walshieosThe Mighty Calzone!
September 9th 2008 02:15
The best calzone I have eaten
Location: Italy (and a little Portugal just to be different).
Cost: Honestly varies depending on the restaurant, but usually about the same price as a standard pizza.
Wiki
I can honestly say that I have eaten the best calzone of my life while travelling in Italy, and I have also had the worst. Let me try and explain.
Way back in 2001, I was lucky enough to visit Europe for the first time. Having some family in Italy at the time, I was lucky enough to visit a smaller town on the East coast called Pesaro. Let me just say, this place is hands down the most amazing place that I got to visit in any trip to Italy, period. It is a great little town that is big enough to have a night life and amazing restaurants, yet small enough to not have many tourists or a hectic lifestyle of any sort. They are also extremely close to a world heritage site in a smaller town southwest of them called Urbino. This is where I experienced the best calzone of my life.
Just to clarify to those that do not quite know, think of a calzone as basically a folded over pizza, kind of similar to a Turkish Pide. With the doe folded over, it gives the food a different kind of flavour (in my opinion anyway) to just a regular pizza.
Back to the best, the picture above at the start of the post tells you everything. This calzone was not only huge, but it was also one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. The mushrooms and pepperoni were mixed into the tomato base and melted cheese to create a mouth-watering delight. The other key is definitely the fresh hand made doe which is oh so important for any pizza or calzone.
Which brings me to our recent trip to Italy and one of the worst calzones/pizzas I have ever had the misfortune to try.
Since 2001 I have dreamed about the day when I could get back to Italy and have another one of those amazing calzones. It was in Roma that I finally got to try and relive the magical experience. One of our fellow travellers recommended a restaurant down a back street where they had just eaten. A bunch of us decided to head down there for some dinner after such a good recommendation, and I was definitely keen to try this well rated calzone.
I couldn’t have been more disappointed.
To be honest, I haven’t had that much experience with calzones in my life, so I’m not by any means an expert in what’s a good calzone and what is not. I do however know what I like and what I don’t like. And I did not like this particular one.
A calzone not worth the wait
This calzone was completely flat with ultra thick doe, SMOTHERED in a tomato sauce that tasted like it was bought in a supermarket, and you could barely taste the toppings. Needless to say, I was extremely depressed after this experience. How could Italy have failed me so badly!
Lucky for me, there was a shining light at the end of the tunnel (or trip) that came from a completely unexpected source. Portugal. But not just Portugal, a small town outside of Porto called Povoa de Varzim.
We were once again advised about a certain restaurant (I believe it was called Caruso on the main boardwalk), this time by a very friendly and helpful Portuguese/Canadian tourist office lady, luckily on this occasion we were not let down. The restaurant was primarily a pizzeria, although they did serve many local dishes as well which we came back and enjoyed on a separate occasion (and of which will be the topic of a separate future post). On this particular visit though I decided to give my calzone one last try and, wow, it was delicious. The doe was crispy and sealed in perfectly the packed full of flavourful ingredients that were found inside. Needless to say I ate the entire thing and was finally satisfied.
The light at the end of the tunnel.
This experience showed me one more beauty of Europe, it will often surprise you, and this Portuguese surprise definitely restored my faith in this particular European delicacy.
Happy Eating!
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