Its end
April already. In another 5 weeks’ time, I will be saying adieu to my Sweden
sojourn and returning home to Coppell, Texas.
I spent just 6 days in Sweden in March. The
month started with a beautiful trip to Bergen and Oslo in Norway. This was
followed by a business trip to Modena, Italy and then a spring break trip home
to Coppell. A few days in Sweden, and I flew to spend Easter week with my mom
in Delhi. I experienced temperatures ranging from -16C to +35C. Weather from
extreme cold, to mild spring and nascent summer. This is going to be about
Modena though.
I have visited Italy twice. We spent a week
in Florence and another in Rome with Ananya as a toddler, who I had to carry
since we didn’t take her stroller. 12 years later we repeated the trip, now the
toddler was a very well mannered 13 year old who loved churches and art
museums. We enjoyed gelato and pizza too!
When you think of Modena, you think of balsamic
vinegar. There is an entire array of foods Modena is famous for. It belongs to
the Emilia-Romagna province. In addition to the
vine, the region is famous for ham and parmesan cheese. What I knew of the
region, was the good food and vine and zest for life! If Modena and my boss are
a representative sample of the region, I saw plenty of evidence of that.
We arrived into Bologna airport. The first
thing that strikes you is just how noisy the airport is. This feeling is
heightened primarily because I came in from super quiet Sweden and Denmark. The
drive to Modena is on a highway that cuts through vineyards on either side.
First things first, my boss made
reservations for dinner for the next night. I would have loved to go to Osteria
Francescana, the 2nd best restaurant in the world run by Massimo
Bottura (please do watch him on episode 1 or season 1 of Chefs Table, you will
wipe away a tear or two). At over 250 euros per head, it is not allowed on
company account. We did go to a close copy, Trattoria da Massimo in Rubiera.
The reservation took 15 minutes to finalize since a menu had to be decided for
the vegetarian. Between the boss and Massimo they agreed on the courses. The
first course would be tortelli (yes, this is different from tortellini) with
spinach and cheese in a butter sauce. This would be followed by more tortelli,
this time filled with pumpkin. The second course for the vegetarian would be
grilled asparagus with potatoes. All this to be washed down with vine.
This was my second in person meeting with
my boss. We primarily interact via email and have an occasional conference
call. I learnt that he had been a DJ and ran a radio station with his friends,
specializing in rock music. Why he would settle into a dull life as an
accountant was puzzling, but as he said, the DJ gig didn’t pay the bills.
That evening I dined with Jonas (my Swedish
colleague). 8 PM is very early for dinner in Italy. We walked to the center of
Modena and saw the church that was pretty breath taking even in the dark. The
restaurant menu was only in Italian. This is when google translate comes handy.
The waiter came to take our orders. We had been told by the boss to try burrata
(mozzarella wrapped around cream). Jonas ordered his salad of burrata with
prosciutto. I very hesitantly asked the waiter if I could have it with sliced
tomatoes. “Madam, that is a caprese salad”. “Of course,”. I said. “I want an
insalata caprese.” That immediately broke the ice and the service from then on
was impeccable. The food arrived and you know that Instagram was created just
to photograph Italian food, with its combination of white, green and red! This
was followed by a vegetarian pizza, (more Instagram fodder). After two slices,
I was full. We were then served (on the house) a shot of lemon sorbet (very
refreshing) and followed by a shot of chocolate liqueur! The perfect meal was
topped with a rose bud that was given to me at the table.
After a long day of meetings, interspersed
with the boss describing his breakfast of a peach cake that his wife had made
with frozen peaches from the previous summer, we headed to dinner at Trattoria
da Massimo. Again, it was almost 8 PM and I was dying of hunger.
First arrived the spinach and cheese
tortelli in butter sauce. I could taste the freshness. After the first few
bites, the blandness got boring. Next came the pumpkin tortelli. After the
first two pieces, I was convinced that it was dessert. I asked the boss to
request for some pepper. He was offended. The boss shook his head and his hands
and said,”No no no no. you cannot add pepper. Some things just don’t combine. I
was so upset at lunch when I saw you put your salad on your pasta. And the
pasta already had vegetables!”
In my defence, the salad contained a few
pieces of arugula leaves and it was easier to eat it together with the pasta.
I was done after the two rounds of tortelli
and skipped the grilled asparagus in favour of salad. The server placed a caddy
with olive oil, baslsamic vinegar and salt and pepper shakers. I didn’t want to
affront the boss’s sensibilities again and asked him if I could add pepper to the
salad. He translated that to the server, who grimaced but asked me to at least
add some good pepper from the pepper mill. My dinner mates were served red meat
as the main course and despite how good they said it tasted, they struggled to
finish it after two rounds of tortelli in butter sauce and another round of
tortelli in meat sauce.
The wine was lambrusco. a sparkling red
wine from the region. I normally don’t drink unless I am in the midst of family
or very close friends. I did take a small serving and had to ask for more. It
was the best wine I have tasted. I stopped after the second helping, it was so good
that I could have drunk half a bottle easily. The boss says Italian wine is
best in the world. And the wine from Modena is the best Italian wine.
Dessert was Zuppa Inglese. This was created
in the Emilia region to copy trifle from Elizabethan England. I would describe
it as a rather flat tasting tiramsu. Instead of mascarpone cheese with coffee,
the pudding is layered on lady fingers with alternating chocolate and lemon
layers.
The meal concluded with coffee. No cappuccino
though. It is blasphemy to drink cappuccino after 12 in the afternoon. Another lesson
learnt! And one more, never ask for parmesan cheese over pasta with seafood. It
is just not done.
We started our meetings late the next
morning. I took the time to walk to the city center. Instagram was also made to
photograph old Italian cities. The beautiful church in the center, street
corners leading into colourful alleys, corridors covered with arches and of
course ubiquitous Vespas, and bicycle baskets laden with fresh flowers. (No Ferraris
sighted in the old city). The Church, built in the Romanesque style is not very
ornate. It is a UNESCO heritage site and is undergoing massive renovation.
As I returned to Sweden, I wondered why I
was so impressed with the boss. My interaction with him has only been during
the course of this assignment. There was something about his sunniness. He
promptly responded with the name of the dessert we had eaten when I asked him
about it on email. There was no small talk at dinner. It was about football,
cars, motor bikes and primarily about food and wine. It must be to do with
living where he does, where a glass of wine is offered when one asks for water (from
Anthony Bourdain’s episode on the region).
You can be always sunny when your only
complaint in life is that the beach is two hours away from where you live. But,
most importantly he is aware of his good fortune of living where he does and
having the life he does.
I
guess that is the key to contentment. Acknowledging to ourselves the good
fortune we have, however small.
Click on link to see pictures from my trip.
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