In osteria, a taste of Italy
In the bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, which was about a writer’s soul-searching expedition across three countries, the “eat” portion of the story was set in Italy— and for a very good
reason.
Italian cuisine is held in high regard as one of the best in the world, from its selection of antipasto (appetizer) down to its variety of dolce (dessert). This cuisine is very popular as well because really, who is not familiar with the tastes of pizza, pasta, gelato and the like?
One of the best features of Italian food has always been its simplicity in preparation. Using the right ingredients and with ample instruction, aspiring connoisseurs can easily whip up a satisfactory and delectable meal of spaghetti and risottos at their very own homes.
It should be pleasing to know then that at Antica Osteria, one can very well get both: a wide array of imported food products and insights from the owner
herself, Joan Muzzi, who boasts of years of experience in Italian cookery. “Before we were only importing Italian wines. Then people began asking for pasta, then sauces, then cold cuts—that’s why we opened Antica,” Joan said. “We imported only Italian food products before, but eventually we covered French wines and other European products.”
Joan and her husband Glauco had been in the importing business for over 10 years before they finally opened the Antica Osteria establishment on March 2011.
Fashioned after a traditional osteria (a place serving wine and simple food), Antica is a small shop, with quaint and picturesque interiors, that houses a deli and a mini grocery selling an assortment of European food products and beverages. “We have all the cheeses, we even have cheeses that you can’t find in other local places,” Joan said. To name a few, they sell French cheeses like brie, English cheeses such as stilton blue and even fresh ones like mozzarella di bufala and burrata. Aged cheeses are also available at Antica, such as the parmigiano reggiano that one can get at 16 months, 30 months and 36 months (read: the age of the cheese).
As for its line of cured meats, there are salame milano, parma ham, a selection of Italian sausages and as well as the classic dry-cured Spanish jamon serrano and many more. Those who are not quite savvy with European cuisine might find it overwhelming at first to familiarize with the wide variety of items lined up at Antica’s cupboards—the pronunciations alone are tricky, what more
are its tastes and usages?
The very hands-on owner then said: “I’m very familiar with all the products that we have, so I can explain to the customers how they can use it. I also suggest menus to them.”
Antica also has a few dining tables inside, should one wish to try any of the “simple” dishes listed in its menu. By simple, what is meant are those meals that can easily be prepared in its little kitchen. As Joan explained, an osteria is “not meant to be a restaurant.” It is first and foremost a grocery.
Its daily menu usually consists of pastas and salads, which the ingre- dients can easily be pulled out from its own stocks. “We have tomatoes and olive oil, parmesan cheese and ready-made sauces. If you want, say, puttanesca, arabiatta, or napolitana, we can make it here and we can serve it in 15 minutes.”
“We also have our pre-ordered menu,” Joan said. This menu includes al forno food (oven-baked) such as pizza and some kinds of pasta, as well as cheese and cold cuts platters.
Even before they opened Antica, Joan had been accepting orders for Italian dishes that she would cook at home. One of her specialties is the stinco di maiale, or roasted pork knuckles with potato sidings. “I’m not a professional chef, but I’ve always been interested in cooking. It’s my passion,” she said.
“My husband, who’s Italian, was the one teaching me all the recipes. He’s not really a cook himself, but he eats well and he has a mother who cooks really well,” she added.
Italian food is really healthy, too, mainly because of its use of olive oil and grains. “With Italian cuisine, you can eat it everyday,” Joan explained. “It’s simple, light, and very delectable.”
Italy may be more than 6,000 miles from Philippine shores; but with Antica Osteria around, a taste of its cuisine is simply a drive away. Buon Appetito!
Antica Osteria is at Paseo Saturnino Street in Banilad. It is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays.