Wargo's World: A Carefully Crafted Collection of Stuff and Other Things: A Long, Boring Discussion of Coffee

Ah, Rome! If there's anything I like better than exploring and falling in love with a new city, it's revisiting a city you've already fallen in love with. I hadn't been to Rome in six years and was excited to see how my girl had changed over the years. Of course a 2000+ year-old city isn't going to change much over a mere half decade and I was delighted to find her pretty much exactly how I left her. I, on the other hand, had changed so much since the last time I was there that I was slightly apprehensive about how I would see Rome with an extra six rings.

One of the things I was most worried about was the coffee. Rome is where I discovered that coffee could be delicious and that the best examples of it were worth pursuing. However, at this point in my life I was just starting to realize that food and drink were more than just nourishment and my palate was far less developed than it is today (to put things in perspective I went to Rome thinking Sam Adam's was the pinnacle of American brewing and that Foie Gras was a kind of perfume- seriously, I'm not trying to make a bad joke. I actually thought this at one point). Anyway, I was worried that Italian coffee, which I had for the last six years held as the best example of coffee in the world, would not be nearly as delicious as I had remembered it.

I won't bore you with tasting notes- suffice it to say that it truly did not live up to the hype I had created around it six years ago. I've had this sneaking suspicion for the past few years that these days the U.S. is brewing some of the best coffee in the world. That may sound like heresy but look at the facts - coffee (good raw coffee) is grown in very few regions around the world- the big 3 being Africa (Ethiopia and Kenya producing the best), Indonesia and Latin/South America. This means that raw coffee has to travel just as far to Italy or France as it does to the U.S. More importantly, the distance traveled by the raw bean is almost irrelevant to the importance of the roasting process and the age of the bean after it is roasted. This idea however is relatively new in the coffee world and because of that fact, and because every country in the world can get there hands on the same quality of raw product, the U.S. (a country not bound by tradition the way old-world Europe is) is in a far better position to create the best coffee possible. Frankly, of the countries I've visited, they do. But does that mean that U.S. coffee culture is better than Italy's? Absolutely not. You can get a better espresso in the U.S. but not at many places. You have to seek it out. In Italy, you can get a better-than-average espresso on literally every street corner. Coffee culture is inherent in Italian culture- it's a birthright and that, I feel, makes Italy a better coffee culture overall.

Ok, enough of that. The best part of my trip to Rome was that I got to share it with my Mom and Sister.

As you can see we had quite a time. Truly, I would recommend long-term travel to everybody if only that it gives you such a better appreciation for all you've left behind. I can't remember the last time I had a better time with my family (you better come next time, Dad).

Well, I'll leave you all with what you really want out of a blog post about Italy.... Food Porn!!!

Cafe in Trastevere. This looks like a Van Gogh pairing.

Roma Pizza. If you've not had it, you've not had pizza.

Burrata and Truffles... wahahahaha!

Fava's.... with a nice Chianti...

Roasted Egglplant... Nom.

Squidward

Squidward Pasta

Carbonara... can't believe I've never tried to make this before. Super easy... seriously pick up a recipe online and make it. This is one Italian specialty you can replicate without fantastic Italian ingredients.