How to FoodParty from anywhere, part II
We are in Italy in August. A cliche at best.
We are in Livorno, Italy on a big family vacation/reunion of sorts. While it is breathtakingly beautiful and storybook-like, the temperatures are through the roof, which means the propensity for meltdowns is high. Most days is like a game of chicken - who will break first and need gelato to sooth the soul, the kids or the adults!?
We do our very best in these moments by orienting ourselves near local markets for easy snacking, and also by seeking out local small bites. Here in Livorno one such snack is Cinque y Cinque (5+5). The name of which stems from the original cost of the dish, 5 cents for the bread and 5 cents for the filling. Now it cost 2.50 euros and is as simple and comforting as it looks.
The gist is a torta de ceci (or chickpea pancake) baked in a wood burning oven inside a heavy copper pan. This torta is then stuffed inside fresh focaccia or french bread before getting dusted with black pepper. Wrapped in paper to absorb the extra oil and that is a snack worth sharing.
I love the legend surrounding this storied torta which is said to have been made by accident in the year 1284 during the the Battle of Meloria. As the story goes, there was some flooding along the ports of Livorno, soaking bags of chickpea flour and tipping over barrels of oil. The mush was left to dry in the sun and the result was transformed into something that could be rationed to the sailors.
Having enough food, water, food, shade, food, food, AND sleep while traveling with a kid means more than just carrying around extra snacks. For us, it means things like prioritizing breakfast no matter what. Opting for something that we know will stick to our ribs, setting us up for the day of unplanned calories across many locations. Being in Italy and having to navigate the crowded, hot, and not so optimal travel conditions for a family got me thinking about what other things we naturally do when traveling with Loosha. Here are some other FoodParty tips in no particular order:
Carry an empty leak proof Tupperware. We always opt to bring the “good one” from home (since we all know that not all containers are created equal), and fill it with whatever is left in our fridge before we leave our house; cut up fruit or vegetables for the plane ride. Then we get to use it throughout the trip as a convenient means of chucking fresh cut up food in our bag for the day.
Look for the produce you can’t find back at home. Shop the local markets, vegetable stands, and farmers markets, and make a game out of tasting the variety of flavors and textures. If Udi and I are geeking out over exciting fruit so will Loosha.
Let your kid choose the pastries! Find a bakery and go to town there. There is nothing quite like watching a 3 year old scan a pastry case and choose the one with the biggest globs of chocolate or sugar on top. She will often lose interest halfway through, but that feeling of her being able to make her own decisions is very important! Because so much of traveling logistics are decided for her she needs moments of control and choice and what better place than a local bakery.
Plan for the last meal of the day taking longer than it does at home and calculate your kid’s capacity for end of day meltdowns accordingly. In other words, if you know you will only be sitting down to dinner after their usual bedtime, then it’s time to implement a pre-game dinner snack. This is especially true if jet lag is involved. Often her body isn’t ready for a big meal when we sit down to them because her internal clock is off. That’s not her fault! So we compensate whenever she needs.
Hide a cache of emergency snacks deep inside the suitcase. These are SOS snacks not to be eaten unless in the case of extreme conditions; an unexpected layover, a middle of the night jet lag munch session, a moment of complete parental exhaustion.
The best kind of meals when we are traveling are often the ones you don’t plan for. After swimming in an incredible emerald green river along with a couple dozen local Italians, we dried off and were starved for dinner. Pulling over on the side of the road to the restaurant nearest to the swimming hole was a perfect example. Our waiter had been swimming with us moments before and we ate the softest lasagna and the most delicious cooked greens with views for very cheap in a no frills joint.
ok, Ciao for now!