The Gourmet's Guide to Europe

by Lieut.-Col. Newnham-Davis; Algernon Bastard

Turin

You will be fed well enough at your hotel whether you are at the Grand, or Kraft's, or the Trombetta, but if you want to test the cookery of the town I should suggest a visit to the Ristorante della Meridiana, which is in the Via Santa Theresa, the street which joins the Piazza Solferino and San Carlo; or to the Ristorante del Cambio, which is in the Piazza Carignano, where stands a marble statue of a philosopher and which has a couple of palaces as close neighbours. At these, or at the Lagrange and Nazionale, both in the Via Lagrange, you will get the dishes of Turin.

If you wish to commence with hors-d'œuvre, try the Pepperoni, which are large yellow or red chillies preserved in pressed grapes and served with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. The Grissini, the little thin sticks of bread which are made in Turin and are famous for their digestible quality, will be by your plate. Next I should suggest the Busecca, though it is rather satisfying, being a thick soup of tripe and vegetables; and then must come a great delicacy, the trout from the Mount Cenis lake. For a meat course, if the boiled beef of the place, always excellent, is too serious an undertaking, or if the Frittura Mista is too light, let me recommend the Rognone Trifolato, veal kidney stewed in butter with tomatoes and other good things, including a little Marsala wine. The white Piedmontese truffles served as a salad, or with a hot sauce, must on no account be overlooked; nor the Cardons, the white thistle, served with the same sauce; nor indeed the Zucchini Ripieni, which are stuffed pumpkins; and some Fonduta, the cheese of the country, melted in butter and eggs and sprinkled with white truffles, will form a fitting end to your repast unless you feel inclined for the biscuits of Novara, or Gianduiotti, which are chocolates or nougat from Alba or Cremona where they make violins as well as sweets. You should drink the wine of the country, Barbera or Barolo, Nebiolo or Freisa; and I expect, if you really persevere through half the dishes I have indicated, that you will be glad of a glass of Moscato with the fruit. Take your coffee at the Café Romano if you long for "local colour."

Milan

In the town of arcades, white marble, and veal cutlets I generally eat my breakfast at one of the window tables of the Biffi, from which one sees the wonderful crowd—well-groomed officers of the Bersaglieri, the pretty ladies, the wondering peasants—that goes through the great Galleria; but if there is no window table available, and the head waiter fails to understand why he should give a table retained for a constant patron to a bird of passage, I go to the Savini, also in the great arcade, where I think the food is rather better cooked, but which has not the same tempting outlook. In the evening, if it is a cold day, I dine at the Orlogio, at the corner of the great square, a restaurant which some men find fault with, but where I have always been well treated; but if the day is hot, I as often as not go to the Cova, near the Scala, where a band plays after dinner in the garden. Such is my usual round, with a night-cap at the Gambrinus if I have been to one of the theatres; but I am penitently aware that my circle is a small one, and I am told that I should take the De Albertis and the Isola Botta into my list. Wherever one dines and wherever one breakfasts there are certain Milanese dishes which one should order. The Minestrone soup is a dish which is not only found all Italy over but which is popular in Austria and on the French Riviera as well; but the Minestrone alla Milanese, with its wealth of vegetables and suspicion of Parmesan, is especially excellent. The Risotto Milanese, rice slightly sauté in butter, then boiled in capon broth, and finally seasoned with Parmesan and saffron, is one of the celebrated Milanese dishes, but the simpler methods of serving Risotto, al sugo, al burro, or con fegatini suit better those who do not like saffron; or better still is a very well-known dish of another town, Risotto Certosino, in which the rice is seasoned with a sauce of crayfish and garnished with their tails. Then come the various manners of cooking veal, the Côtelette à la Milanese, cutlets plunged in beaten eggs and fried in butter after being crumbed, and others stewed with a little red wine and flavoured with rosemary; and the Côtelette alla Marsigliese, of batter, then ham, then meat which, when fried, is one of the dishes of the populace on a feast-day. Ossobuco, a shin of veal cut into slices and stewed with a flavouring of lemon rind, is another veal dish; and so is the delicate Fritto Picatto of calf's brains, liver, and tiny slices of flesh. Polpette à la Milanese are forcemeat balls stewed. Panettone are the cakes of the city and are much eaten at Carnival time. Stracchino or Crescenza is a cheese much like the French Brie. Gorgonzola all the world knows well; and though Parmesan takes its name from that Duchess of Parma who introduced it into France, the best quality comes from Lodi, near Milan. Val Policella and Valle d'Inferno are the wines to drink.

Genoa

Genoa is a town of noise and bustle. The worst curse one Genoese can pronounce to another is "May the grass grow before your door." The Genoese restaurants have not the best reputation in the world for either cleanliness or quiet; but at the Concordia, in the Via Garibaldi, you will find a cool and pleasant garden; and at the Gottardo you will discover the Genoese cookery in all its oily perfection, for the important difference between the cuisine of Genoa and of every other Italian town is that all its dishes are prepared with olive oil instead of butter.

Of course Genoa has its own especial Minestrone soup flavoured with Pesto, a paste in which pounded basil, garlic, Sardinia cheese, and olive oil are used; and the fish dishes are Stocafisso alla Genovese, stock-fish stewed with tomatoes and sometimes with potatoes as well, and a fry of red mullet, and Moscardini, which are cuttle-fish, oblong in shape and redolent of musk. The tripe of Genoa is as celebrated as that of Caen, and the Vitello Uccelletto, little squares of veal sauté with fresh tomatoes in oil and red wine, is a very favourite dish. The Ravioli I have already written of. The Faina somewhat resembles Yorkshire pudding made with pease-powder and oil. Funghi a Fungetto are the wild red mushrooms stewed in oil with thyme and tomatoes, and Meizanne is a small, bitter egg-plant, only found on the Riviera, stuffed with a cheese paste and then fried. Pasqualina is an Easter pie. The figs of Genoa are excellent. The wines are those delle cinque terre, and in some of the cellars you will find them dating back sixty years or more.

Venice

The city on the lagoons is the next town to be considered, for Verona has scarcely a cuisine of its own, and Padua sends its best food to the Venetian market, and its Bagnoli wine as well. The Restaurant Quadri, on the north side of the Piazza of St. Mark, is one of the best-known restaurants in Europe, and it is not expensive, for one can breakfast there well enough for 4 francs.