If you are a seasoned world traveler, the food you experience in different locales is one of the most fascinating and of course delicious benefits for those who give in to their wanderlust. The Tuscan region of Italy is perhaps one of self-proclaimed foodie, Chantal Royer’s favorite places to sample the finest Italian cuisine. Imagine the varieties and flavors of something as diverse yet simple as pizza. With cheeses, sauces, dough, olive oils, meats, and more varying from town to town, the wonderful thing about Italy is you can savor pizzas all over the country and each one will be scrumptiously unique.
The landscape and old world charm one can enjoy on a leisure trip through Tuscany is the best, and the food is amazing, but thankfully, comparable Italian fair is easy to find in the United States. Take for instance the Northwest side 7200 block of Harlem Avenue in Chicago where many Italian immigrants established their neighborhoods after World War II. Fantastic family recipes were handed down through the generations, and so old-fashioned Italian cooking is still plentiful today in this primarily Italian business community.
If pepperoni and Hawaiian are your usual choices for pizza toppings, you have not lived. Authentic Italian pizzerias serve a delectable Margherita Napoletana, which is normally a thin, crisp crust topped with only the finest and freshest ingredients: crushed plum tomatoes, garlic, basil, and mozzarella. If vegetable pizza is your favorite, ask for Pizza al la Caponies and savor the roasted red peppers, with grilled eggplant, zucchini, and Portobello mushrooms. Then there are white pizzas that include garlic cream sauces and a flavorful array of cheeses that do not stop at mozzarella but include the wonderful tastes of provolone, Romano, gorgonzola, ricotta, and fontina.
Pizza is truly only the beginning of learning about and appreciating fine Italian food. If a trip through Florence, Naples, Pisa, or the small historic towns in the Tuscan Hills are not within your reach, the food of the region is definitely accessible. In many great cities in the United States, Italian families are knowledgeable and accomplished in the art of preparing the delicious cuisine of their ancestral home. As an added bonus, search out old world recipes, and Italian delicatessens to create the taste of Tuscany in your own home.
Day, Nicholas (April 22, 2005). Taste Quest Harlem Avenue. Retrieved from URL
http://www.timeoutchicago.com/restaurants-bars/48852/taste-quest-harlem-avenue
