I don’t think there is a foodie in the world that doesn’t have Italy on their list of must-go places. The country has an expansive and rich food culture which transforms from region to region, showcasing the best of what each has to offer. Spending months in Italy wouldn’t feel like enough time to explore, so our measly week in Italy passed far too quickly. We traveled throughout Northern Italy, being sure to focus on Modena because it is the food capital of the food capital! Starting with a stop in Milano, we traveled to Modena, Parma, Torino and Como. Although I felt the quantity of time was lacking, there is no doubt that any time spent in Italy will be top quality. The already wonderful things in life seem amplified in Italy: coffee, pasta, cheese, balsamic, and, of course, pizza. Beyond food, another one my favorite things can be found in Italy: a cannabis culture, which perfectly mirrors the Italian style of life. Leisurely-paced and relaxed, yet focused on natural details and deliberate in extracting the best out of life. I was more than thrilled to take it all in and enjoy some real Italian herbs.
Italy delivers munchies that deserve true appreciation. Let’s start with the obvious and a true classic: pizza. As planned, we ate pizza in just about every city we visited: Milan, Turino and Como. While the style of the pizza changes from place to place, the quality of the ingredients remain the same. After a smoke session and a stroll around town, nothing satisfies the munchies better than a crispy blistered, chewy dough, scratch-made and always fresh pizza. To pick a favorite would be impossible because each pie was delicious, and each became my new favorite as we ate our way through Northern Italy. My first Italian pizza was served at Obica Duomo, a rooftop restaurant adjacent to the beautiful Cathedral located in the bustling Milano square. It was exactly as I imagined a classic Italian pizza would look and tasted even better. Plus the setting really made the experience something special and it was a great way to start off our Italian tour. Ironically I think the best pizza of the trip was in Como, our last stop, and we ended up eating the same pie twice at Riva Caffe! The restaurant is located just across the street from the edge of Lake Como and serves an unexpected and unique style of pizza. The oblong-shaped pizzas there are served on long, wooden boards and give a new meaning to the concept of “thin crust”.
I was expecting amazing pasta in Italy, but what we ate shamed any attempts at a description I’ve read or heard. So, obviously, I can’t properly express to you how good each dish was, which means you will just have to travel there to try real pasta for yourself. It will be the most expensive pasta dish of your life, but well worth it. Like the pizza, each region specializes in a style of pasta, be it a distinct shape of the pasta itself or a specialty sauce to toss with. Northern Italy is known for many delicious things, among them truffles, limoncello, balsamic and parmesan, but the regional pasta dishes were especially savored. In fact, we savored them so quickly, I didn’t even get pictures of most of the pasta dishes! Not that pictures would do any justice, I did post the few I was patient enough to take. Modena is specifically known for tortellini (and it’s big brother, the tortelloni) and best served two classic ways: tortelloni in balsamic sauce or tortellini in broth (brodo). I ate the tortelloni with balsamic at Ristorante da Danilo as well as the gnocchi parmesan. These are not dishes to pass up, but another dish to try is passatelli in brodo, which is a unique experience to the Lombardi Region of the north. I have seen tortellini before, but had never come across passatelli. Imagine taking pasta dough and pressing it through a potato ricer. This process would create passatelli, which was so deliciously interesting we purchased a package of fresh passatelli to bring home. We recently used the passatelli to create an infused pasta dish using cannabis oil, and while it was not in the classic style, I have to say it was still a tasty reminder of our time in Italy. Stay tuned for the recipe for my sauteed passatelli with truffle and crispy proscuitto.
I could go on for days detailing the many ways to satisfy your munchies, but just know that you really cannot go wrong eating your way through Northern Italy. With such a fulfilling supply of food available, there must be a very grateful stoner culture in Italy. We all know that despite the recreational legal status of marijuana, people all around the world smoke weed! Italy’s cannabis status is currently functioning in grey area and the country will be developing it’s cannabis policy and industry over many years. In Italy, marijuana is legal for medical purposes and can be purchased at “dispensary” boutique shops throughout the country. During our visits to Milano, Modena and Como we came across cannabis-related businesses: two boutiques and one cafe. The product available for purchase at these shops is “cannabis light”, which is hemp flower containing less than 0.2% THC. In Italy, marijuana is legal, but it doesn’t contain much of that special cannabinoid THC. We like our bud with more of a kick, so we did not make any purchases. However, even seeing the shops open and displays in the windows on busy streets means progress is happening. In 2016, the Italian government passed a law concerning the production of hemp meant to help revive the agricultural industry and increase production of the once widely cultivated crop. Although the vast majority of the hemp presently produced goes to commercial uses, such as clothing, fuel, paper products, etc., there is a demand for the sale of the “cannabis light” product despite the low THC content. It seems legal “marijuana” sales in Italy fall into a more novelty category than a recreational one for the time being.
Despite the smoke not getting you very stoned in Italy, there is still a cannabis culture present. The more places we visit and dive into a nation’s history with cannabis, the realization of the similar story among them becomes clear. Cannabis was cultivated and utilized worldwide for thousands of years until recently. In the 1940s, Italy was said to be the world’s second-biggest cannabis producer for industrial use in the world, although statistics for all producing countries are unknown. Many countries went through a similar American “war on drugs” phase and turned against the crop, making cannabis illegal in virtually all forms. Now through research and advocacy, the world is starting to again value the plant for all it can provide. We didn’t smell any marijuana as we walked through the streets or come across a place we could potentially buy some recreational strength bud, but there were little clues throughout Northern Italy which told us we were among stoners. A cigarette paper lay empty on a stonewall in a park in Modena, the tobacco removed to mix with bud and roll the European classic spliff. Cannabis-inspired graffiti art stretching through alley ways around Milan. On our last afternoon we approached a crosswalk in Como and looked up to check the traffic light to see yet another sign of stoner life. Like everyone walking by, we couldn’t help but smile. Someone had taped over the bottom light leaving the familiar outline of the cannabis leaf, allowing the light to shine through and showing Italy’s greener side.
