cheese on toast.

It's such a cliché, but it's something I'm finding to be increasingly true - there really is no place like home. I came to Italy at the end of September, hungry for excitement and adventure. Yeah, I've had a pretty amazing year, all things considered. Okay, so it hasn't been the typical ERASMUS year (living in a Roman Catholic convent, complete with resident nuns, soon put an end to that), but I really have enjoyed myself; and I hope that my confidence has improved, even if my Italian hasn't (recent essay correction somewhat proves my feelings, I fear!). But, as I come dangerously close to the end of la dolce vita, I'm finding myself craving the simple things again. Like cheese-on-toast. (And, yes, I'm aware that I've just written that like Stoke-on-Trent - gosh, I really must be pining for the green grass of home!) (You're also probably realising why exactly I'm a pacioccona).


Just in case you'd forgotten what it looks like, or anything:







However, what is a simple snack in England turns into a full scale mission in Italy. First of all - bread. The bread here has a strange taste to it - it's almost sweet, a bit like brioche, but with less sugar. But, believe me, it doesn't make good savoury toast. And it comes in a decidedly mini size - I'd have to make about ten of them to equal two normal rounds of Kingsmill. The Italians are notoriously picky eaters (weighing 70g of pasta [when it's all you eat every night], anyone?), so I'll be damned if I'm going to sit there with my mountain of bread. However, it seems that my bread worries have been solved - I finally managed to find white 'maxi-toast' (oh, you skinny Italians, make me feel better about myself, why don't you?) that tasted normal - shock-horror! It was about triple the usual (already hefty) price, but vabbé (it's also made by Roberto's - I amuse myself with the fact it just has to be the Italian arm of Roberts' (oooh, I wonder if they'd give me some work experience next summer?!). Yeah, I'm cool, remember.

But, of course, you can't have cheese-on-toast without cheese, and good cheese at that. Now, obviously, 'good' is subjective, and I have nothing against a good mozzarella (amazing on pizza); gorgonzola goes amazing with gnocchi, and parmesan was made to sit atop (70g!) pasta, but for cheese-on-toast purposes, there is only one contender: CHEDDAR. But, Italians, being the food snobs they are, don't take kindly to English food (you would not believe the happy dance I did when I found McVitie's digestive biscuits. Actually, if you know me in real life, then you probably can...) and so cheddar is decidely bottom of the pile when it comes to supermarket stock. So, really, God must've heard my pleas because, lo and behold, a European food market arrived in Brescia the other day. There was Spanish paella, German sauerkraut and bratwurst, Belgian crêpes and Sicilian dolci. I, however, only had eyes for one thing (okay, maybe two):

The English cheese. Yes, that's right, I found the Holy Grail in an Italian piazza. Choirs of angels began singing and streams of light radiated from this magical spoit. Okay, maybe not, but there was a very nice English man who helped me choose my cheddars! Yes, see, there was even more than one variety. In the end (being one who never likes to miss a deal), I ended up with three cheeses for the not-so-princely sum of 10€ - a plain cheddar from Wales, 'Scorcher' cheddar (fleckled with green and red chillies) and a sundried tomato variety. Oh, and then, of course, I had to buy the caramelised onion chutney to go with. The day was only made more perfect by the discovery of fudge and the following conversation:

Woman: Can I help you? These are typical English sweets, or fudge.
Me: Yes, I know, I'm English.
Woman: Oh! I'd never have known. *proceedes to ramble about Englishness*

Ah, no, I am forgetting one final thing. As I was leaving, quite content with my purchases, I heard a familiar tune:

"Promise me son not to do the things I've done,
Walk away from trouble if you can."

It was then that I realised that as much as I'm English (complete with cheese-on-toast [spelt in that oh-so-special way]), I'll always love a bit of country&western.

NB: Go here to see the amazing things I bought. I don't think they're live yet, but they will be soon!