A Trip to Piazza San Giovanni di Dio

Yesterday I ventured to Piazza San Giovanni di Dio.  Why?  I needed some fresh fruit at home in addition to a few key ingredients to make one of our favorite pasta dishes - Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe.  It's from Giada de Laurentis and can be found here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/orecchiette-with-turkey-sausage-and-broccoli-rabe-recipe/index.html

It's simple to make and absolutely delicious.  I prefer to use spicy sausage instead of turkey sausage because I like piglet better than tom turkey.  And I love spicy foods.

How about you and me go eat piglet instead, ok?  
Picture Source

This mercato, market, is my new favorite.  It is outside the center of the city, close to my home, and easily accessible by the above-ground rail car which I like to call a tram.  It was truly VASGO-worthy because of the sights, smells and particularly the sounds.  The fish vendors are unique here compared to the states.  When you go to the market near your home, the fish is already filleted or cut into steaks with the occasional whole fish making its presence known, right?  

Here, it seems to be the opposite.  There they were, whole fish likely caught that morning.  What's even more impressive is that the vendor takes your order and fillets it on-the-spot.  Now that's fresh fish.

I only see two already sliced items.  The Tuna (dark red log of goodness near the top left) and the Salmon (already cut into steaks, right next to the Tuna).

What?  You want Sword Fish?  Ok, let me just cut a huge steak off his body for you.

The meat vendors were as authentic as it gets.  One white apron wearing guy in the back wielding what looked like Sir Lancelot's sword stood at a chopping block carving raw meat off what was potentially a cow's chest or shoulder blades.  The two folks taking orders were smiling, glad to do their jobs and make people so happy with their delicious meats.  You want Ground Beef?  Ok, no problem.  Just tell them what cut of meat you want and they will put it through their meat grinder behind the counter.  Once again, as fresh as it gets.

What the???  Is that what I think it is?  Now I've seen everything.  Can anyone guess what this is?

Ple-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ease    Do-o-o-o-o-on't    E-e-e-e-eat    Me-e-e-e-e-e.

And then of course, there's the fruit and vegetables.  So many mysteries come out of these vendor booths.  If you haven't seen the recent page addition on my site titled "What the heck is that?", perhaps you can go there to help me identify what random things I find in my travels.  In fact, the most recent mystery fruit was solved!  Check out that page for more details.

As I walked through the crowded pathway, this is where just VASGO really came into play.  What's that whistling in the distance?  A look to my right and there's a vendor grabbing people's attention.  Then all of a sudden my eyes were pulled away at the startlingly loud tenor vibrato of a competing vendor nearby who belted out an aria.  My ears were in paradise.  Soaking it all up I heard shuffling of footsteps, constant chatter between friends, intense negotiations between vendors and consumers, whistling, singing and more.  

Busy Market?  Sounds like heaven to me.

I bought alien broccoli (actually called Broccoli Romana) from this vendor.  You can kind of see it behind the cauliflower.

I didn't even mention the flower vendors, vat of wine vendor (in which they fill used and re-sanitized 1.5 Liter plastic bottles that formerly held soda or water), bread and pastry vendors, cheese, fresh pasta and cured meat vendors, and then even clothing vendors.  

Reviewing my grocery list, I bought all I needed for the recipe and then some - alien broccoli, broccoli rabe, fresh orecchiette pasta, salsiccia piccante (spicy sausage), nectarines, pears, mystery fruit, more mystery fruit from another vendor, and some onions!

Market day might just be my favorite day.  

Ok, everyone get out your #2 pencils.  You know what time it is.

Pop Quiz:

1.  Where was Giada de Laurentis born?
A. Rome, Italy

B. Philadelphia, PA

C. Florence, Italy

D. New York City, NY

2.  Piglet digs a deep hole while Pooh Bear goes home to retrieve a full pot of honey (its label spelled HUNNY, that silly old bear).  Then Pooh brings the now half-consumed pot of honey back and places it in the hole to catch what?

A. Turdledoos

B. Offalots

C. Heffalumps

D. Pooh's evil twin

3.  You ordered Tuna Nigiri at your local sushi bar.  The plate comes out and what do you see?

A. Pieces of Tuna all by themselves.

B. Pieces of Tuna wrapped in rice, then wrapped in seaweed.

C. Pieces of Tuna sitting on top of a formed mound of rice

Answers from the previous Pop Quiz:

1. Snowboard invented?    1968

2. 16 hour drive from Denver?  Los Angeles, CA

Bonus: Cloud type in the picture: Cumulus

Arrivederci my friends! Tune in next time for the answers.