When I first left Firenze and set off for Pittsburgh I was terrified. By time I landed I was completely overwhelmed but had made a friend on the plane named Gianni who, after we landed, opened one of a handful of bottles he had in his bag, and handed me a CBD gummy. It was love at first taste and before I knew it I had sampled all 7 different delicious CBD gummies that he had with him. There were a variety of amazing flavors and I loved them all.
That was the first time I experienced the majesty of CBDfx products, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last. I met my first wife Diana not long after arriving in the United States. I was new to Pittsburgh and felt like a complete stereo-type working in a pizza shop to make ends meet. One particularly long day, I was sweating in the kitchen whilst spinning pizzas and whistling songs from the old country, when a tall, stately woman with the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen walked in the front door. After months of her coming in to get pizza I finally worked up the courage to ask her name. She wouldn’t tell me outright but said she would come in once a week and if I was there she would tell me a single letter. I was annoyed but intrigued. Eventually I got her full name and number and we got married.
It turns out that Diana was a chef, and specialized in wine and food pairing. It also happens that Diana loved her daily doses of CBD. Diana was my muse. Every pizza I made was a tribute to her loveliness. I saw her face in all the napkin dispensers and in every piece of garlic I chopped. Well, unfortunately my job at the pizza restaurant wasn’t enough for Diana, and she soon left me for her tennis coach.
I never stopped loving Diana, and though she did not love me anymore, I was still eternally inspired by every aspect of her being. Especially the aspect of her personality that enjoyed pairings. So, after a few weeks of wallowing in my tiny Pittsburgh apartment, I decided to take two of Diana’s favorite things and combine them, in the true spirit of Diana. I started experimenting with different combinations of CBD products and food. I thought maybe, just maybe, if iI could come up with the perfect combination, I might just win Diana back from Tad the tennis coach.
In my experimentation I was lucky to find many combinations of CBD products and food that compliment each other. There was the Steak and Vape, and the vape and grapes, and the CBD oil caprese salad that was a real winner. Unfortunately none of these combinations won me back the love of Diana, but what they did do is inspire me to think up a variety of CBD and food pairings that I think other Italians in Pittsburgh might enjoy just as much as I do.
We Italians march to the beat of our own drum, and in Pittsburgh that is an even more specifically tuned drum. In Pittsburgh an Italian can really be an Italian. And real Italians in Pittsburgh love two things, CBD and pizza. Keeping in mind that the food that will resonate most with people is a food that resonates with their heritage. Pizza and italians go together like CBD and Italians; really well. We love them both, so I spent a whole bunch of time trying different combinations of CBD and pizza just so I could share it with my fellow Italians in Pittsburgh.
My number one favorite combination of CBD and pizza is Hawaiian pizza with a bacon flavored CBD tincture. The pizza has all the great stuff on it; Pineapple, cheese, canadian bacon, tomato sauce, and bread, but what it does not have is bacon. That is where the bacon flavored CBD tincture comes in. Many CBD companies market this as a product for your pets, but the stuff is so safe that people can use it too. And it just so happens that bacon is the best flavor, in my opinion, to pair with a Hawaiian style pizza.
Another great non-pizza pairing is what I like to call the “Steak and Vape”. For this combination, you get yourself a nice veal cutlet, mix up a light mushroom gravy to drizzle on top. Then make cauliflower puree to put on the side with a black truffle reduction gently poured, and pair it with a nice Cianti and a grape flavored CBD vape pen. The “Vape and Steak” is the business, and therefore should only be prepared when you mean business- which for an Italian in Pittsburgh is always.
The last pairing I will share with you is a variation of the “Steak and Vape” fondly referred to as the “Vape and Grapes”. In this delectable variation, you freeze a bunch of grapes, and then you slowly eat them while highlighting their natural sweetness with a grape flavored CBD vape pen. The “Vape and Grapes” is a pairing that is paired well with the “Steak and Vape” pairing. A sort of pairing of pairings if you will. This allows one the opportunity to enjoy both a delicious pairing for their main course, and a delightfully chilling and still healthy, CBD desert.
With so many delicious pairings it is immensely hard to choose just one as a favorite. My suggestion to you as an Italian in Pittsburgh, or human in any part of the world, is to not only try the pairings that we have presented you, but to also explore a bit on your own. There is nothing more rewarding than finding a combination of food and CBD that light up your taste buds and ignite your senses. CBD and food pairing can turn any normal meal into an exciting endeavor through an uncharted world.