One of the many things I heard before coming to Italy was how good all the food was and how I must try everything and anything. I have an open mind when it comes to trying food and have always been told to try everything at least once before you decide if you don’t like it, so this experience was going to be fun. As for the food on campus, I was not sure what to think. I was not sure if it was going to be like in elementary or middle school where the food was never quite cooked all the way, or it was overcooked. Where we going to have to grab a tray and get our food, was the tables were going to be hard plastic with attached round seats; I was about to find out. Sitting in my room on week 8 and looking back at the first night here and what we had to eat, I don’t know if it was from being so exhausted or just having to have two meals on the plane, but it was the best meal I had in what seemed like days. I cannot even remember what it was, but it was pasta of some kind, and we had a vegetable and water.
The next morning and every weekday morning since breakfast starts at 8 am on the first floor. They have things out every day like two different kinds of cereal with a kettle of milk, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, granola, and some fruits. They do have a few items that change, some days they have donuts or cake-like pastry and of course, they have croissants. Most of my peers like the chocolate-filled ones but I personally prefer the cream-filled ones. The most unusual breakfast food they have for us is a plate of ham and a plate of cheese. I did try this one morning, but my taste buds just couldn't get used to this; at least not without eggs to go with it. There is a juice and coffee machine for you to use in the morning but make sure you do use it because they turn it off for the rest of the day so after breakfast, you must pay for your coffee, which is ok because the vending machine coffee is good on campus.
Lunch and dinner are about the same every day, we get pasta or a rice dish and maybe they will have soup to throw in there as well. Always a vegetable but you have your choice of a cooked vegetable or a salad, and then there are deli meats and cheese to pick from. It is everything in the middle that changes day to day and from lunch to dinner. Depending on the time of day we can choose from chicken, hamburger patty, turkey patty, quiche, chicken wings, pizza, French fries, potatoes, and a few more. The biggest difference I have noticed is there is not a lot of seasoning on anything and if there is salt from the water of the pasta or the fries, pepper from certain sauces or marinades on some of the meats.
Let's talk dessert quickly, for the most part, they give us fresh fruit and that is completely ok with me, but sometimes they give us gelatinous pudding, while some eat it after stirring it for what seems like a lifetime, I have chosen not to partake. They do put out from time to time cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies, but they are hard and very delicious. There is a cake-like item that I have not tried but have been told it's good and once and only once they gave us gelato. This gelato was in acone, and it was more like a “Drumstick” in the States would be and they keep showing up on the menu, but we have yet to get them back.
Overall, the food here at CIMBA is not bad and could be a lot worse for it being a school. I think we are very lucky to be in Italy and be able to have the food we do every day. Do I wish sometimes there were other things the kitchen would make or do differently, of course, but at the end of the day, I am not going to complain because I don’t have to make it or clean it up and for that I am very grateful for the staff and all their hard work.