian and accelerate
your Italian language your journey Today Cio friends, Juan Gioro,
I hope your week has been delightful and you're looking
forward to a beautiful weekend ahead. Today's episode is going
to be a little bit different. It's a bit more introspective,
if you will. You see when I recorded our last
(02:28):
episode about Northern Italy with Olivia, there was something that
I said. That really just popped out of my mouth.
But it's got me thinking a lot about Italy, travel
and life in general, and that was remembering that when
I first went to Italy, I had no idea of
what to expect. I had read some things, of course,
and maybe seen a few photos, but nothing really prepared
(02:51):
me for the beauty that was that small town on
the shores of Lake Gata with Monte Baldo Swing in
the background. I was all struck. And it would have
been around nineteen ninety stree, I think, and the world
was so much different than There was no internet, no smartphones,
no social media or even podcasts, basically much less information
(03:14):
and way fewer visual cues. There. I was wandering around
this gorgeous town, finally seeing things that I had only
had dreams about, and having food experiences that were a
far cry from my student meals in England. Hello Iceland,
which is a dodgy supermarket chain there. If you know,
(03:34):
you know, and you wish you'd forgotten. Anyway, it's a
very different time now, and it really got me thinking
after I said that quote or little phrase when I
was recording that episode earlier, and I just really wanted
to explore it a bit more, because I think travel
memories are so powerful for me in my life, and
(03:56):
I know for many of you too. Now as an aside,
I don't know if anyone knows about this brain quirk,
but I have this thing that's called a fantasia, which
is a condition where I cannot visualize images or pictures
in my mind's eye. So in this situation, if I
close my eyes, unlike many people, I cannot conjure up
(04:17):
images of places or people, or even those that are
closest to me. All I see is black, no matter
how hard I try. I've only recently discovered that this
is something that other people experience, and I've got to
admit it was a bit of a relief. So after
decades of thinking I was meditating wrong when I had
to picture myself walking along a beach or something like that,
(04:40):
I now know that it's something that I can't do,
which is actually fantastic. I've moved on and parts that
aspective meditation. I just wish I'd known about it sooner. Anyway,
hopefully this helps someone, because it can be really frustrating
trying to understand what people are on about when they
talk about picturing something in their mind's eye. Enough of that.
(05:01):
Back to Lake Garda and as someone with afantasia, I
have dreams and memories about places, but it's usually an
intellectual thought about what it looks and then smells, feels
and tastes like I can describe things very well, I think,
and photos really help, but I just can't picture them
in my head. And so over the years I've made
(05:22):
sure to note down memories and take photos, and luckily,
on that first trip that I went to Italy, I
kept kind of journal where I printed out photos and
stuck them in Those are the good old days. Hey
Mum kept that for me, and it's such a fascinating
insight into what I was thinking and doing in those
early ninety nineties days. And I dug it out this
(05:44):
week for a bit of a giggle, and it really
got me thinking. It's a pretty serious and highly descriptive journal.
But there are lots of mentions of food and wine experiences,
including a moment where I've chosen a cappuccino over tasting
Barnolino wines after life, which I can assure you would
not happen these days, and another where I'm simply mind
(06:05):
blown by the number of courses on offer over dinner
and how long it lasted. Pizza also features prominently, as
you would expect from a nineteen year old with limited
culinary experiences. Oh how things have changed. But what's really
interesting is how those memories are tied to an emotional
connection with Italy. And it really got me thinking about
(06:26):
some of my food memories over the years, during the
times that high have traveled across all the regions of
Italy and how much I love them. So here we
go ten or so incredible food memories from over thirty
years of travel, and what you'll notice is that they
are tied to shared experiences and special people, like the
(06:47):
most important memories always are. Now I have to start
with some life changing mozzarella cheese. Of course, for those
of you have been listening for a while, you have
heard about this moment I had with my friend Jackson
Naples in twenty nineteen. We'd been eating away around Italy
for a week already, but we had a moment on
(07:08):
spack and Apoli that stopped us getting our tracks and
we can't stop talking about it to this day. We
were on a tour with a great guy called Jihn
Carlo Choo. Big shout out to gian Carlo, who's a
fantastic guide in Naples, and he took us to a
stall where they got the mozzarella delivered every morning from
the Buffalo Farms down in Chilento. We definitely said something
(07:32):
like holy cow, which was a little bit inappropriate, but anyway,
this was because it was the freshest, gooeiest mozzarella balls
we'd ever tasted, and it's very difficult to go back
from there once you've tried the best, although it is
fair to say that Jackson and I still try. We're
very much bonded over that memory. Fast forward to twenty
twenty two and my first trip back to Italy after COVID.
