February 2: Best lunch ever

Now that I have my blogging momentum going again, I feel the need to talk about the lunch I just finished eating. Last night, Jules and I made asparagus risotto which was amazing. BUT, the only thing better than fresh risotto is a risotto cake the next day.

I don't have class today, so, I woke up leisurely at 11:30 to find that we do not have running water in my apartment. This is not at all uncommon in Florence, so I'm not too worried about it. I dressed quickly to meet Jules at the Market Centrale for lunch and grocery shopping (my favorite thing to do in Florence). I gathered the usual fruits and vegetables I like to buy from my favorite vendors as well as some vetty vetty expensive pistachios. I desperately need a source of protein aside from dairy, since I am still a partial vegetarian. I also bought a quarter kilo of FRESH truffle ravioli which I cannot wait to cook for dinner tonight.

 One thing I can't help but notice and can't help but complain about, is the huge influx of American students infiltrating the central market every day. Obviously I am being a huge hypocrite, but still. I watched as groups of girls traveling in packs of 10 walked around speaking loudly in English, not even attempting to communicate with the vendors in Italian. As I waited to order my pistachios, two girl ahead of me wearing their sorority sweatshirts placed their orders in pure english despite the fact that the Italian words for all of the things they were ordering were clearly posted. They then complained about how much cheaper everything is at Costco....seriously? Ok, sorry to be negative, I needed to get that off my chest.

Anyways, after finishing up shopping I returned home to cook lunch. Jules had made one of these before and it was delicious, so I decided to fry up some of the risotto from the night before and make a risotto cake. I shaved some old bread into a bowl in order to make bread crumbs, then added some spicy seasoning and mixed in the risotto. Next I placed a piece of fresh buffalo mozzarella in between 2 patties and molded it into a cake. I heated some olive oil in a frying pan then browned both sides of the cake. It was SO good, like SO SO good.

People will probably think that since I talk about food so often, I'm probably getting huge but that is NOT the case. Here, all we focus on is good food rather than a lot of food. Quindi, tutto va bene!