Since neither city is on the coast, I reasoned that I should stick to the more traditional Tuscan offering of meat and fresh vegetables. Italian seafood should be saved, I thought, for a future trip to the south of Italy perhaps. But I would soon receive my lesson when I saw...
Holy crap...as my boss asked, what IS that huge thing, a lobster? I still can't figure out whether that was a crayfish or just an enormous prawn. All I know is that this thing contained the strongest, most concentrated shrimp flavor I've ever tasted in my life, inside those gigantic claws. The meat in the tail was a little limp and unimpressive, but the juices inside those claws make this one of the most extraordinary shrimp/prawn/crayfish in the memory of this seafood fanatic.
There were also the mussels, clams and calamari of course, and the pasta absorbed up all that incredible flavor. The prawn was one of the best I've had, but the pasta dish was certainly the best I've ever had.
My other fantastic encounter with seafood was in Milan, on the night before I left Italy. I stumbled into this little trattoria called Porta Renza, just a few blocks south of the Milano Centrale station. It was an unforgettable dish of mussels and clams in Napolitane sauce.
I'm usually not a big fan of mussels, as the meat is usually tougher and the flavor is usually not as sweet as those of scallops, oysters, clams etc. As the menu said "Vongole o Cozze Napolitane" (clams or mussels in Napolitane sauce, according to my very limited Italian vocabulary), I ordered clams only. But when it came, it was a big bowl of clams *and* mussels in a light tomato broth. That's fine, I thought, let's try some Italian mussels then...
I ended up having the best mussels in my life. The mussels were perfectly, slightly undercooked, and so soft that the meat required no more chewing than a scallop. The Napolitane broth was brilliant as well, strong-tasting but not overpowering the sweetness of the clams and mussels. And the most incredible part was that it cost just 7 Euros.
Just out of adventurous curiosity I also ordered an anchovy pizza, foolishly proving to myself once again that I REALLY don't like anchovies.
This was the only other time I had mussels in Italy, but the plain mussels were outclassed by the chewy pasta. I forget what this kind of pasta was called (please tell me if you know). This was at the restaurant inside Novotel Firenze Nord Aeroporto where I stayed.
Baby squids and olives in tomato puree, also at Novotel Firenze Nord Aeroporto. The sauce overpowered the flavor of the squids, which were overcooked anyway.
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