ITALY: CRUDO

 

Two summers ago I took a trip to Puglia by myself for a couple of weeks, and one of the cities I visited was Bari. I asked the hotel receptionist to recommend a seafood restaurant and she sent me to a small place around the corner. When I entered, I was shown a vast array of freshly caught seafood and asked to choose what I wanted to eat. I pointed to several things, and soon they brought me a plate of sea urchins, oysters and langoustines, which are related to the lobster but look like a shrimp with claws. I was in heaven, and went back the following night. 

Crudo in Italian means raw, and pesce crudo is raw fish. It may surprise you, but of everything I have eaten in Italy, and I've been living here for three years, pesce crudo, is my favorite, especially the red shrimp and langoustines. The taste is sweet, buttery, delicate and fresh. Fresh being the key ingredient. The seafood we eat in Italy is pulled out of the local waters along its stunning coastline, and delivered directly to the restaurants and markets, for consumption that day. When the seafood ends up on a plate, they are in their natural form, or pulled apart to enjoy the heads, as well as the meat from the tail, or sliced thinnly, their soft flesh still glistening from the salted waters of the sea. This may sound grotesque, but this is real. There is no covering up, no pretending to be something its not. They are eaten with a little lemon, a dab of high-quality olive oil, and that's all you need. The purity of it speaks for itself. 

In the town of Modena, where I live, they have a famous covered market called Albinelli. If you go to the seafood section they'll peel you a raw shrimp and give it to you to taste on the spot. For Americans, especially, that may be disconcerting, but if you're ever there - or any seafood market in Italy - do yourself a favor, and try it. 

                                                                                                   - Jennifer Artley

A fun book by an Italian author to go with an Italian meal: 

Ciao America! By Beppe Severgnini

"In the wry but affectionate tradition of Bill Bryson, CIAO AMERICA! is a delightful look at America through the eyes of a fiercely funny guest - one of Italy's favorite authors who spent a year in Washington, D.C."

Beppe Svergnini, born in Crema, northern Italy, and educated at Pavia University, is an Italian journalist, essayist and columnist, and his books have been bestsellers in Italy.