Egg/Uovo and Sienna. Italy

Way back when (maybe 1986) I took a trip to Italy with my good Chicopee MA friend Joe R and his pal John F.

Joe and John were already in London and met me at Heathrow Airport.  We set off for a fine driving holiday in France, Switzerland, Italy and Holland.

Just before I left the U.S.A.  Joe's mother (the wonderful and beloved Irene R)  gave me some money with the instruction that I should use it for a fine meal some place or other.

We got to Sienna and the wonderful Campo.  There I decided that "this is the place".  We went to a restaurant somewhere in the above pic. John F ordered a hamburger, much to our merriment (a hamburger in Italy?!).

I forget what Joe R ordered. But I recognised the Italian word "Uovo" and assured the guys that this was most certainly a fine Italian dish.

The joke was on me.  What I got was no more nor less than one egg, served in the cast iron skillet in which it had been cooked.

My pretentious bubble was burst, as was meet and right!

When I returned to Pittsfield, MA I visited one of my favourite parishioners one Rina DiOrio.

Rina had been born in one of Tuscany's most lovely small cities, San Gimignano.

With a twinkle in my eye I told her about the "exotic" fried egg meal I'd eaten in Sienna.

"Oh yes', she said. "When I was growing up there in the 1920's and times were tough my mother would fry me one egg in a skillet as a rare treat".

Oh the fabulous life that I  (jmp) have lived, with memories from five continents.

And today I bought my own one egg frying pan at "Target".  It's not cast iron,  but it will be perfect when all I need to cook is one fried egg.

Cost $5.99.

So many fried egg and avocado breakfast sandwiches in my future!