30 Day Writer's Challenge | Day 5

Food.  Oh, glorious food.  I think food is something that most Americans hate.  At least those that look at it and think "How many calories am I eating?" or "How long will I need to walk to eat this?" or my personal favorite "OMG, that will go straight to my thighs."  Sure, we should all be conscious of what we are consuming, but it should not be to the point where we are constantly obsessing over the calories and carbs and fats.  If you saw the movie Eat Pray Love, you heard Julia Robert's quote as she's eating pizza in Pizza da Michele.  (Hint: It's also the same quote that I reference at the end of my first challenge, here.)  Why can't we all have this mentality?

People eat for different reasons.  People eat when they're sad, depressed, anxious, happy.  We even eat when there's nothing better to do...but do we eat to ENJOY it anymore?  Now, I did not get this incredible body eating only celery smeared with peanut butter.  I do enjoy food, oh so very much!  Food is something to have a relationship with.  Living in Italy for 5 weeks has taught me that food should be fresh.  We shouldn't be eating the processed meats and cheeses or really anything processed.  There aren't pasteurization laws for eggs.  It was a complete shock to walk into the grocery store to see eggs just sitting out on the counter.  And they're really good!!  Different, but good.  Tasting the difference in just the eggs made me wonder, are the chemicals that we're pumping into our food changing the taste?  Well, duh!  Why wouldn't they?

I saw Eat Pray Love with a group of other gals.  I sat next to my cousin's wife, Amanda.  At the scene where Julia Roberts and her friends are sitting around the table and she orders for everyone, Amanda leans to me and asks, "Did you eat that well when you were there?"  Oh man...my mind flashed back to the heavenly meals that we had at the Trattoria de Cagne.  Five-course dinners that left you stuffed at the end.  Yeah, we definitely ate that good.  At Cafe Poliziano I had a stewed Mediterranean chicken that was so scrumptious, I could have sucked the bones dry!  The pizza was something of a completely different taste than here!  All pizza was cooked in a brick oven which gave the crust a dry, smoky taste.  It was crispy and thin.  Pizza toppings were fresh and never loaded down with sauce.  A cheese pizza, or Margherita Pizza, is made with fresh mozzarella and basil.  Two tastes that explode in your mouth.  Crap...I'm drooling...

Should I go on?  Food in other cultures is such an amazing ordeal.  I got pissed when we would go into Rome and Florence and people would seek to find the McDonald's lingering around.  And as excited as I was to eat at Hard Rock Cafe in Venice, it still really does not compare to the masterpiece cuisines we ate every other night.  Food should be enjoyed.  I hate that as Americans we have become lazy with everything, including that.  I had Taco Bell for lunch the other day and afterward all I kept thinking was "How is this FOOD?"  I ate such amazing things in Italy.  That really is one of the main reasons I want to go back.  I miss having a relationship with my food. 

The picture above was taken at a dinner we had with a teacher and her family that was there.

It's bread with cream cheese, salmon spread, and caviar on top.

Those of you who know me, know I don't do caviar.  Well, this time I did.

And it was GLORIOUS.