Can Vegies eat in Italy?
Maurice Weitman
to Italy next May, and we've heard it's pretty tough for those
who don't eat meat fish and meat to make it there. While we
usually don't eat eggs or dairy, we are prepared to do so if
necessary. We plan on taking three weeks to visit Roma, Venezia
and Firenze, spending most of that time in the latter two cities.
If any of you vegie-netters could share your experiences with us,
or point us to some other sources of information, we'd really
appreciate it. Net-mail would be swell, and I'd be happy to post
or mail summaries of any responses to those interested.
AtDhVaAnNkCsE,
Ciao, (chow?)
Maurizio
--
Quote: "The police aren't here to create disorder, they're here
to preserve disorder." Mayor Richard J. Daly, Chicago, 1968
Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling, tact or fact are transmission errors.
Maurice Weitman 9600 ..!{dual,hplabs,lll-crg,ptsfa,glacier}!well!mo
| 57600 (415)549-0280 voice (415)549-0388 modem-2400
this^is not 300 mcimail mweitman
a pipe 110 P. O. Box 10019 Berkeley, CA 94709
leim...@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu
I found it pretty hard to eat veggie anywhere in Europe when I was there
last. I am ovo-lacto and usually don't eat fish, but I did a few times
while there. I never reached the point where I was forced to eat meat
by starvation, but I sure ate a lot of bread and pasta!
If you will eat ovo-lact, here are some things you CAN eat:
Pasta - most of the pasta comes with meatless tomato sauce
(or can be ordered that way). Be explicit:
"sono vegetariano"
Salads - Usually just a bunch of bitter lettuce, but it helps to
make you FEEL like you're eating healthy food, anyway.
"insalata verde" or "insalata miste" (which has a few
chunks of tomato if you are lucky)
Pizza - Seems to be available everywhere north of Florence.
Usually there are ten or twenty kinds and you can order
"pizza ala fromaggi" (cheese), "ala fungi" (shrooms)
Do not order "Il Quattro Stagione" which has meat.
Eggs - "Omelletta" are often available and good. My family spent
a year in Europe when I was young, and I remember that my
brother (who is very picky about food) survived on omelets
and Coca-Cola.
Pesto is traditional (Bolognese, I think), but it is not easy to find in the
off season (i.e. before July, say), it is most often used as a flavoring or
garnish (for example in soups) and not as a sauce for pasta. "Pasta
primavera" is as American as a New York Yuppie. I never saw "fettucine
Alfredo" on a menu in Italy.
Soups are virtually all made from Chicken stock, as far as I could tell.
Beans (which usually can only be found in soups) are seasoned with pork
or veal. Lasagna and other stuffed pastas generally had meat in them.
During the day, the simplest (cheapest) lunch is bread and cheese (and fruit,
if you can find it) which you can get at any trattoria. I confess that I ate
ice cream ("gelato") for lunch more times than I can count.
Good luck and enjoy your trip!
Ben Leimkuhler
andrea severino
> Pizza - Seems to be available everywhere north of Florence.
North of Florence??? You'll find it anywhere !!! It is actually more
traditional in Naples.
>
> Pesto is traditional (Bolognese, I think), but it is not easy to find in the
> off season (i.e. before July, say), it is most often used as a flavoring or
> garnish (for example in soups) and not as a sauce for pasta. "Pasta
> primavera" is as American as a New York Yuppie. I never saw "fettucine
> Alfredo" on a menu in Italy.
>
The pesto sauce is traditional from Genova but you'll hardly found it in
restaurants...Pesto is used MOSTLY for pasta dishes and I never seen it in
soups (in 25 years)
Pasta primavera IS italian...
Fettuccine Alfredo are more common
in the south of Italy but under different names you'll get something close
to it across Italy...
> Soups are virtually all made from Chicken stock, as far as I could tell.
Quite generalized...
If you are vegetarian try most of the vegetable dishes in Italy!!
There are a lot of them as side dishes and they are great!
The fruits are also great! Just keep telling them "vegetariano..."
Ciao, buona fortuna ...
Andrea