(07:56):
So yes, the whole experience was like quite emotional to
begin with, because at that point this podcast was underway
and we've been talking about Italy for so long and
it had been I guess well over two years since
I've been there, So it was a very very emotional time.
But Olivia, who you hear oftened on this podcast and
(08:18):
I were in Pullia doing research for our very first
Untold Italy tour and we visited a casa fictuo or
a dairy which is actually still on our tour itinery
because it is so good and at this of ficture
they make cow's milk mozzarella. So remember that, I think
there's no way I can top the life changing buffalo
(08:40):
mozzarella from Naples. But this one, this one is on
a par with that, because we saw the cheese making
process from start to finish and help stir the way
with the cheesemakers and watch them make the cheese into
little balls. And as we were mesmerized by this whole process,
they continued on and they did something that was quite unexpected,
(09:02):
and they poked the cheese with chopped up pistachios and
then they handed us a ball of that cheese now
binding into this mozzarella. Was not very elegant, I have
to say, jew slopped down over our chins and we
laughed so hard. But it was delicious, of course, and
looking back, this was a pivotal moment for Untold Italy
(09:24):
and also the bookend to a new chapter in what
had been a pretty awful couple of years. Later in
that trip, we also had an outstanding lunch with Nikki,
who lives in Puya with her two little boys at
a mussada yea close to her home. And that was
three Aussie women sharing one of those extended Italian meals,
enjoying each other's company and marveling at the taste explosions
(09:46):
in our mouths. Honestly, Pollieze food is so delicious, simple, fresh, tasty,
the best. The setting was beautiful, the company was great,
and yet again I could feel the change in me
knowing that the great things coming our way. Mozzarella is
not my favorite cheese at home, to be honest, so
I am surprised. I came up with so many times,
(10:07):
and I was thinking of mozzarella when I was making
this list. And here's another favorite from the Campagna region,
where we enjoyed the excellent hospitality shown by our friends
at Joe Bernana Limo's. On that day, we were met
off the ferry from carpri and whisked into the hills
behind Sorrento to a very special lemon grove overlooking the
(10:28):
Bay of Naples. Somehow I had forgotten the first rule
of traveling in Italy, which is always arrive hungry, because
on arrival at this lemon grove, we were greeted with
a spread of food featuring lemons, and it looked delicious.
I really wasn't hungry at that time, but it is
considered quite rude to reject a food offer, especially in
(10:50):
southern Italy, so I forced myself to try this little
dish that was pasta, and it turned out to be
lasagna and goodness, this dish was made with smoked mozzarella
and it had a sprinkle of grated lemon rind on top,
and it's honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten.
(11:10):
Combined with that magical view of the Tyrannian Sea and
our delightful hosts who explained their passion behind their lemon
growth and the propagation process that they used to maintain it,
and all of the little details behind their operation, it
just turned out to be a pretty perfect day in Italy. Okay,
(11:32):
I think we can leave the cheese there for a
moment and turn ourselves to the topic of seafood. I
love seafood. I think if I had to choose one
thing to eat forever, it would be that. So this
wasn't an easy task to remember all the favorite meals
that I had, but the first meal that sprung to
mind was on our first trip to Sicily as a family.
(11:53):
Our kids would have been around four, I guess, and
we'd had a great day out exploring the area, trapsing
through beautiful and we had a recommendation from our agbituismo
for this restaurant by the sea in Avala. Now Avala
is not a town that anyone is really thinking about much,
but it has got some decent beaches and if you
(12:13):
like nuts, there's an armored museum there. Before we continue,
here are a few messages. It was April at this time,
so not exactly peak season, and I think it was
a Sunday. There weren't many people around and or in
the restaurant, and so we thought it might not be great.
(12:35):
But then we ordered the seafood platter and wow, it
was loaded up with everything from mussels to shrimp and
color mari and oysters. It was so ridiculously fresh and cheap.
We couldn't believe it. The kids devoured the first one.
They're quite adventurous eaters, and so we had to order another.
And that was just a wonderful day because it was
(12:56):
the same day were driving back from that dinner that
our son cracked his first joke, and we still recount
that moment to this day, and we remember all of
those details. I can even see that seafood platter and
remember how fresh it tasted and just how much fun
we had as a family, And it also takes me
back to a beautiful week we spent in Santa Margarita Lagure,
(13:19):
where the kids were just two. I think at that time,
this fabulous town, just a short walk from Portofino along
a coastal road, is where our twins discovered wiggly worm
pasta otherwise not astrofier a pasto, which is hand rolled
spiral pasta with pesto sauce. I think they may have
eaten it every day that trip, getting green sauce all
(13:40):
over their faces and clothes. The locals loved it, and
parent doesn't enjoy the attention of every passing nona telling
you how beautiful your children are. On that trip, our
kids were offered so many sweets and a lot of chocolate,
which would no doubt be their core memory of that trip.
