Strategy #3 Recreate Meals Enjoyed at Local Restaurants on Your Trip
One of the best elements of traveling is trying new food and dishes influenced by the locals. Often I say I am going to try to make this at home. Time and differences in ingredients make my well-intentioned efforts not as likely. Going to the local store and trying to make the same amazing dish, while it is still fresh on my mind, improves the odds that I will get it right. Usually, friends and family traveling with me did not all order that same dish and are happy to enjoy it as well. If I want to incorporate it into a favorite dish at home, it is easier to know how to substitute ingredients after experimenting with it.
Strategy # 4 Shop for Prepackaged Foods at the Supermarket
If you follow Olive Sunshine, you know this advice sounds weird coming from me. I am of the mind that shopping the perimeter of the grocery store is the ideal way to live on the Mediterranean Diet. Fresh is best. On the perimeter one usually finds fresh produce, seafood and all the good items we want to eat to nourish our body. When cooking in a vacation rental, you do not want your entire day to be about cooking. Vacation is a great time to use shortcuts.
Another piece of good news, depending on where you are traveling, prepackaged does not always mean bad for you. In Italy, you will not find all of the additives and preservatives present in so much of the prepackaged foods in the United States. Sugars and salts are not added as stabilizers. Ingredient lists are usually under five items listed. This makes it far more desirable to use these quicker (and often less expensive) items.
Recently, I bought a package of polenta with dried porcini mushrooms. I bought three different types of mushrooms to sauté in extra virgin olive oil and added it to the polenta. Wowzer. In only three minutes of cooking time, I had a delicious side dish. I served it with Rosemary Chicken discussed below. I also bought two delicious sourdough flatbreads. My friend, Barbara, was hesitant. Here we are in Italy buying flatbread from the refrigerator aisle. She had to agree these items were amazing. It also led me to an amazing Chicken Pesto Flatbread recipe.
Strategy # 5 Use Fresh Ingredients from Local Shops for Cooking in a Vacation Rental
This is my favorite strategy and something I love to do. I love going to the local butcher or seafood shop. Fresh vegetable and fruit stands are a must-do for me – even better if it is a local farmers market. Shopping at local shops and farmers markets is inspirational for me. It is a great way to meet local people, learn about food customs and eat fresh food. I love to feel like an insider, and the best way to understand the people is to understand the food.
Frutta e Vendura
One day we ventured out to Minore, a village about 6 miles away by car from Ravello. We heard they had more food suppliers (Italy is not like Florida with Publix on every corner). In Minore, we went into two small local grocery store, a butchers shop and a “frutta e verdura” shop (more of a store than our traditional fruit and vegetable stands we typically see). In total, we spent 44 Euros, or approximately $47.08 and had four delicious meals (2 dinners and 2 lunches) for three. We also were able to enjoy delicious fruit and specialty cheeses for healthy snacks. Cheeses I would have paid $13 a pound for in the U.S. cost $3.00 a pound.
I bought some amazingly fresh chicken, that makes the organic chicken in the United States looks fraudulent. I am more plant-leaning by preference and eat chicken rarely, that would not be the case living here. The butcher offered to skin and debone it for me. While the Butcher was preparing the chicken, I was bopping around the shop. The shop had delicious cheese, pesto and fresh green peppercorns packed in oil (amazing). I also found a fantastic bottle of olive oil for under five dollars. I figured I could leave it in the rental for the next guests. But who am I kidding? It will be gone before we leave.
Using fresh ingredients from local shops healthier and less expensive than dining out every meal. It is also a wonderful experience to connect with the locals and feel like you are contributing to their small businesses. They are often proud to have American tourists appreciating what they have to offer in their shops.
Meeting the Locals, Shopping in Minore
Mark, my Sweetheart and Barbara, our friend, had been talking to me the entire time as we browsed in the meat shop. They must have used my name. The Butcher calling by name asked, “Sunny, do you like Rosemary?”. It was so unexpected to hear my name in his thick Italian accent. He gave me several springs of rosemary to my chicken with some tips for preparing. The chicken, with his suggestions, was amazing.
My favorite shops are the fruit and vegetable shops. In Italy, it is clear the people shop there regularly – a place to interact and exchange gossip for locals and expats alike. I had a feeling if we lived in this village, we would easily make friends. In fact, the next day we went to Maiore, a beach town just past Minore. While crossing the street in Maiore, one of the women we interacted with the day before stopped her car and rolled down her window to chat with me. Taking the time to visit local stores is not a “waste of time” but rather an activity I like to do on vacation. It is interesting to meet locals, chatting about something that brings people together universally – food!
These five simple strategies will help you to not only eat better but feel better.
