It's no secret that the food in Italy is exquisite. It is more than a simple cliché. However, for someone with a wheat allergy, living here can (almost) turn into a nightmare. The temptation to "treat" yourself ("Just this once...") is just around every corner. And before you know it your liver is giving you trouble, or that rash on your cheeks comes back and won't go away...
The following are my top ten teasers... you have been warned.
1) Brioche - the Italian answer to the French croissant, sometimes referred to as a "cornetto" or a "pasta", depending on the location and the specific product. It is THE companion to your breakfast cappuccino, almost a staple for the sweet-toothed.
2) Focaccia - no matter what anyone else tells you, there is nothing like the real thing anywhere outside of Liguria. It is the savoury alternative to a brioche at breakfast time, with onions on top or just plain. The other thing that makes it so tempting is that it can be eaten at any time of the day and is usually the cheapest solution to an empty stomach.
3) Focaccia di Recco or Focaccia al Formaggio - completely different from ordinary focaccia, it is even made with a different quality of flour. Two paper-thin yet elastic layers surround a hot, runny middle layer of stracchino cheese. Once you are aquainted with the standard version, try any of the infinite varieties of toppings, much like on a pizza.
4) Pizza, obviously - whatever the shape, size or thickness, pizza is and forever will be my favourite forbidden food. In some places you may find your pizza is made with stracchino cheese instead of mozzarella.
5) Pasta - trofie al pesto, to begin with, is THE traditional dish in this area. Then lasagne, cannelloni, ravioli (or the local version, pansoti), or just plain and simple pasta with a tomato sauce (no ketchup!), two basil leaves, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese... I know many Italians who don't consider it a meal unless there's pasta in it (and even then, for some it has to be a specific type of pasta).
6) Bread/Grissini - grissini are bread sticks. You don't want those skinny white things that come in single-portion sachets at restaurants, you want the giant, rustic-looking things you buy directly from the bakery (a "panificio" is the place you're looking for). The bread is, well... bread. In all shapes and sizes. If it weren't for my allergy to wheat, I could live on bread and cheese alone, quite happily. There are thousands of different kinds, and most people know the specific name of the specific bread they are looking for. After nearly two decades in this country, I still just point to the one I want.
7) Torta Pasqualina - traditionally an Easter-time speciality (Pasqua means Easter), but usually available all year round, this is a local spinach pie with whole boiled eggs and ricotta cheese. There are various recipes. In many bakeries you can buy a wedge of pie and just eat it while you walk.
8) Crostata - a "pasta frolla" cake (judging by taste, I'd have to say the base is flour, butter, and sugar in almost equal parts), with just about any topping you can think of. The most common are with apricot or strawberry or cherry jam, with nutella, or with fresh fruit in a sort of gelatine.
9) Biscotti del Lagaccio - they look like oblique slices of baguette, only they are sweet and crunchy! The ideal dipping biscuit, it goes well with hot chocolate, or tea, or a caffè latte in winter, and easily passes the dunking test by reaching your mouth before it breaks... most of the time.
10) Panini - can basically be any kind of bread with any kind of filling. There are now a number of tiny (really tiny) shops around the city with windows jam-packed full of cold meats, cheeses, and various fresh or pickled vegetables to choose from. You just walk in, choose the single ingredients from about a hundred alternatives, and they put it all together right before your eyes. The original, and much older versions of these shops are to be found in the "sottoripa" area, just behind the aquarium. Try wild boar sausage (cut in slices, salame style) with the "misto piccante" (spicy vegetable mix), just for example. You will not regret it.
Of course, the list could go on and on, but these should give you an idea. As you can see, if you have a wheat allergy, eating can be quite challenging in this country , especially if you are eating out.
The irony in all this is that I had allergy tests just recently, and I have now been told that I do not, in fact, have a wheat allergy. I don't know if that means that I don't have one any more or if I never did, but it would appear I have tortured myself over this for years for no reason (other than having had other tests years ago that told me I did).
Maybe being surrounded by all this good stuff just made it go away...