But I remember the pasta, and a couple of years ago,
(14:01):
we were back in another favorite town along that coastline,
Sestri Levante, and ordered the Trophia again, and the memories
of that earlier trip just came flooding back. That meal
in Cestu Davante was also fantastic. I had a seafood
pasta dish that was outstanding, and it was our last
full day in Italy and the perfect way to end
(14:23):
our twenty twenty two trip, just sitting outside on the
terrace of a restaurant, enjoying the relaxed coastal vibes and
the time that we're spending together in a place that
we love, another place we love that just happens to
make incredible pasta is a secret little spot in Amelia,
Ramannia where they make incredible tortelloni stuffed with procutu and
(14:43):
Pavejano reggiano, and then they drizzle over a few drops
of traditional balsamic vinegar of moderna at the table. My
son would fly to Italy all twenty four hours of
that journey from here just to have that dish. It
is outstanding and a couple with the view from the
terrace over the vineyards out towards the nearest medieval town.
(15:04):
It's one of our favorite moments that we've managed to
recreate a few times now in Italy. Last time there,
we'd had another tour of the property and we were
so happy to be back there. It's really a special
place to us and it was the best of times.
If you come on our Ameliar tour will take you there,
I promise. Now we're traveling south to Rome and I'm
(15:26):
remembering a meal with the Untold Italy team as part
of a food tour that we took with my friend Nazine,
who you may have heard on this podcast. On the tour,
Nazine takes you to a lot of places around his
neighborhood and it's a lot of fun. The second last
stop out of a lot, I've got to say, you
definitely need to go hungry for this one is at
(15:47):
Nazine's favorite restaurant, and on this occasion, surrounded by my
wonderful team, we tried this jaw dropping salad of orange
redicuo and hazel nuts, which I am still dreaming about.
The Untold Italy team knows how obsessed I am with
salads initially because sometimes things can be a bit rich,
especially when you're eating out a lot, so I'm always
(16:09):
going for the salad, and that salad has it all
flavor crunch and color and maybe maybe he, just maybe
I'd swap the seafood for the salad. I don't know. Anyway,
the salad's pretty good. We also had a perfect plate
of rigatoni grisha and finished off with wild strawberries and
some sort of custard. It was just divine, actually imagine that,
(16:32):
and being surrounded by wonderful people and lots of laughs. Honestly,
my life is pretty amazing. And just when we're on
the topic of Nism, he hasn't been well recently, so
for those of you who've been on a tour with
him or know of him, yeah, he's got an update
on his Instagram and I'd love everyone to have a
read of it. He's a really great person and I
(16:54):
love supporting him and his food tour business because I've
done a lot of food tours. One is actually very special. Okay,
but now into the last few Italy food highlights, and
this one comes from our trip in twenty twenty three.
And I know I've just said my life is amazing,
and it is. But one thing I do find difficult
is being away from my children when I go to
(17:16):
Italy for work. In this job, I can be quite
flexible and manage my hours around their schedules, but sometimes
I need to go and be with the team. So
on this occasion, I've been away for about ten days
working before my husband brought everyone over and my parents
just happened to be in Italy too, so we all
met up at Rome Airport and jumped in a car
to make our way to Florence. These first meals in
(17:39):
Italy are often our favorite of the trip. It's probably
because we're remembering trips past and what's going to come forward.
And I guess this was no exception. I had planned
to stop at a winery that we know and love,
but we were running behind schedule, and I managed to
find this roadhouse where they cook meat in a wood
(17:59):
fight oven, and there's a lot of people in our
family that liked meat. So we had some ribs and
steak and another delicious salad, plus a few glasses of
kianti before my husband, who doesn't drink, drove us on
our merry way. It was so lovely having everyone around
the table in Italy enjoying a meal that I almost
(18:20):
forgot that I had been away from them for a while.
That place was in Tuscany, where they had well known
for their excellent meat cooking skills, but where you can
also find truffles another star of my most memorable meals.
