The Meal of a Lifetime -- Tutti Bene!

Last evening, we had dinner as a whole school at a ristorante near the palazzo Santa Croce. It was the festival of the birth of Mary and many Florentines were out in celebration at the palazzos surrounding chiese (churches).
Our dinner began with a vino blanco (white wine) with antipasti (appetizers). We had 6 appetizers that came out in different rounds. The first appetizer was Brucceta which is common in America and was fairly similar to how it is there. The next was a large but thin slice of cantaloupe with thinly sliced ham covering it. I know this one sounds really weird and I was really concerned to try it because I hate cantaloupe and it usually makes me get hives and itch, but I tried it anyway because the chef personally delivered the food and stayed to see how we liked it. He kept asking "Tutto bene?" which means is everything good. Well the cantaloupe and ham was delicious, seriously try it! The next appetizer was a pesto sauce covering some kind of bean or nut and it was also amazing. The fourth dish was a tomato hollowed and filled with a bread crumb and sauce, I did not know any of the details of the dish but it was very good. Dish number five was a past salad dish that had chicken, kalamata olives, shaved almonds and potatos in it, it was just okay. The last antipasto was a dry and crunchy bread with a sausage and cheese sauce on it which was delicious.

At this time our attention was directed outside of the restaurant where a festival for the birth of Mary was happening in the piazzo Santa Croce. Many small children were carrying lamps called, rificocolone, that were any sort of shape made out of paper and decorated that had candles lit in the middle of them and they lined up towards the church in the square. The rest of the children were carrying large straws which you shoot spitball like pieces of play-doh out at the lamps that the other children are holding attempting to hit the lamp and knock it down or blow the light out. The children with the lamps represent good children and the children with the straws are the bad children. It was quite the site and live music was played in the square while this went on.

When we returned to the restaurant that was the end of the antipasto and it was time for the primo dishes or the true first course. This is served with a rossa vino, a pink wine, and is usually all pasta dishes. Out first pasta which was our 7th course of the meal was a meat ravioli with a simple olive oil and spices sauce. The next pasta, Course 8, was a carbonara with spiral noodles, I am sad to say I forget what the Italian name for the type of noodle is. Carbonara is a ham and peas with a white sauce, so delicious. The last dish, course 9!, was a spicy red pasta sauce over penne noodles.

The third part of the meal which was the last course would normally have been a meat and a rosso vino, or a heavy red wine, but everyone was so sickly full that we skipped to the dessert portion of the meal. So course 10 was a pie cut piece of fudge drizzled with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce.

I was so full by the end of the meal I was sick but it was all amazing food. And then we walked 2 miles home to our apartment and slept like babies, full of good wine and amazing food.

Tutti Bene - Everything is good!