Escalope Milano

Wednesday European Championship games have provided quite a distraction from eat your way around the world in London lately so we decided to combine our vices last night and cross Italy off our list by dining at Al Forno before watching AC Milan entertain Manchester United.

I've always loved Al Forno's. It is noisy and crowded, but the pizzas are so big that you could order a large one, screw four legs into it and sit at that if the place was full.

It has also become a touchstone of authenticity for me since I saw them serving fish wrapped in foil once. I thought that was odd until I noticed the Corleones dining in exactly the same fashion at first communion party that kicks off "The Godfather Part 2". I still don't know what the thinking behind it is though.

The profit burglar and I both ordered Escalope Milano with spaghetti in honour of the game and washed it down with a bottle of house white.

As for the match itself, "what we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence".

"But why is the club called AC Milan?", I hear you muse. "Surely it should be Associazione Calcio Milano." Attend:

The club was founded in 1899 by Alfred Edwards, a British expatriate. In honour of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano (though it was forced to do it during the fascist regime).