The first time that I can recall was another special moment,
and it was a angry dash to a little pizzeria
(18:40):
in Bannidi Luca in northern Tuscany with my brother and
his kids. We'd all gathered there with my parents to
have a little holiday and a lovely villa, and I
think it had got pretty late. The kids were getting
a bit ratty, so we needed to get some pizza,
and I don't know, you know, when you've got the kids,
sometimes you're not looking too hard at the menu. But
(19:03):
somehow this menu item popped out that we just had
to try, and the pizza bianca with shaped truffles was
definitely that item. We still reminisce about that pizza, even
though it was over a decade ago. It was so simple,
just a sour dough crust cooked in a wood fired oven,
drizzled with olive oil and covered with shaved truffle and
(19:25):
maybe a sprinkle of salt. The simple things are often
the best, aren't they. That memory came rushing back earlier
this year when I was at a small local eatery
in the hills of Umbria with my friend Sarah and
sal and we enjoyed an omelet. We shaved truffles, sitting
outside as the sun dipped below the horizon, beckoning the
crickets and fireflies to come out to play. That omelet
(19:48):
only cost eight euros and it was I reckon as good,
if not better, than some of the Michelin stuff dishes
that I've tasted in the past. This meal came at
the end of the busy trip and I was ready
to go home to my family, but I felt relaxed
and grateful at the same time. Italy will really do
that too. The last memory I want to share is
(20:09):
from Sicily, and it was my first bite of proper
carnolo in the beautiful town of Ortisia. Nothing can ever
prepare you for the crunch of the pastry and the smooth,
slightly sweet ricotta of a properly made canolo. It is
delicious and if you're a food lover, you should definitely
detour to Sicily to try one. I guess it's no
wonder our kids are quite the gourmetze when many of
(20:30):
their first food moments are like this one. No regrets here,
although sometimes I would like to try the oysters and
canolo I ordered for myself. Our first Sicilian canolo was
a finishing touch to another beautiful day in Sicily, and
I really wish all of you have a daylight that yourselves. Luckily,
we have some guests there right now, and their photos
(20:52):
and their wonder seeing their reactions to moments like this
are just priceless. I love it so to some all
this up. I think it's really important to stop and
remember core moments and whatever triggers them, whether it's food
places or something else. Our lives are just so busy.
Days and nights roll into one, and sometimes you're going
so fast you can't remember what you did yesterday, let
(21:14):
alone last week or last year. My traveling memories and
food experiences have evolved a lot since that first trip,
starting in Lake Gata. Once, I was in awe of
visual cues, but I guess now, in the days of
Instagram and NonStop visual stimulation, it's other senses that provide
that sense of wonder. Let's just hope they never figure
out a way to deliver sense, taste, and touch by
(21:36):
a computer, because that would be a bit depressing if
you ask me. Another thing I noticed while compiling this
list is that it's not just the food and what
it tasted like, but who I was with and how
I felt at the time. Simple food plus grade company
and often a beautiful setting seems to be the magic
formula here. And as I'm talking, I guess if we
(21:57):
were to describe a formula for our tours and how
we wish you could all travel and experience Italy, then
I guess that would be it. Simple and delicious food,
great company and a beautiful setting perfeto, don't you think.
As my friend Maria wrote in her latest book Munja,
which was published last year, yes, food nourishes us, but
(22:18):
it is so much more than that. Food feeds the soul,
and memories of it are some of the most powerful.
I couldn't agree more, and that's why your Italian food
experiences are undoubtedly going to be some of your favorites.
I'd love to hear some of your food and other
memories of Italy. Let us know in the comments section
for this episode on Spotify, or drop us a line
(22:39):
on the app or via email to Chao at untold
Italy dot com. I put the details where I have them,
and some photos of these meals and dishes into the
show notes on our website at Untold Italy dot com
Forward slash two ninety five for episode number two hundred
and ninety five. That's one good thing about this endless imagery.
At least it helps me remember things. But at the
(23:01):
end of the day, the real memories lie in all
of the senses before I go. You know, we absolutely
love hearing your feedback and reviews. It's what keeps Untold
Italy growing and it helps more Italy loving travelers just
like you find us. If you enjoyed this episode, please
think about leaving us a rating or review in your
favorite publiccast app. And if you'd like to go deeper,
(23:23):
our Untold Italy Premium app has ad free episodes plus
curated travel guides to inspire your next Italian adventure. Next week,
we're exploring more about wonderful Untold Italy and I can't
wait to share it with you, But until then, it's
chow for now.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
The Untold Italy podcast is an independent production podcast editing,
audio production and website development by Mark Hatter Production assistance
and content writing fib are. They KG Clark, Yes, there
are two of us. For more information about Untold Italy,
please visit untold Italy dot com To pot
Speaker 1 (24:05):
With
Some meals and moments fade, but others stay with you forever.
In this episode, I'm sharing some of the unforgettable bites
and memories I've had initially that changed how I see travel, food,
and even life itself.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Tawatuti and Benvenuti Tuan Told Italy the Travel podcast to
where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes,
hills and coastlines of Bella, Italia. Each week, your host
Katie Clark takes you on a journey in a search
of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato, and of course,
(00:40):
a whole lot of pasta.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
If you're dreaming of.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Italy and planning future adventures there, you've come to the
right place.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Dreaming of arriving in Italy is rolling into a Jelatia
and ordering your gelato with confidence. If you've been learning
Italian with language apps but still can't string a sentence together,
it might be time to try another approach. My friend
Michelle from Intrepid Italian offers a practical way to learn
travel ready Italian. Thanks to her unique eighty twenty method,
(01:19):
Michelle teaches you exactly what you need to know to
connect with locals. And have more authentic travel experiences. There's
no getting bogged down in awkward phrases and unnecessary grammar.
