AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the second of three posts, featuring my favorite meals during My Trip in Italy.
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I took a morning bus from Sulmona to Pescara…
…and had only a 5 minute walk to my stylish hotel, the Victoria Hotel…
I mean, check out my room door!
Once checked in, I realized I only had an hour to see the Museo delle Genti d’Abruzzo (Museum of the People of Abruzzo)…
…so I raced there to go through the various room exhibits…
…to learn from history…
…and culture.
A great museum!
When the museum closed, it was lunchtime and, fortunately, I had previously researched and written down a few restaurants in Pescara that looked appealing.
One such restaurant was Ristorante Carlo Ferraioli…
…where I was instantly intrigued with I Grandi Crudi (or the Great Raw Dishes).
I didn’t know what to expect but I felt adventurous.
Keep in mind that all the following dishes are raw.
My first plate consisted of branzino (Mediterranean sea bass) with raspberry, sole fillet and marinated mullet.
Already, I was enjoying the variety and the flavors!
Then came a collection of plates with (bottom left circle) shrimp with pineapple and soy and hand beaten tuna with almond, (top circle) shrimp with lime and scampi with orange, and (bottom right) mackerel…
…followed by sea urchin with sorbet to be eaten immediately…
…and then a plate of clams, oysters…
…and even this “tartufo di mare” which translates to “sea truffle” (but I don’t think that’s the English equivalent)…
…where you pulled out the muscle to eat (slightly lemony in flavor).
Still there was more…
…like this dish of cuttlefish, red onion and champagne…
…and this dish of both salmon tartare and spigola (European sea bass) tartare with pear, honey and vinegar.
And it finished perfectly with this incredible glass of shrimp, tomato puree, lime and ginger.
It was all completely worth it and, while I decided any other courses would be too much…
…I couldn’t resist a chocolate flan dessert consisting of freshly baked chocolate cake filled with molten chocolate and pear, topped with chocolate sauce and served with fruit, a side of chocolate and mint ice cream.
La fine del mondo (Out of this world)!