I was chatting with a few friends from the Indie Beauty Network last night, Regina from Dr. Flower, Lisa from Cactus & Ivy and Marla from Back Porch Soap. Somehow the conversation came around to Prosecco. And what actually is it? Don’t ask how we came around to this thought provoking question, it is a “had to be there” situation. I never thought  “EVERYONE knows what Prosecco is,” rather, I thought, ” how can I make sure that everyone does?”

So here we are, once again, me enlightening you, my dear readers, to further joys of Italia! I am only happy to do it.

I myself , at one time,  was part of the Prosecco Ignorati; those ignorant or unaware of the this divine nectar.

About 10 years go, I was on holiday in Italy with my sister. I think on holiday sounds so much more cosmopolitan than on vacation. We had just spent several days in Venice, which was lovely and quiet in an after-the-canals-flood, bitter-cold kind of way. A city of great beauty and mystery, but  alas, not great cuisine, at least for us. Since this trip, my sister has gone back and found several wonderful restaurants..but that is her, lets get back to me. Ahem. I was dying to get to Florence. My sister had never been and I was anxious for her to adore it as much as I did.

Upon arriving in the city center of Florence and wandering out for our first walk, my sister was struck about how noisy and fast paced it was compared to Venice. Well yes, Vespas (Italian scooters named after wasps), do travel a bit faster than lets say, a gondola. But, she was right, it was a stark contrast. I was hoping she would overcome her first impression and still fall in love with the city-village. My worries were soon put to rest.

That night we went to a little restaurant my sister had found in Fodor’s travel guide. It was called La Giostra (Italian for carousel) and owned by a Hapsburg prince who was also the chef. It got rave reviews and sounded charming. It was. It is. It has since become my all time favorite restaurant. I have taken numerous people there and told anyone I could about it. I would say that La Giostra alone is worth the trip to Florence, but come on, it’s FLORENCE, that would be a bit of an exaggeration, even for me.

After a long day of travel and touring we arrived for our reservation at 7pm. This is early in Italy. 8 to 8:30pm was the more regular hour for dinner. With the Italian’s penchant for a gelato break at about 5pm, it was easy to wait that long. My sister and I, however, were starving.

Nelum, our lovely waitress

Greeted at the door by the lovely and charming Nelum, “ahhh, the Americanas”, we were seated beneath glittering pixie lights that covered the ceiling and each presented with a glass of, what we thought was, Champagne. Compliments of the house, she said, as was the first plate of antipasti she brought out.

Wow, Champagne before dinner? Hmmm, we tried not to act like that was anything new. Nelum went through each item on the menu. I ordered the Taglierini con tartufi bianchi (white truffle pasta), my sister had the Chilean Sea Bass (Chilean Sea Bass). Needless to say, white truffle pasta is now my all time favorite dish, isn’t that just like a diva?

I have been back so many times, that Nelum brings out the Chef-Prince to slice more white truffles onto my pasta. I am in heaven at that moment. And really , who wouldn’t be, white truffles at hundreds of dollars an ounce, sliced onto my plate by a PRINCE! That is the Sweet Life!

We finished off the meal with their Tiramisu-su-su, which was yummy. Every restaurant has their own version. It is not always a cake-like slice as we usually find Stateside. La Giostra’s is a creamy mascarpone concoction spooned over ladyfingers, soaked in Vin Santo (Holy Wine) and espresso. Powerful stuff.

We returned to this restaurant 3 nights in a row and it remains one of mine and my sister’s fondest and enjoyable experiences.

This post is really about Prosecco, no? Or did you forget? It is easy to forget a lot of things in the romance of Italy. That is exactly the reason I wanted to share this experience with you. Such a simple gesture, Champagne before a meal…only it wasn’t Champagne, it was Prosecco. Champagne is made from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France. It is highly regulated in order to preserve the value of the region.

Prosecco is made from grapes grown in the Veneto region of Italy. Champagne and Prosecco are both Sparkling Wines. It is the most simplest to say that Prosecco is the Italian Champagne (sorry France), but that would really be doing Champagne a disservice. Prosecco is the laid back Italian cousin. Both are served as apéritifs (before dinner, cleansing your taste palate), both are used for celebration, both used in mixed drinks, both can be cheap or expensive.

The difference to me is that I think you can get a better tasting inexpensive Prosecco than Champagne. Also, Prosecco is not as complicated as Champagne. It is dry, crisp, fresh, light and well, simple. It does not ferment in the bottle like Champagne. It is better to drink it while it is young, 2 years and under.

Prosecco was the first ingredient in Bellini’s before Champagne became the norm. That makes sense, Bellini’s are Italian. They were invented by Cipriani at Harry’s Bar in Venice, which by the way, my sister and I did peek into. I only wish wish we had known to stop in for a Bellini- I sure it would have been the best!

Prosecco has been enjoying a wave of popularity lately in the United States. I find it to be an unexpected and more affordable, quality alternative to Champagne.

You may even find that you will be saying Prosecco Per Favore, Champagne, non grazié. Why not ring in the New Year with Prosecco and as the Italians say, Felice Anno Nuovo!

Happy New Year, My Sweet Divas.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under cucina, daily diva. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.