As an adult learner herself with Italian heritage, Michelle really
knows how to bridge the gap between English and Italian.
As Roma from London said, the learning methodology is great.
(01:42):
I progressed much faster in the last four weeks than
I ever did on my own or using other language apps.
To find out more and claim your free Italian travel
phrase guide, visit untold Italy dot com, forward slash Italian
or visit the link in the show notes. As a bonus,
you'll also get an exclusive twenty dollars coupon code to
use on any of Michelle's online self paced courses. So
(02:05):
visit untold Italy dot com, forward slash Italian and accelerate
your Italian language your journey Today Cio friends, Juan Gioro,
I hope your week has been delightful and you're looking
forward to a beautiful weekend ahead. Today's episode is going
to be a little bit different. It's a bit more introspective,
if you will. You see when I recorded our last
(02:28):
episode about Northern Italy with Olivia, there was something that
I said. That really just popped out of my mouth.
But it's got me thinking a lot about Italy, travel
and life in general, and that was remembering that when
I first went to Italy, I had no idea of
what to expect. I had read some things, of course,
and maybe seen a few photos, but nothing really prepared
(02:51):
me for the beauty that was that small town on
the shores of Lake Gata with Monte Baldo Swing in
the background. I was all struck. And it would have
been around nineteen ninety stree, I think, and the world
was so much different than There was no internet, no smartphones,
no social media or even podcasts, basically much less information
(03:14):
and way fewer visual cues. There. I was wandering around
this gorgeous town, finally seeing things that I had only
had dreams about, and having food experiences that were a
far cry from my student meals in England. Hello Iceland,
which is a dodgy supermarket chain there. If you know,
(03:34):
you know, and you wish you'd forgotten. Anyway, it's a
very different time now, and it really got me thinking
after I said that quote or little phrase when I
was recording that episode earlier, and I just really wanted
to explore it a bit more, because I think travel
memories are so powerful for me in my life, and
(03:56):
I know for many of you too. Now as an aside,
I don't know if anyone knows about this brain quirk,
but I have this thing that's called a fantasia, which
is a condition where I cannot visualize images or pictures
in my mind's eye. So in this situation, if I
close my eyes, unlike many people, I cannot conjure up
(04:17):
images of places or people, or even those that are
closest to me. All I see is black, no matter
how hard I try. I've only recently discovered that this
is something that other people experience, and I've got to
admit it was a bit of a relief. So after
decades of thinking I was meditating wrong when I had
to picture myself walking along a beach or something like that,
(04:40):
I now know that it's something that I can't do,
which is actually fantastic. I've moved on and parts that
aspective meditation. I just wish I'd known about it sooner. Anyway,
hopefully this helps someone, because it can be really frustrating
trying to understand what people are on about when they
talk about picturing something in their mind's eye. Enough of that.
(05:01):
Back to Lake Garda and as someone with afantasia, I
have dreams and memories about places, but it's usually an
intellectual thought about what it looks and then smells, feels
and tastes like I can describe things very well, I think,
and photos really help, but I just can't picture them
in my head. And so over the years I've made
(05:22):
sure to note down memories and take photos, and luckily,
on that first trip that I went to Italy, I
kept kind of journal where I printed out photos and
stuck them in Those are the good old days. Hey
Mum kept that for me, and it's such a fascinating
insight into what I was thinking and doing in those
early ninety nineties days. And I dug it out this
(05:44):
week for a bit of a giggle, and it really
got me thinking. It's a pretty serious and highly descriptive journal.
But there are lots of mentions of food and wine experiences,
including a moment where I've chosen a cappuccino over tasting
Barnolino wines after life, which I can assure you would
not happen these days, and another where I'm simply mind
(06:05):
blown by the number of courses on offer over dinner
and how long it lasted. Pizza also features prominently, as
you would expect from a nineteen year old with limited
culinary experiences. Oh how things have changed. But what's really
interesting is how those memories are tied to an emotional
connection with Italy. And it really got me thinking about
(06:26):
some of my food memories over the years, during the
times that high have traveled across all the regions of
Italy and how much I love them. So here we
go ten or so incredible food memories from over thirty
years of travel, and what you'll notice is that they
are tied to shared experiences and special people, like the
(06:47):
most important memories always are. Now I have to start
with some life changing mozzarella cheese. Of course, for those
of you have been listening for a while, you have
heard about this moment I had with my friend Jackson
Naples in twenty nineteen. We'd been eating away around Italy
for a week already, but we had a moment on
(07:08):
spack and Apoli that stopped us getting our tracks and
we can't stop talking about it to this day. We
were on a tour with a great guy called Jihn
Carlo Choo. Big shout out to gian Carlo, who's a
fantastic guide in Naples, and he took us to a
stall where they got the mozzarella delivered every morning from
the Buffalo Farms down in Chilento. We definitely said something
(07:32):
like holy cow, which was a little bit inappropriate, but anyway,
this was because it was the freshest, gooeiest mozzarella balls
we'd ever tasted, and it's very difficult to go back
from there once you've tried the best, although it is
fair to say that Jackson and I still try. We're
very much bonded over that memory. Fast forward to twenty
twenty two and my first trip back to Italy after COVID.
