slow food

“If you feed them, they will come.” I find it interesting that our stomachs can dictate our actions, but at the same time we do not take the time to actually enjoy what we are eating. One of the things I miss most about Italy is the dining experience. We spent about 2 hours for dinner every evening to enjoy our pasta, veal, tiramisu, and wine. Each dish came out about 20-30 minutes apart so we had time to eat, digest, and socialize. Here in the states we have this “get in get out” mentality that fills up your stomach, but leaves you with empty memories.

Today I went out and bought a bottle of Italy’s fine wines to recapture a bit of my dining experience. I was surprised to find a bottle of [Chianti Classico](http://www.chianticlassico.com/english/home.htm), a wine made in a winery we visited. Due to various imitations the wine has to meet a number of requirements including color, odor, flavor, time of bottle aging, and amount of sugar (a maximum of 4 grams per liter to be exact) in order to be called a “Chianti Classico.” One thing to look for when purchasing the wine, is to locate the Black Rooster, a symbol of authenticity. As I drank my wine with dinner, I was once again filled with memories and was grateful to have enjoyed one of the simpler things in life.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 6th, 2006 at 10:12 pm and is filed under Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.