Cavalock and The European Knockers

What else did I eat in Italy, or Tuscany to be exact, that I really liked? Tuscan soup or ribollita I think, the first one I ordered was like a warm bowl of hearty homegrown, homemade veggie goodness. From what I understand (I could be wrong here), there are more than one version of this traditional broth, depending on the season and availability of local ingredients.

It’s mainly beans and other veggies cooked over a low heat. Then you pour it in a large ovenproof dish with a couple thin layers of bread in it although I think in some joints, they’ll serve the bread on top? Ribollita means ‘re-boiled’ and that’s what you do to the soup, reheating it over a very low heat. People were talking to me while I was having it and I just ignored them. :P

Someone ordered a sea platter that was just amazing. Like the Florentine steak, it was a simple dish yet something I’m won’t ever forget. Some mussels, clams, baby squid, lemon, garlic, spices and I’m pretty sure some olive oil too. Thought I took a pix of it but I guess not. :(

But if you are looking for way cooler Italian and French food posts from Singaporeans, there are some here and here.

Besides taking a ton of food pix, something else caught my camera eye too, Italian knockers! Some big, some small but all so eye-catchingly designed and every single one of them a work of art.

Hmmmm … didn’t see a lot of knockers in Paris. These three were the more attention grabbing French ones.

Cavalock and The Rainbow Ride

No matter how hard we try I don’t think we can never get such a vivid and vibrant display of fruity veggie goodness in our local supermarkets or wet markets. I dunno if it’s the natural lighting or maybe the produce were all just freshly transported from the fields or something, but they just look so damn good back in Italy and France.

A roadside rainbow from a little town called Siena in Italy

I think It’s also how the Italians and French display their fruits, see how there’s a little color coordinated arrangement or with the bright French fruit display. Notice the berries on sale in Siena are like, red, blue, red, blue, etc. Know what I mean? <^;^>

Fruit stall in Paris 

Anyone likes cars out there? Here are some fancy car pix just for you. Being in this garage in Florence was pretty surreal. It’s all hush hush, can’t talk bout it but it was like Grand Thief Auto meets The Italian Job. ;)

Cavalock and The Florentine Steak Fascination

One of the cool things bout travelling is you meet some pretty interesting folks. Met two nice American couples on separate occasions in Tuscany, both in their 50s or early 60s I think. One couple was from the east coast, the other from the mid west. You can tell they are professionals, maybe retired. Remarkable thing is the guys or gentlemen are Asians (Chinese). I mean they probably got married bout 30 years ago and I just kept wondering what was it like for a young white American girl to marry an Asian guy back then. Blame the anthropologist part of my past. ;)

Anyway, back to food again, one of my favorite dishes while in Florence was its famous Florentine beefsteak. Here’s what I was told bout it by the locals, young beef steak weighing a kilo (bone included), at least 2cm thick and you are supposed to share it with another lucky person. Cooked simply with salt and pepper over a charcoal fire, followed by a trickle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Well, Osteria dall’Oste is a restaurant in Florence near the Central Railway Station, where I had my first (and hopefully not my last) Florentine steak. They had a slightly smaller portion for one on the menu so that’s what I ordered. Saw other tables having it too so I knew it had to be good. Tender, juicy, delicious, just bout everything good you can say bout a steak are just gonna come outta your lips when you take a bite. I believe lotsa other joints around Florence has it on their menu too so if you are into meat, don’t forget to take a stab at it when in the city.

Excellent moist Tiramisu. Others I had in Italy were a little 'harder' and drier.

Your steak before it shows up on your table.

More meat on display!

Hungry yet?

Now if you are young and in love in Florence, you might be tempted to do something like this, write your names on a padlock, then lock it on some public property and your love will last forever. There are times like these when I wish I still had my old lock-picking toolkit with me.

Cavalock and The Magnum Manifestation

At this rate I'm going, it'll be one food post a day. Hah, still on the topic of sweet Italian munchies. Snapped these all over Rome and Tuscany, I didn't have a chance to try all of them so I don't know which is sweet or savory. Now this is just the ones from Italy, I ain't gotten to the ones from Paris yet! ;)

Then a quick pop into an Italian supermart. Saw these that I have yet to find in our local marts. But really, in a land filled with wonderful gelato, would anyone still want this?

Now for something not exactly food related but I thought these were kinda amusing. Long shopping Qs and you thought they only happen around this part of the world.

The folks below were Q-ing for limited edition action figures. Not! It's a place where you get to meet a lot of nasty, rude people from China. They may be young and rich but I think we all know how they or their folks got their $$$.

Remember how we got young people Q-ing at H&M? In Paris, we got lotsa little old French ladies Q-ing outside Marks and Spencer under dark clouds and single-digit temp! Eat that, local teens! I bet none of our hipsters can stand in the cold like these aunties!

OK, I'm not sure what they were lining up for but I did notice some of them left carrying bags of food items, not knickers. :P

Cavalock and The Italian Dessert Trail

Needless to say, I seriously upped my 'gastronomical' experience in Italy and France. Had wonderful food that I could never ever savor back home. This wasn't my first time there actually, was in Nice, France (and a little Italian border town) for a week a lifetime ago on my first overseas assignment. But I was totally still wet behind the ears and a virgin in every sense of the word. Not a really a foodie, oblivious to certain elements but some things never change. After all these years, only English channel on French and Italian TV is still CNN! :P

Well, I sure as hell enjoyed my meals a whole lot more during this trip. I ain't kidding when I say everything looked incredibly tempting. Don't believe me? Take a look at these desserts and snacks I snapped in Rome and Florence.

You can't talk bout Italian desserts without Gelato. I actually went to Gelateria di Piazza, the Gelato World Champ shop in Siena, Tuscany but that was closed till Spring next year. :( So I had to settle for these other gelato shots. Yah, poor me! ;)

Some ice-cream cakes in Rome that I had no chance of trying.

And after watching all those episodes of Cake Boss, I finally had my first canole in Italy. It's basically a piece of rolled up fried pastry dough filled with sweet cream containing ricotta. Seriously, where can I find canole back home here?!?

Cavalock and The Italian Cappuccino Connection

If there's anyone still reading this, I know I haven't updated it but I'm back from Italy and France!

So would you believe a special invite from the Vatican to check out certain 'forgotten' tomes and manuals? Hah, anyway check this out. First night in Rome and I woke up to several unexplained bruises and scratches on my arm. Such paranormal manifestations were expected as some of the places I was at would have set a PKE meter off its dial.

OK, I know no one really wants to see that. Rome was my first stop and it was simply a freakin' delight to drink cups and cups of cappuccinos with delicious Italian pastries everyday. What really impressed me are the Italian coffee joints with the baristas working the long expresso machines. People on their way would come in, order a cup, stand and drink it at the coffee/bar counter, then leave. Fast and easy, why can't we have something like that here? Screw Starbucks! No wonder I couldn't see one at all in Rome or Florence.

My first snack on a very sunny morning in Rome

That's the counter where you stand and drink your cuppa (or to go), then you scram!

Geez, I got so many food pix to show, it's gonna be pretty tough to pick them out. Alright, how bout these cappuccino shots to start things off. Lotsa more yummy food pix and some crazy stuff coming up real soon. Leave a comment or tick below! <^;^>