(07:56):
So yes, the whole experience was like quite emotional to
begin with, because at that point this podcast was underway
and we've been talking about Italy for so long and
it had been I guess well over two years since
I've been there, So it was a very very emotional time.
But Olivia, who you hear oftened on this podcast and
(08:18):
I were in Pullia doing research for our very first
Untold Italy tour and we visited a casa fictuo or
a dairy which is actually still on our tour itinery
because it is so good and at this of ficture
they make cow's milk mozzarella. So remember that, I think
there's no way I can top the life changing buffalo
(08:40):
mozzarella from Naples. But this one, this one is on
a par with that, because we saw the cheese making
process from start to finish and help stir the way
with the cheesemakers and watch them make the cheese into
little balls. And as we were mesmerized by this whole process,
they continued on and they did something that was quite unexpected,
(09:02):
and they poked the cheese with chopped up pistachios and
then they handed us a ball of that cheese now
binding into this mozzarella. Was not very elegant, I have
to say, jew slopped down over our chins and we
laughed so hard. But it was delicious, of course, and
looking back, this was a pivotal moment for Untold Italy
(09:24):
and also the bookend to a new chapter in what
had been a pretty awful couple of years. Later in
that trip, we also had an outstanding lunch with Nikki,
who lives in Puya with her two little boys at
a mussada yea close to her home. And that was
three Aussie women sharing one of those extended Italian meals,
enjoying each other's company and marveling at the taste explosions
(09:46):
in our mouths. Honestly, Pollieze food is so delicious, simple, fresh, tasty,
the best. The setting was beautiful, the company was great,
and yet again I could feel the change in me
knowing that the great things coming our way. Mozzarella is
not my favorite cheese at home, to be honest, so
I am surprised. I came up with so many times,
(10:07):
and I was thinking of mozzarella when I was making
this list. And here's another favorite from the Campagna region,
where we enjoyed the excellent hospitality shown by our friends
at Joe Bernana Limo's. On that day, we were met
off the ferry from carpri and whisked into the hills
behind Sorrento to a very special lemon grove overlooking the
(10:28):
Bay of Naples. Somehow I had forgotten the first rule
of traveling in Italy, which is always arrive hungry, because
on arrival at this lemon grove, we were greeted with
a spread of food featuring lemons, and it looked delicious.
I really wasn't hungry at that time, but it is
considered quite rude to reject a food offer, especially in
(10:50):
southern Italy, so I forced myself to try this little
dish that was pasta, and it turned out to be
lasagna and goodness, this dish was made with smoked mozzarella
and it had a sprinkle of grated lemon rind on top,
and it's honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten.
(11:10):
Combined with that magical view of the Tyrannian Sea and
our delightful hosts who explained their passion behind their lemon
growth and the propagation process that they used to maintain it,
and all of the little details behind their operation, it
just turned out to be a pretty perfect day in Italy. Okay,
(11:32):
I think we can leave the cheese there for a
moment and turn ourselves to the topic of seafood. I
love seafood. I think if I had to choose one
thing to eat forever, it would be that. So this
wasn't an easy task to remember all the favorite meals
that I had, but the first meal that sprung to
mind was on our first trip to Sicily as a family.
(11:53):
Our kids would have been around four, I guess, and
we'd had a great day out exploring the area, trapsing
through beautiful and we had a recommendation from our agbituismo
for this restaurant by the sea in Avala. Now Avala
is not a town that anyone is really thinking about much,
but it has got some decent beaches and if you
(12:13):
like nuts, there's an armored museum there. Before we continue,
here are a few messages. It was April at this time,
so not exactly peak season, and I think it was
a Sunday. There weren't many people around and or in
the restaurant, and so we thought it might not be great.
(12:35):
But then we ordered the seafood platter and wow, it
was loaded up with everything from mussels to shrimp and
color mari and oysters. It was so ridiculously fresh and cheap.
We couldn't believe it. The kids devoured the first one.
They're quite adventurous eaters, and so we had to order another.
