Summary: I wasn’t surprised by the quality of food in Italy — I was happily surprised by the affordable prices!

I’ve just returned last night from a delightful vacation in Italy. The cities I visited were Rome, Florence, Venice, and Reggio Emilia over 8 days.

This will be the first of several articles I expect to post about my trip.

Although I’m still recovering from jetlag, the memory of the gastronomic side of my Italian itinerary is as fresh as the ingredients used in the delicious meals upon which I feasted.

1. Breakfast
Breakfasts generally consisted of baked goods and coffee.

I am not a coffee drinker. I usually drink some coffee heavily fortified with sugar, cream, and/or chocolate maybe once every 3-4 months. But I found myself enjoying a cappuccino nearly every morning. So smooth and gentle was the taste that I didn’t need to add any sugar.

Pastries, bottled water, or juice sometimes accompanied the coffee, and I found it all delicious!

Pastries, bottled water, and/or juice accompanied the coffee, and I found it all delicious!

2. Lunch
Lunches varied from small sandwiches to pasta and pizza.

3. Dinner
Dinners were fantastic: seafood, vegetables, meat, pizza, and of course, pasta!

The food was consistently excellent, and very reasonably priced. A dinner for three including wine usually ran between 60-75 Euros. Since tipping in Italy is significantly less than in the U.S., we found the cost of food very affordable.

Here is a menu from a restaurant in Venice, a city known to have a high cost of living:

Here are pictures from most of the dinners we enjoyed while in Italy:

4. Gelato

As expected, gelato was found everywhere and we consumed a lot of it!

The health-conscious will be relieved to know that gelato contains 6 – 9% butterfat, up to half the amount found in ice cream. It is denser, with less air and typically has more flavoring than ice cream. I tasted the best salted caramel in my life, and the mango gelato I had will haunt me until I can find another that matches its flavor and texture.

5. Grocery Shopping

We were quite amazed by the price of food in grocery stores — even in notoriously expensive Venice. The meat and cheese quality was very high and selections vast, but prices appeared to be half of what we would pay for lesser quality goods in the U.S.

We saw quality dry pasta brands found at home on sale for less than 1 Euro.

Eggs came in smaller quantities (2-4 per package) and were about half the price we pay in the U.S.

As is common outside of the U.S., eggs were unrefrigerated. Eggs in the U.S. are required by the USDA to be washed and sanitized, which removes the eggs’ natural outer coating (cuticle) and exposes the shell’s pores. Eggs abroad are not required to be washed, travel far less distance to market, and usually don’t require as lengthy a shelf life.

6. Snack boxes on the train

We took advantage of Italy’s excellent rail service to travel quickly around the country. We always got seat reservations as was recommended, and since 1st Class seat reservations were usually the same price as 2nd class, we bought them whenever they were available (some trains were sold out).

In first class we were given a snack box like this:

The contents varied depending on the time of day, but they always contained a packet of Buoni Perche Ad Alto Contenuto Di Fibre crackers. We found these crackers particularly flavorless, and they left us with cottonmouth.

But according to the package and the website, these crackers are made with organic wheat and oats, are loaded with fiber and protein, greatly benefit digestion, and purport to lower cholesterol.

Given how rich and heavy our diet was with all the cheese and gelato, I was generally surprised not to have suffered indigestion and constipation. Perhaps these dry and flavorless morsels can take some credit.

By the way, I highly recommend U.S. citizens traveling to Italy to use the flexible Eurail Pass for getting around. The mobile phone app is not without issues, and I plan to post a blog article about it soon.

Conclusion

I consistently heard how good the food is in Italy, and I wasn’t disappointed. There wasn’t a single mediocre meal we had while in Italy, and I am sorely missing the quality of food I became accustomed to during my week there.

I expected to gain weight given the quantity and richness of the food I consumed. On the other hand, I was walking constantly, a welcome change from my more sedentary existence at home. As a result, my weight remained unchanged.

What I did not expect was how affordable all the food was. Whether eating out or buying groceries, it seemed like I was paying 1/3 to 1/2 the amount I would pay at home, and for higher quality foods. The favorable exchange rate helps, but given the extremely high cost of fuel (e.g., 1.95 Euros per liter for gasoline), it’s hard to fathom how such good food can be so affordable.

It really makes me question even deeper the system of food production and delivery in the U.S. which favors factory farms, manufactured foods, and long shelf life over locally sourced, organic, and seasonal fare.

If the Italians can make high-quality food affordable and available, even in the middle of big cities, then surely we can too.