A September day in Naples brought us to this fish market, and a lot of unfamiliar seafood to look over. It reminded me of a meal we had in Sorrento with our host, Maria, when we were studying Italian. She was very pleased to have a special meal of fish for the first Friday of Lent, telling us it was ‘seppia’. I had no idea what that was, and even looking it up in my Italian-English dictionary didn’t help. I didn’t know what a cuttlefish was. She showed me a covered pot in the sink, and then lifted the lid.

AAKKK!

The ugliest creature I ever ate stared up at me.

Now tell me, does that look like food to you?

Well, we ate it for dinner, and it was very good. Maria was an excellent cook, and we enjoyed many good meals during our two weeks in her home, but that was the most shocking one to me.