sperlonga paradiso

shortly after touching down in rome, we hopped a train south about an hour and fifteen minutes to the paradise known as sperlonga. this small beach town is situated about halfway between roma and napoli in what is known as the riviera di ulisse, or riviera of ulysses (homer's odysseus). the emperor tiberius built a summer villa in sperlonga around 20CE with sculptures recounting episodes from homer's odyssey in a seaside grotta.

though we didn't visit the villa or museum (open to the public), we did soak up some more modern flavor in town.

we stopped in a small supermercati, and i saw this pony pop near the cheese case. i just snapped a quick, washed-out pic for my friends at home who have a lovely dog named "pony."

although "supermercati" describes quite a different kind of store than our "super market," i think what distinguishes a supermercati from an alimentari are the extras like shampoo, plastic bags, and cleaning products. anyhow...

this picture and the one below are from an alimentari just down the street form the supermercati. this place had all the goods i wanted. it was super small, and the entrance was so low i had to duck a little bit so i didn't swipe my head on the awning. this place was perfect, though. they had a mini milk carton full of simpson's chocolate cookies that i wanted, but didn't really want. i tried to snap them in this photo, but i missed. i was trying to be discreet since taking pictures of everything seems so invasive.

the cookies in the beige bags are a big brand, mulino bianco (white mill), which is basically like our nabisco. these jammies are good, though, and sans preservatives.

this shady shot is of their tinned fish and jarred items. damn, i miss all this stuff. their cheapo canned tonno is the shit, and basically anything in a glass jar is guaranteed to be delicious and salty. sign me up.

after touring both the supermercati and alimentari, we ended up picking up some goodies from a meat shop with a tavola calda ("hot table" aka hot case). it really wasn't a hot case, but more of a cold case, i suppose. m. guzzled a peach nestea, and we shared some frutti di mare (fruits of the sea, aka seafood salad in lemon and olive oil), a piece of pizza rossa, and a bag of taralli that i picked up at the alimentari.

taralli are one of my favorite italian snacks. they're basically cracker rings made out of flour, white wine, olive oil, salt, and a flavor, if you opt for one. i got the fennel seed because that's my favorite. damn, i miss these. i bought some over at PFI the other day, but they weren't nearly as crisp and fresh tasting. they also only had olive oil or garlic flavors, boo.

i'm going to look up a recipe for taralli so i can know the secret and be inducted into this mystery cult of deliciousness.

we ate insalata di mare (seafood salad) all over roma and sperlonga. this one was tasty. i saved a few leftovers in our minifridge to savor later that day. mmm. i love anything swimming in olive oil. there's nothing like fresh, meaty squid. damn this was good.

The Sound of Spring: CheapCheap, CheapCheap

i love seattle deli. it's cheap. it's tasty. it's simple. and it's consistent. (omg, hilarious that this came up in a google search for "cheap, tasty, consistent.") seattle deli's major downfall has nothing to do with the food; it's the parking. the lot is tiny, compact, and just off of 12th and boren, which is a cluster eff on the weekends. however, if you're brave enough to weather this s-storm, a green papaya salad with shrimp is in your future for only $3.50.

above is the cold case, which is full of tapioca, rice desserts, banana leaf-wrapped steamed rice and meat, and a bevy of other unidentifiable items.

the hot case houses several prepared meat and vegetarian dishes which vary daily, but often include some sort of fried chicken stir-fry, a saucy, chili-spiked tofu, various fried rices, soups, sizzled green beans, and seafood dishes.

right at the cashier is the spread of plastic-wrapped, room temperature foods, such as vermicelli salads with beef, tofu, or shrimp, green papaya salads, fried onion tofu, and several glutinous rice desserts. in addition to the shrimp green papaya salad featured below, i also picked up some coconut-covered, glutinous rice strips that come with a dime bag of a salt, crushed peanut, and sugar mixture for dipping. it's the tiny package that looks like pink, white, yellow, and green gummy bears in the front row, if you're curious.

this salad is great. i almost forgot to take a picture because i was so excited to eat it. in fact, this picture is taken about 3/4 of the way through it. damn you, appetite! the simplicity of this salad is exactly what i love about it. it's only shredded green papaya, cilantro, purple basil, and butterflied, boiled shrimp. it's dressed in the traditional epitome of sweet/savory sauces: fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and chili. delicious.

the salad and dessert set me back about $6.00. i wish i saved the receipt so i could tell you exactly how much it all was, but i handed a five and two one's and there was a handful of change.