Euro Seafood, Meats and Miscllaneous Meals!

Welcome to the meaty portion of the blog.  In the series of pictures below you'll see some new meats, some familiar ones, and some seafood, and plates of food we enjoyed which encompassed both meats and veggies.  I don't have a picture of it, but my favourite meat I had on our whole trip was wild BOAR! Who would have thought!  Killed just outside of Troia by our friend Mario Lo Storto, and devoured at his and his wife's place soon after.  Who would have thought wild boar would be so delicious!  Now onto our meaty adventure, follow along!

This first picture is a fabulous seafood meal we enjoyed in the town of Troia with Matteo and Santina.  (Guisy and Maria maybe you can help me with proper names of these seafood delicacies in the comments on the blog.)  This was a treat, and VERY delicious.  On the left are deep fried sardines, tail, bones, skin included.  On the right there is one piece of delicious salmon left.  I wouldn't have expected Salmon to taste so delicious in Europe because I am used to the wild pacific delicious salmon of Canada, but let me tell you this salmon was good!  Beside the salmon on that right plate is a creature called Cicala  It is a delicious meditteranean treat!  It is a type of shell fish, with meat that is similar to crab/prawn texture inside.  This was a fun piece of seafood to eat as you had to bite the shell, keep teeth clenched, and inch the meat out of the shell and into your mouth.  Really a delicious treat.Thank you Matteo and Santina!

This is outside of Torino in the compagna (country side) at Ennio (seen in picture - cousin to Jon's dadio Vincenzo) and Maria's house.  Ennio built this stove and cooked us delicious delicious meat on it!  So much food!

Large and in charge freshly made sausages covering pork, with parsley and rosemary on top.

Close up on the meat!  We've got sausage, huge chicken legs, shish-ka-bob type things, and pork chops.  Cooked to perfection.

The finished product from the outdoor oven, oh I see some pork under there!

Now, this is a type of soufflé with potato, mushrooms and "prosciutto cotto". Yum!

Some of the every day delicious meats that we got to devour, this was part of one of our lunches in Torino.

Aaah Risotto, how I love thee.  Risotto Milanese (in Milan!).  Now, people who are reading this, I dare you to make a risotto.  Just give it a try!  It takes a bit of attentiveness but it is sooooo worth it.  After these euro blogs are done, we will post our favourite risotto recipe we make here at home.

Here is a plate of eggplant that was dipped in egg and fried.  I call this... egged eggplant.  Very nice, and adds some protein to your veggies! Milan, Italy.  One other thing that was egged and fried was the flower from zuchinni plants.  In Canada we through them away.... fools... they taste good, save them from your garden this summer, dip them in egg and salt and pepper and fry them up and devour!  They are nice to eat!

Now don't judge... we had half devoured it before we took the picture because it was so delicious, so we obviously ruined the initial visual appeal.  This was a delicious and unique dish Maria Livorno made for us in Troia in the south of Italy.  So what we have here is an egg mixture, that was somehow wrapped in delicious meat and cooked so that the egg solidified within the meat roll, and then the classic fresh and tasty tomato sauce was added on top.  Fine dining.  Hey Francesca or Maria (granddaughters of Maria), any tips on how to make this? Add to the comments at the bottom of the blog :)

Very common to have these placed in front of you at the beginning of a meal in Italy.  Sliced meats, fresh and aged cheese, and pickled olives, onions and mushrooms.  Man did I love the cheese over there.  And don't forget the cold white wine in the top right corner!

Over to Malta, we had a classic Maltese "sandwich".  It is called Hobs b'zeit.  (sounded HOBS - BIZ - ATE).  This is a bun that has tomato paste slathered on either side of the bun, chopped up green olives spread in the bun, canned tuna packed in the centre of the bun, and then, the magic ingredient..... olive oil.  Now when a non-maltese Canadian (like myself Heather) hears the ingredient list, a warning sign "weird combo weird combo weird combo" should go off.  I had politely avoided this sandwich in Canada but figured it was time for me to test it out in it's homeland of Malta.... and it was delicious.  No regrets... only more please :)

Fresh fish in a local market in Malta, there for the buying!

Fish Fish, who wants fish, we got lots of fish,in Malta, we live on an island, can you tell?  Maltese Market.  A common fish to eat and enjoy in Malta is called, Lampuki, a nice choice of seafood. When buying Lampuki, you need to look in their eyes and see if they are cloudy or clear.  If the eyes are cloudy, the Lampuki is not fresh, if it's clear, it is good to buy as it as fresh as can be!

These were neat looking fish, we certainly don't have these in Canada, Fan-Fri Friski Meditteranean, there for the taking and eating!

Look at the size of those TUNA's! Malta's got access to BIG TUNA!

The national dish of Malta is Rabbit, and that is what we have here! Very nice and delicious and lean meat.  I would recommend Canadian's start eating rabbit.  It tastes good, and rabbits are rampant!

Often dishes are served with greenery on the bottom of the plate, adds colour to the meal and incorporates a little more veggies to your regular meal, it sure looks fancy when you just cover your plate with lettuce and then add your dish on top.  Try it out!

This is stuffed zuchinni and fries.  The zuchinni is stuffed with onions, bacon, ground beef, corn beef, and cheese.  This was served to us at the Blue Grotto on the island of Malta.

Stewed mushrooms in a gravy sauce, pan fried zuchinni, boiled carrots and peas, boiled potatos topped with parsley as the herbs, and a thick chicken breast covered in a creamy cheese sauce.  Well this concludes the meats and seafood and some of the meals we devoured on our trip.  There is a lot to learn and experiment with at home, with the tips from our European friends, family and travels.  Tell us your thoughts! Ciao! Jon and Heather