Corsican food porn.

Good lord. I am sorry. How could I have forgotten to include all the food porn from our recent trip to Corsica in my last post? Good reason: whipping out the DSLR in the middle of a meal in a fancy restaurant is so very...gauche. So I opted for the iPhone instead. Those photos didn't get uploaded to the same folder as all my other Corsica photos in iPhoto, and then I had to combine and try and edit some of them and then... 

Still there? Ah, technology. If this is the future trend of my travel food photography, maybe I need this. Okay, maybe just this instead. :-)

So, a word about food on Corsica: it's very Italian influenced. I stopped counting the number of pizzerias we saw on the island after the first ten minutes. It's certainly not all pizza, though I have to admit if you have a chance to travel anywhere in France and order a four cheese pizza, do it. You won't regret it. I may or may not have done this more than once on our trip.

Aside from pizza, the Italian influence extends to pasta, risotto, tapenade, olives, etc. The more traditionally Corsican food is a treat too. Inland, they serve a lot of wild boar, goat, and other meats. G's eyes rolled back in his head when he tried his first bite of chestnut-encrusted lamb shanks. We also had a lot of great seafood along the coast. You can find very good charcuterie, wine and liquor made from myrtle (we brought a bottle home), and Brocciu, a local goat cheese which they use in many dishes. One thing we really appreciated was the fresh, locally sourced food, something I was so happy to have access to for a couple of weeks!

I've posted quite a few photos so you can see the variety. I apologize for the poor quality of some of the images. What can I say: the iPhone 4 isn't a fan of low light. Anyway, enjoy!

First night in Ajaccio we ate traditional Corsican at U Pampasgiolu. What you see here is just my food, the sea platter (note to self, ignore any menu item in the future that includes the word 'platter') which came highly recommended. G had his own ginormous platter to deal with. The food was very unique: squid in black squid ink, eggplant, local cheeses, a couple of different fish pots, and a fish soup. I think it was a bit too adventurous for my first Corsican meal, especially at 10:30 at night. 

From the street market in Ajaccio, beignets stuffed with either Brocciu cheese or sweet apple filling. You can guess which one was mine (cheese, of course). 

Those aren't mushrooms, but rather stuffed eggplant. I saw it often on the menus in the Bonifacio area of Corsica. It added a nice element to this salad.

Brocciu-stuffed zucchini flowers on a bed of puréed goodness at Tamaricciu, an excellent beachside restaurant in Palombaggia.

Stuffed squid, also at Tamaricciu. G said this was the best dish of the trip.

Seared tuna with quinoa greens. Winner.

Tuna again, this time at Table de Mina, the restaurant at our hotel. Great food.

Lucky for me, G is not a big banana fan, so I had the chocolate-
banana layer cake all to myself! Also at Table de Mina.

As poor quality as this photo is, I had to show you the scampi risotto. I was not expecting this. I was expecting largish shrimp. But I guess on Corsica, when they say scampi, they really mean scampi.

G loved these cheese-filled beignets, which we saw a lot in central and southeast Corsica. They were light and airy. These we found at Le 24 in Corte.

Hopefully you are used to the poor photo quality by now.
This is millefeuille d'aubergine. Find a place that serves it near you.
Preferably a French restaurant. You will thank me later. It is heaven.

Go to Corsica. Enjoy some liquor de myrte (myrtle liquor). You will be happy.
We were later told that the liquor is a digestif instead of an aperitif as it was first served to us here with green olives. Food rules be damned! Enjoy it with olives. Trust me on this one.

I gave up caffeine four years ago...except French and Italian espresso when served in either France or Italy. Because I'm not a fool. 

G's lunch at A Volta in Cargese, a small town with a Greek Orthodox community and stunning views. Delicious.

My lunch at A Volta, vegetable risotto, the first of many risottos on our trip.
I could have licked the bowl.

My typical breakfast regardless of where we stayed: 20% bread, 80% really good fruit. Oh how I miss you vine/plant-ripened, tasty fruit. Someday we will be reunited.

Of course we picnicked. With Corsican rosé (divine). And cheese. And fig spread. And charcuterie. (Pay no attention to the Swedish crackers or Norwegian water.
Or the fact that we were in our hotel room.)

Now that's more like it: an appropriate picnic location, at the top of Cap Rosso.

Of course, sometimes you just need a nice strong drink by the pool. Corsica, you certainly do justice to the caipirinha. Merci beaucoup!