4 Oct, Day 52, Cardinal Gastronomy

I took the train into Milano to have dinner with Camillo and his family. Camillo was one of the first people I contacted back in February when I decided that I would make an earnest attempt at finding a job in Italy. We’ve kept in touch as I’ve asked him for advice numerous times.

I got out of the Metro in the piazza Argentina, to find no less than 9 streets criss-crossing the little piazza. But after 2 laps around the piazza that I interrupted several times to consult the map, I managed to deduce which one would take me the right way. But soon I arrived at Camillo’s apartment where I met his wife and nephew. The conversation soon switched to Italian. (I’m always happy to practice anyway.) As we recounted some common memories of Stanford.

The meal started off with an appetizer of a white wine, seeded green olives, and some mildly salted chips –somewhat like Tostitos. Then we moved the table where I was treated to some typical food of Tuscany. We switched to red wine and started with something like a baked pancake made of chick-peas (If I understood it correctly). It reminded me of a moist pie crust without much sugar. –Really good! Then was some beef marinated in wine overnight and some mashed and baked potato croquets. Dessert was a home-made tiramisu and thimble-sized chalice of sweet wine. I believe my tiramisu standards are pretty high as I used to eat it all the time when I worked in a gourmet Mediterranean-food restaurant, but this blew it away.

I left in a hurry to get to the Central station before the last train to Monza leaves at 12:30, but I really enjoyed the company, and I hope we can meet up again. If I knew how to cook anything respectable I’d invite them over. Maybe if I import a George Forman grill I can start treating people to authentic grad-school cuisine--- I’m sure they’ll love it!