Back in Italia – time for Barolo and farinata!
Landed back in Milan to find the city covered in a beautiful soft layer of snow, then somehow stayed awake for the 2 hour drive back to Genova, (thank God for SUVs and snow tires). A long hot shower and a glass of wine later, I started to feel human again. What is it about airplanes that makes you feel so dirty and tired? Thank God for noise canceling headsets and movies loaded onto my iPad. Please British Airways…you have seriously got to rethink your movie selection. Watched the movie Lucy and found myself continually looking around so see if other people were watching it in utter disbelief of how shockingly moronic the entire production was. As an Irish lass it was sheer torture to not be able to rant to anyone about the lunacy… was forced to console myself with a crumbly cookie and milk. Just wasn’t the same. Seriously, Scarlett Johansson (who I normally really enjoy) and Morgan Freeman (with a voice like hot buttered rum), what where you thinking? It was just painful.
Over the weekend I just had to visit one of my favorite restaurants in town down in Porto Antico, Tre Merli, where we had a bottle of 1990 Cannubi Barolo decanted a few hours before our arrival for maximal enjoyment while doing a bit of grocery shopping at Eataly, Genova’s answer to Whole Foods. Oh my was that vino buono! Incredibly soft, well balanced with just enough fruit to keep it interesting – my apologies – it is hard to describe wine sometimes without feeling like some ridiculous character out of Sideways! The color was a gorgeous raspberry-tinted rust that looked so lovely lit by candlelight. Had an unreal amount of sediment, but Tre Merli uses this beautiful silver strainer that help make it all so much more of a decadent ceremony. I think I have a serious Nebbiolo addiction. “Hi, my name is Elle, and I can’t fathom life without this particular grape.” I do realize how mental that sounds – ehhh – add it to the list. Then onto what can only be described as freakin’ heaven on earth, farinata, which originated in Genova. It has surpassed macaroni and cheese as my go-to comfort food.
If you ever get to Genova, make sure you indulge deeply in the local specialities of farinata, focaccia, pesto and the local white fish prepared in the Ligurian style with olives and pine nuts – bits of heaven. I used to not be a big fan of fish but the Mediterranean has taught me the joys of warmer water fish, so delicate and even a bit sweet! Buon Appetito!