And that was just a wonderful day because it was
(12:56):
the same day were driving back from that dinner that
our son cracked his first joke, and we still recount
that moment to this day, and we remember all of
those details. I can even see that seafood platter and
remember how fresh it tasted and just how much fun
we had as a family, And it also takes me
back to a beautiful week we spent in Santa Margarita Lagure,
(13:19):
where the kids were just two. I think at that time,
this fabulous town, just a short walk from Portofino along
a coastal road, is where our twins discovered wiggly worm
pasta otherwise not astrofier a pasto, which is hand rolled
spiral pasta with pesto sauce. I think they may have
eaten it every day that trip, getting green sauce all
(13:40):
over their faces and clothes. The locals loved it, and
parent doesn't enjoy the attention of every passing nona telling
you how beautiful your children are. On that trip, our
kids were offered so many sweets and a lot of chocolate,
which would no doubt be their core memory of that trip.
But I remember the pasta, and a couple of years ago,
(14:01):
we were back in another favorite town along that coastline,
Sestri Levante, and ordered the Trophia again, and the memories
of that earlier trip just came flooding back. That meal
in Cestu Davante was also fantastic. I had a seafood
pasta dish that was outstanding, and it was our last
full day in Italy and the perfect way to end
(14:23):
our twenty twenty two trip, just sitting outside on the
terrace of a restaurant, enjoying the relaxed coastal vibes and
the time that we're spending together in a place that
we love, another place we love that just happens to
make incredible pasta is a secret little spot in Amelia,
Ramannia where they make incredible tortelloni stuffed with procutu and
(14:43):
Pavejano reggiano, and then they drizzle over a few drops
of traditional balsamic vinegar of moderna at the table. My
son would fly to Italy all twenty four hours of
that journey from here just to have that dish. It
is outstanding and a couple with the view from the
terrace over the vineyards out towards the nearest medieval town.
(15:04):
It's one of our favorite moments that we've managed to
recreate a few times now in Italy. Last time there,
we'd had another tour of the property and we were
so happy to be back there. It's really a special
place to us and it was the best of times.
If you come on our Ameliar tour will take you there,
I promise. Now we're traveling south to Rome and I'm
(15:26):
remembering a meal with the Untold Italy team as part
of a food tour that we took with my friend Nazine,
who you may have heard on this podcast. On the tour,
Nazine takes you to a lot of places around his
neighborhood and it's a lot of fun. The second last
stop out of a lot, I've got to say, you
definitely need to go hungry for this one is at
(15:47):
Nazine's favorite restaurant, and on this occasion, surrounded by my
wonderful team, we tried this jaw dropping salad of orange
redicuo and hazel nuts, which I am still dreaming about.
The Untold Italy team knows how obsessed I am with
salads initially because sometimes things can be a bit rich,
especially when you're eating out a lot, so I'm always
(16:09):
going for the salad, and that salad has it all
flavor crunch and color and maybe maybe he, just maybe
I'd swap the seafood for the salad. I don't know. Anyway,
the salad's pretty good. We also had a perfect plate
of rigatoni grisha and finished off with wild strawberries and
some sort of custard. It was just divine, actually imagine that,
(16:32):
and being surrounded by wonderful people and lots of laughs. Honestly,
my life is pretty amazing. And just when we're on
the topic of Nism, he hasn't been well recently, so
for those of you who've been on a tour with
him or know of him, yeah, he's got an update
on his Instagram and I'd love everyone to have a
read of it. He's a really great person and I
(16:54):
love supporting him and his food tour business because I've
done a lot of food tours. One is actually very special. Okay,
but now into the last few Italy food highlights, and
this one comes from our trip in twenty twenty three.
And I know I've just said my life is amazing,
and it is. But one thing I do find difficult
is being away from my children when I go to
(17:16):
Italy for work. In this job, I can be quite
flexible and manage my hours around their schedules, but sometimes
I need to go and be with the team. So
on this occasion, I've been away for about ten days
working before my husband brought everyone over and my parents
just happened to be in Italy too, so we all
met up at Rome Airport and jumped in a car
to make our way to Florence. These first meals in
(17:39):
Italy are often our favorite of the trip. It's probably
because we're remembering trips past and what's going to come forward.
And I guess this was no exception. I had planned
to stop at a winery that we know and love,
but we were running behind schedule, and I managed to
find this roadhouse where they cook meat in a wood
(17:59):
fight oven, and there's a lot of people in our
family that liked meat. So we had some ribs and
steak and another delicious salad, plus a few glasses of
kianti before my husband, who doesn't drink, drove us on
our merry way. It was so lovely having everyone around
the table in Italy enjoying a meal that I almost
(18:20):
forgot that I had been away from them for a while.
That place was in Tuscany, where they had well known
for their excellent meat cooking skills, but where you can
also find truffles another star of my most memorable meals.
