PART 99: It might be interesting to share how we pulled off living in Italy for part of the year. I will post some steps and what we are learning along the way.
We love every minute of it, and what was once a dream is our life!
We live in Tuscany in the Fall, then back again in the Spring, and in California for the rest of the time (in a previous blog, I explained why we live in Italy only part of the year).
Step 1: "Why don't we invite our local friends over for a Mexican dinner. We can make tacos and enchiladas," my partner suggested. Being from California, going out for Mexican food or making tacos at home is second nature for us.
How would our experience be different in Italy?
Come with us on our adventure.
Step 2: The tortilla challenge.
When we initially set out to hunt down ingredients for our dream dinner, the first task was to see if we could find soft corn and flour tortillas. We discovered that many supermarkets have a small section of Mexican ingredients. However, Most consisted of prepackaged taco seasoning, cans of refried beans, and hard, pre-formed corn tortillas; some had large, soft flour tortillas.
We grabbed both types of tortillas but left the beans and spice since we had brought our Mexican seasonings from California.
We needed soft corn tortillas for the enchiladas since flour tortilla enchiladas produce a slimy mess.
So, we broadened our search for soft corn tortillas.
After reaching out on social media, we eventually found "corn" tortillas. Large tortillas made of corn and flour were softer than typical corn tortillas. Nevertheless, they were the closest thing we could find, so we grabbed them.
Step 3: Fresh ingredients.
We needed onions, cheddar cheese, cilantro, and jalapeno peppers as fresh ingredients for tacos and enchiladas.
Finding the onions was easy. Finding the cheddar cheese was a bit more complicated. We found "cheddar" at our supermarket. It looked like cheddar and smelled like cheddar, but it was more rubbery than the cheddar we are used to. Nevertheless, we bought it.
For the cilantro and jalapeno, we went to our local grocer, whose shop carries just about everything. He said he would track them down for us and asked us to return in a few days, which we did.
Upon returning a few days later, he shook his head. "I am so sorry," he said. "I cannot find them. But I have an idea. I will loan you my Metro card. You can pick up something for me and find your cilantro and peppers."
Step 4: Our Metro adventure
We visited a Metro store in Italy, similar to Costco, but only accessible to business owners and their employees. To gain entry, we had to show our card and a letter from our produce supplier. After a short wait, the staff let us in.
We explored the aisles and found outdoor furniture, household items, bulk food items, and rows of refrigerated and frozen goods. We also stumbled upon a section with Mexican food, although the selection was similar to what we could find in our local supermarket.
The highlight of our visit was discovering fresh cilantro and a box of jalapeno peppers in the produce area. We were thrilled with our findings and considered the trip worthwhile as we checked out and drove the 45 minutes back home.
Step 5: Taco sauce and sour cream
We bought tomato sauce at our local supermarket and used it as a base for making our enchilada sauce. We also found some mild taco sauce in a jar at the supermarket, but we prefer hot sauce. We bought it anyway, thinking we could still use it and enhance the flavor. Since sour cream could be challenging to find and we didn't want to make it from scratch, we opted for plain yogurt.
Step 6: Ground beef
We decided to make beef tacos and enchiladas. We decided to spice up the meat to make it the dominant flavor. We got good quality ground beef from our butcher and were ready to create our masterpiece.
Step 7: Bringing it all together
My partner enjoys cooking Mexican food, so he dedicated an afternoon to preparing for the 10 friends we had invited.
We had bought avocados the day before, so we made a large bowl of guacamole, which turned out fantastic. Tortilla chips are readily available, so we snacked on chips and dip to keep us going during the preparation.
Step 8: Drinks
We had planned to make margaritas, but we ultimately decided that it would be too much to handle. Since our friends kept bugging us to bring something, we asked them to bring fizzy water and some Coronas with lime.
Step 9: How it went
Some of our local friends had tried Mexican food before, while others had not. We were hopeful that both newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts would enjoy the meal.
It was a pleasant evening, so everyone gathered on the terrace to indulge in the guacamole while savoring the Coronas. We arranged a station for the tacos, with all the toppings, seasoned ground beef, and crispy taco shells.
I am picky when it comes to Mexican food, but I have to say that the tacos turned out excellent. Everyone relished the mild spiciness, which was complemented by the diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and cheese.
Our local friends who were new to Mexican food loved the enchiladas, but I found them too gooey. The corn tortillas, mixed with some flour, became somewhat slimy, creating a texture that didn't appeal to me. But I kept my mouth shut and let everyone enjoy their experience.
Step 10: Dessert
We brought some boxes of See's candies from California and served them for dessert. In California, there is no better chocolate confection than See's, and we expected our local Italian friends to feel the same way.
"Have another one," I urged. "They are a bit too sweet," a local friend said.
I was surprised. Too sweet?
Then, I realized that cultural differences also influence taste. Sweets, cookies, and pastries in Italy have a different flavor profile than those we are used to, and the same goes for locals exposed to some of our flavors. What tastes perfect to us may be too sweet for others.
Step 11: What we learned
We learned that preparing a Mexican meal for friends in Italy can be a fun experience. Next time, if we can't find 100% soft corn tortillas, we will make tacos with hard shells and skip the enchiladas.
We also need to find somewhere to grow our own cilantro and jalapenos!
Thirdly, discovering and respecting cultural differences in tastes and flavors is part of the adventure of living in Italy!
More next time.
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We have also had trouble finding cilantro in the Marche. Our local fruttivendolo actually grew some for us, but it was not a successful experiment. Cilantro, like parsley, goes to seed pretty quickly.
I have always been puzzled by the difficulty in finding cilantro in Italy, since Italians in general love fresh herbs. I understand that for some people cilantro tastes like soap. It's a genetic variation. I wonder whether that gene variant us prominent in Italy.
We have thought about making Mexican for our neighbors but found it impossible to find ingredients in our village of Sarteano.
LOL Our neighbors always comment on how our American desserts are too sweet. I tell them it is because we sip our caffe americano between bites of dessert so there is a Ying and Yang thing going on. They just shake their heads. 😀