In giro a Milano: Luini made me do it!

Before anyone gets the notion that Luini is some hot male model that I encountered in Milan, let me set the record straight - Luini is no model, but heaven help me if we were neighbors. The Luini that I speak of is a place where they make the best panzerotti in the city, and no visit is complete without eating not one, not two, but at least 3 of their broke da mout' savory fried pastries. As mentioned in the previous post, I was a very bad girl in Milan. The plain truth was that if I could eat fried pockets of yumminess without guilt, why not go a step further and cook carnitas? Sometimes all it takes is a little Luini to get the ball rolling.

It just dawned on me that the last post titled in giro a Milano (going around Milan) was written in March 2005 and although we've gone into the city on other occasions, this past Saturday came with a dual purpose. MotH and I met with the blog authors of Slippah Time!, two of the truly most gracious hosts that I have met - ever! This will be a lengthy, drawn out post covering where we went, what I ate, and ultimately ending with the biggest surprise of the day. The second reason for Milan was a flat out mission for asian cooking ingredients (near impossible to obtain in Lecco), and as much as I had seen lots of positive things written about Kathay in italian forums, nothing, NOTHING could have prepared me for the treasure trove of stuff that lay beyond those doors. The place rocks! The deeper I went among the aisles, the better it got, and all I kept silently saying to myself was oh my god, oh my god, oh my GOD! It took 6 years to finally get my arse in here? As luck would have it, I was in good hands with my very own personal shopping guides. [F & S, I owe you big time.]

I see, I want, I eat

The panzerotto. A harmless pocket of fried dough with tomato and mozzarella. Or prosciutto and mozzarella. Or spinach and ricotta. Or, or, or... Words cannot describe how great these are. Just remember that 3 (2 fried and 1 baked) is the minimum, otherwise you're weak.

Baked panzerotti. I think Hawaii folks could appreciate these as they're reminiscent of flaky manju cookies. Totally different filling-wise of course, but there is something about that half moon shape which makes them impossible to resist. We got one with berries and cream and another with figs and nuts. The dough crust was tender and flaky, with the right amount of filling. To tell the truth, I liked the pastry crust better. I bet they use lard (strutto). Bad girl!

I wish there were places like these on Kauai

Originally uploaded by mava / CC BY-SA 2.0

Zucca in Galleria. For coffee. Gorgeous place. Next time, I'm going in heels and doing a proper sit down. You gotta live a little, right? Smart girl.

I am a chocolate gelato-loving monster

What else is there to say? Gelato in Italy is something that I take for granted. You find your favorite places and avoid the rest, but in unfamiliar surroundings there's that element of risk that maybe, just maybe, this gelateria will rock your world. We had a double scoop - paprika chocolate and dark chocolate - and it was so good that I cursed for joy. Bad girl.

Piazza Mercanti

Originally uploaded by ambrosianapictures / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I'm ashamed to admit that even if Milan is the biggest city nearest to Lecco, I really haven't made the effort to get to know her. This historical building is just a few steps from the duomo, but again, it took someone else to point it out to me. See what happens when you live closer to Bellagio and Clooney? Speaking of which, here is G-man himself in front of his villa. Click to enlarge if you don't believe me. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3499325

Asian ingredients shopping spree

Full description of foodstuffs on flickr

Wanna know where to find nam pla or patis in Italy? Enormous goya, bok choy, pandanus and bamboo leaves? Hangiri (those wooden mixing bowls for sushi rice), chinese wooden cookie molds and NOH chinese bbq seasoning mix? I can only speak for Lombardy, but Kathay is thee place to go. As I investigated the aisles in disbelief, inwardly I was smiling at the thought of never having to worry ever again about luggage weight restrictions whenever I return with goods from back home. No italian customs agent pawing through my mochi rice, sesame seeds and italian panties because he thinks I may be smuggling in electronics. Honey, you can't eat those things. Wow! That leaves more space for portuguese sausage and poi!

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa Via Rosmini 11 Milano