Food in Europe

Food.

Europe is famous for the varieties of foods that span its cultures. While in Switzerland, Italy, and Portugal, I was privileged to be fed native foods with cultural importance. In Italy, I tried the Pizza. In Switzerland, I was treated to be fed a number of native foods, but the one I considered the most important culturally was the Raclette cheese. In Portugal, I was fed bacalhau com natas - codfish served in a creamed casserole. All of these foods were different from any American food I have eaten, and each was delicious.

I had preconceived notions about what pizza is, since it is wildly popular in America. I had eaten pizza in Europe before, but I had never eaten it in Italy. I consider this important because Italy is known for its pizza and its pasta. While in Milan and Bergamo, I noticed pizza restaurants on every corner. They were as common in Italy as patisseries are in France. Since pizzerias are so common in Italy, I naturally assumed that the Italians make the best pizza. I was not disappointed.

The pizza I ate was simple, and it was not large. Also, it was not expensive. It was a simple pizza of meats and cheeses with a very thin crust. My pizza also had mushrooms on it. I ate the pizza with a knife and fork because the pizza had not been sliced as is normally the custom in America. The pizza was delicious. After we ate, we paid for our Pizza at the counter and headed for the station to catch our train to Bergamo.

Given the commonality of pizza in Italy, I would imagine they consider pizza to much be much more of a staple food than a luxury meal. The cafe we ate in was small, and football jerseys lined the walls. There were no more than five tables, and the service was simple and very non-extravagant. I was not displeased with this - I wanted a simple meal to fill me up and keep me going, and this meal hit the spot.

In Switzerland, the Raclette cheese is a very cultural meal. Only the Swiss make Raclette, and it is consumed in a very proper manner. The Raclette must first be melted before it's eaten. It's too hard to cut it off the block and eat it like a normal cheese. It's eaten with meats and other heavy foods. Most importantly, one must drink warm drinks in order to allow the Raclette to digest properly. If cold drinks are consumed at the same time, I was told that the Raclette would harden up and that I would end up unhappy and constipated. So, I drank herbal teas and hot chocolate along with my Raclette and meat. It was a very heavy and very warm meal. I didn't think I'd ever be cold again after eating that meal. I slept very well that night. I had no preconceived notions about the food before eating it, and was excited to try something new and different. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.

And finally, my favorite and the closest to my heart: bacalhau com natas. Bacalhau (codfish) is the common man's food in Portugal. This fish is unique for several reasons. First, it's sold salted and dry in Portuguese grocery stores. Bacalhau doesn't keep well frozen, and so the Portuguese salt it to preserve it. In order to make the fish edible and appealing to the taste, it must be drowned in fresh water to desalinate the fish. The water is drained and refilled several times to remove all the salt. It is then sliced, chopped, ground, and cooked in a hundred different ways. I only tried one of these ways on the trip, which also happens to be one of the most common methods of preparation and my favorite: a casserole with a lot of cheese and a lot of cream.

To be honest, I knew that the bacalhau was going to be delicious because I had eaten it many times before when I served my LDS mission in Portugal. We were not disappointed by our gracious hosts who had spent a lot of time and a lot of effort in preparing a full meal for us. The food was excellent, and there was so much of it that we were unable to eat it all. Scott, Cody and I slept very well that night in Lisbon.

In closing, I would like to attempt to encapsulate the European attitude toward food that I have been able to observe in my experiences abroad. Europeans don't eat to live - they live to eat. I love European food. It has quality.