The first time that I can recall was another special moment,
and it was a angry dash to a little pizzeria
(18:40):
in Bannidi Luca in northern Tuscany with my brother and
his kids. We'd all gathered there with my parents to
have a little holiday and a lovely villa, and I
think it had got pretty late. The kids were getting
a bit ratty, so we needed to get some pizza,
and I don't know, you know, when you've got the kids,
sometimes you're not looking too hard at the menu. But
(19:03):
somehow this menu item popped out that we just had
to try, and the pizza bianca with shaped truffles was
definitely that item. We still reminisce about that pizza, even
though it was over a decade ago. It was so simple,
just a sour dough crust cooked in a wood fired oven,
drizzled with olive oil and covered with shaved truffle and
(19:25):
maybe a sprinkle of salt. The simple things are often
the best, aren't they. That memory came rushing back earlier
this year when I was at a small local eatery
in the hills of Umbria with my friend Sarah and
sal and we enjoyed an omelet. We shaved truffles, sitting
outside as the sun dipped below the horizon, beckoning the
crickets and fireflies to come out to play. That omelet
(19:48):
only cost eight euros and it was I reckon as good,
if not better, than some of the Michelin stuff dishes
that I've tasted in the past. This meal came at
the end of the busy trip and I was ready
to go home to my family, but I felt relaxed
and grateful at the same time. Italy will really do
that too. The last memory I want to share is
(20:09):
from Sicily, and it was my first bite of proper
carnolo in the beautiful town of Ortisia. Nothing can ever
prepare you for the crunch of the pastry and the smooth,
slightly sweet ricotta of a properly made canolo. It is
delicious and if you're a food lover, you should definitely
detour to Sicily to try one. I guess it's no
wonder our kids are quite the gourmetze when many of
(20:30):
their first food moments are like this one. No regrets here,
although sometimes I would like to try the oysters and
canolo I ordered for myself. Our first Sicilian canolo was
a finishing touch to another beautiful day in Sicily, and
I really wish all of you have a daylight that yourselves. Luckily,
we have some guests there right now, and their photos
(20:52):
and their wonder seeing their reactions to moments like this
are just priceless. I love it so to some all
this up. I think it's really important to stop and
remember core moments and whatever triggers them, whether it's food
places or something else. Our lives are just so busy.
Days and nights roll into one, and sometimes you're going
so fast you can't remember what you did yesterday, let
(21:14):
alone last week or last year. My traveling memories and
food experiences have evolved a lot since that first trip,
starting in Lake Gata. Once, I was in awe of
visual cues, but I guess now, in the days of
Instagram and NonStop visual stimulation, it's other senses that provide
that sense of wonder. Let's just hope they never figure
out a way to deliver sense, taste, and touch by
(21:36):
a computer, because that would be a bit depressing if
you ask me. Another thing I noticed while compiling this
list is that it's not just the food and what
it tasted like, but who I was with and how
I felt at the time. Simple food plus grade company
and often a beautiful setting seems to be the magic
formula here. And as I'm talking, I guess if we
(21:57):
were to describe a formula for our tours and how
we wish you could all travel and experience Italy, then
I guess that would be it. Simple and delicious food,
great company and a beautiful setting perfeto, don't you think.
As my friend Maria wrote in her latest book Munja,
which was published last year, yes, food nourishes us, but
(22:18):
it is so much more than that. Food feeds the soul,
and memories of it are some of the most powerful.
I couldn't agree more, and that's why your Italian food
experiences are undoubtedly going to be some of your favorites.
I'd love to hear some of your food and other
memories of Italy. Let us know in the comments section
for this episode on Spotify, or drop us a line
(22:39):
on the app or via email to Chao at untold
Italy dot com. I put the details where I have them,
and some photos of these meals and dishes into the
show notes on our website at Untold Italy dot com
Forward slash two ninety five for episode number two hundred
and ninety five. That's one good thing about this endless imagery.
At least it helps me remember things. But at the
(23:01):
end of the day, the real memories lie in all
of the senses before I go. You know, we absolutely
love hearing your feedback and reviews. It's what keeps Untold
Italy growing and it helps more Italy loving travelers just
like you find us. If you enjoyed this episode, please
think about leaving us a rating or review in your
favorite publiccast app. And if you'd like to go deeper,
(23:23):
our Untold Italy Premium app has ad free episodes plus
curated travel guides to inspire your next Italian adventure. Next week,
we're exploring more about wonderful Untold Italy and I can't
wait to share it with you, But until then, it's
chow for now.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
The Untold Italy podcast is an independent production podcast editing,
audio production and website development by Mark Hatter Production assistance
and content writing fib are. They KG Clark, Yes, there
are two of us. For more information about Untold Italy,
please visit untold Italy dot com To pot
Speaker 1 (24:05):
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