My Kind of Food

…well not when it comes to ‘my kind of food’, it’s not!

There’s been a bit of a hiatus in posting on the blog because I’ve been away, initially for a few lovely relaxing days in Bavaria and then two days in Tuscany.  Travelling is usually a fantastic opportunity to experience good food in great locations but alas that wasn’t the case in Germany and when I’ve had a chance to work out why that might be the case, I will share my reflections here.

On the other hand, Tuscany never disappoints.  Yesterday, three of us had Sunday lunch in a restaurant, called Ristorante Da Nilo  in Cetona, south of Siena.

In fact we had meant not to eat there, having consulted TripAdvisor first and found a smattering of negative reviews that had been apparently rudely countered by the owner/chef, including the remark, ‘you don’t give sugar to donkeys’.  Confusion in organising the reservation, however, meant that we in fact booked into Da Nilo rather than the alternative we’d chosen in the same town.

Once before, I chose to eat in restaurant that had poor reviews because the chef had answered them with supreme confidence in the quality of his own products and style of cooking and in that case I was not disappointed.  I have to say that was also true in this case too.

It was a cosy dining room, perhaps with more a provincial French feel to it than Italian and despite the initial welcome being less than enthusiastic, the vibe was good.

I choose the onion soup to start, which was deliciously sweet from the beautifully cooked white onions topped with a piece of fontina cheese, a semi-soft cow’s milk cheese from the Val d’Aosta, and a very fine bread crisp.  It wasn’t a runny onion soup, like the French do, but really thick with very little liquid discernible at all and could easily have been eaten with a fork instead of a spoon.

Next up was Nodino di maialino al forno con arance caramellate e cuori di finocchi. This was a nice chunk of suckling pig with the subtle taste of caramelised oranges in the ‘gravy’ and a tiny portion of fennel and orange salad on the side.  The salad was so small I wondered if it was really necessary, but in fact it added so much to the dish in terms of contrast to the meat, that without it, the whole dish wouldn’t have been half so nice.  The meat was perfectly cooked, soft and juicy with a lovely crisp, salty crust.  I’d gladly eat this dish again.

I’d say, if you’re in the area, this place is worth seeking out, despite some of the TripAdvisor comments.  As for Bavarian food, more later…..