You can get a good meal from the supermarket for a surprisingly low price. I did, anyway.
The local supermercato is four doors away from me, cunningly concealed in a small alley marked only with the sign CONAD and Offerte del Giorno.
Fortunately I spotted two senior ladies exiting the alley with shopping baskets laden with what was obviously supermarket stuff – household cleaners, biscuits, and eggplants wrapped in plastic.
I greeted them with a polite Buongiorno, made vague gestures at their shopping baskets, shrugged a few times, and pleaded ‘generi alimentari’?.
They took me by the elbow and steered me down to the doors of the shop and, after we had all repeated grazie and prego a few times, I found myself in a very handy little shop.
The Specials today are fish as far as I can see.
Coda di Rospo is monkfish, Spigole is bass and the Seppia Pulite is cuttlefish. I have no idea what the Pezzogna is.
I didn’t get any fish.
I did get some mortadella though, and also some absolutely scrumptious ham, prosciutto cotto.
All I needed was a few salad thingies for insalata and there was a good selection on the shelves.
There was also this unfamiliar vegetable – have you seen it before?
Oh yes, and I bought a huge slice of that pizza/bread too!
All up it cost me Otto Cinquanta Tre – under ten dollars Australian for a good two meals.