By Courtney Averette
In August, I vacationed in London. I had been looking forward to the trip, but was afraid what to expect when it came to food. I've never heard anything good about English cuisine and pictured meals of tea and scones. Either my expectations were really low or those who have gone before me had expectations set really high, because, with the exception of two restaurants, the food was great.
We frequented one particular restaurant several times over our eight-day stay. We even had a favorite waiter, Paolo. It was an Italian restaurant called Zizzi, which we later found out was a chain. Had we known that beforehand, we probably wouldn't have chosen it.
One particular entree stands out. Linguine Arrabiata N'duja, which was a spicy n'duja sausage from Calabria, tomato sauce and linguine topped with mascarpone. Since I'm lactose intolerant, the mascarpone was put on the side.
I immediately noticed the darker color of the tomato sauce, similar to sun-dried tomatoes, but even darker, maybe thanks to the sausage. I hesitated, not accustomed to tomato sauce being a dark burgundy, wondering if maybe the food had gone bad.
The aroma was smoky, but another smell I couldn't quite place. I still wasn't sure whether I wanted to eat this dish.
Usually I have no qualms about trying new foods or tasting foods from different countries and regions. But this English-Italian food looked so different than the American-Italian food I knew. My cousin, who had ordered the same entree, with the mascarpone on top, had already started eating and was really enjoying her food.
My first bite was an explosion of flavors, most of which I can’t describe because my palate isn't that well-trained. You immediately got that kick of spice from the red pepper flakes and the n'duja as well as the smokiness of the sausage and slight tang of the tomatoes. That first bite made me realize I was being spooked for no reason.
My cousin mixed in the mascarpone, mentioned how good the pasta was with the cream. I was envious, and my curiosity won. I added the mascarpone. Its effect was beyond words. The mascarpone mellowed the spiciness, not to the point where you couldn't taste it, but to a milder flavor that complemented the spice. The smooth cream slid across my taste buds like gossamer in the wind.
I later paid the price for eating dairy. But should I find myself in London, I would do it again.
Courtney Averette is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers, majoring in journalism.
Photo credit: Juergen Rosskamp
