Salad Dressing

Fruit and vegetable stands are a dime a dozen in my neighborhood. There's one directly below my apartment and another one across the street. However, while vegetables are easy to access, I haven't been eating much of them here. As every American knows, vegetables are just platforms for dressing and unfortunately, Italy is a dressing desert. I've searched high and low for a bottle of ranch or blue cheese, only to find a whole lot of nothing. Today, I finally decided to give up and assimilate. 

The local version of salad dressing is a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I learned this only by attending a cocktail party at which carrot sticks and celery were served next to bowls of olive oil and balsamic. I actually asked the bartender if the carrots were intended for the oily fluid, just to be sure. He assured me that they were, and it was typical of Italian cuisine from Emilia-Romagna. Armed with this knowledge, I prepared to make my own this afternoon. I already had olive oil in my cupboard, but I needed to trek to the supermarket for balsamic vinegar.

At the market, there were a dozen different kinds to choose from. I initially resorted to my cheapskate decision-making method of calculating the per-unit cost of each brand, but then it struck me. I live in Italy, the home of balsamic vinegar. Modena, where it has been made for a thousand years, is just down the road from me. This was not the time to out-cheap myself, it was an opportunity to buy something unique and unavailable in America. I forgot about economizing and went middle of the road. I'm so glad I did. I made my "dressing" and it's amazing. I've been snacking on lettuce for hours. I just might have to visit Modena for some food tourism. Who wants to come?