In case you have not noticed, I have a passion for food and good eating. Italy is without doubt the country for me. At the lake I heard conversations about Shake Shake, a proposed Thanksgiving feast with regional delicacies like Shoo Fly Pie, and on learning that I spend time every summer in Sardinia, one new colleague asked me, much to my surprise, if I had tasted "su casu marzu" a local cheese which is seasoned with insect larvae. (I, too, have my limits!)
Certainly one of the advantages of living in Italy is being able to participate in the ongoing gastronomic festival that surrounds us. Italians spend a lot of time talking about food and the end of a long and leisurely lunch is often crowned with a discussion about what we will have for dinner.
In thinking especially, but not only, about our new staff and their new cultural adventure, I wondered if some kind of blog about one of my favorite passatempi might be of interest to the whole staff. We could share restaurant experiences, new discoveries, even recipes?!
Here is something new for me, but maybe closer to the experiences of North Americans......
Last night I got home late and had to cook some fish I had bought at the market the day before. I had taken advantage of a special on "orate", a local Mediterranean fish know in British English, at least, as John Dory. I don't think we have it in North America. It is a top quality fish, although mostly farmed in Greece these days. Line caught orate command a much higher price and are difficult to find in most markets.
So.... I had three nice looking whole fish specimens (fish filets, which are preferred in N. America, lose much of the natural flavor of the fish) with impressive heads, gills, and tails. I decided to try an experiment since I did not want my house smelling of grilled or baked fish. I rinsed the fish, which had already been cleaned by my fishmonger, and filled their inner cavities with chopped parsley, some wild dill sprigs and some thin slices of lemon. Then I put them into one of those plastic baking bags, like the ones they use for Thanksgiving turkeys in N. America, only smaller. Tossed into the bag what remained of my glass of white wine and added a bit of olive oil for good measure and sealed the bag. Then put the fish in the microwave for only five minutes. I took them out and pushed on them with my finger. They seemed quite done, but five minutes seemed too little to me, so I put them back in the microwave for another 3-4 minutes. Then I took them out and let them rest for about 8-10 minutes. I removed them from the cellophane bag, reserving the juices and plated them. They were perfect. The skin and tails came off on command and the meat was moist and tender as the proverbial baby's flesh. The closed bag concentrated the flavor of the lemon, parsley and wild dill. It was one of the tastiest fish dishes I have had and I would readily serve it to guests.
Soon I will try the same technique with a Mediterranean sea bass, know as branzino here in the north and as spigola in the south of Italy.
A really great fish restaurant in Milan is La Risacca 2 in Viale Regina Giovanna, a cross street of Corso Buenos Aires. It is not cheap, though. Fish restaurants tend to be more expensive due to the higher cost of the creatures from the sea. All fish products restaurants in Italy, however, are fresh. Frozen fish costs much less and if your restaurant is serving you frozen fish, chalk it up to experience and move on.
Certainly one of the advantages of living in Italy is being able to participate in the ongoing gastronomic festival that surrounds us. Italians spend a lot of time talking about food and the end of a long and leisurely lunch is often crowned with a discussion about what we will have for dinner.
In thinking especially, but not only, about our new staff and their new cultural adventure, I wondered if some kind of blog about one of my favorite passatempi might be of interest to the whole staff. We could share restaurant experiences, new discoveries, even recipes?!
Here is something new for me, but maybe closer to the experiences of North Americans......
Last night I got home late and had to cook some fish I had bought at the market the day before. I had taken advantage of a special on "orate", a local Mediterranean fish know in British English, at least, as John Dory. I don't think we have it in North America. It is a top quality fish, although mostly farmed in Greece these days. Line caught orate command a much higher price and are difficult to find in most markets.
So.... I had three nice looking whole fish specimens (fish filets, which are preferred in N. America, lose much of the natural flavor of the fish) with impressive heads, gills, and tails. I decided to try an experiment since I did not want my house smelling of grilled or baked fish. I rinsed the fish, which had already been cleaned by my fishmonger, and filled their inner cavities with chopped parsley, some wild dill sprigs and some thin slices of lemon. Then I put them into one of those plastic baking bags, like the ones they use for Thanksgiving turkeys in N. America, only smaller. Tossed into the bag what remained of my glass of white wine and added a bit of olive oil for good measure and sealed the bag. Then put the fish in the microwave for only five minutes. I took them out and pushed on them with my finger. They seemed quite done, but five minutes seemed too little to me, so I put them back in the microwave for another 3-4 minutes. Then I took them out and let them rest for about 8-10 minutes. I removed them from the cellophane bag, reserving the juices and plated them. They were perfect. The skin and tails came off on command and the meat was moist and tender as the proverbial baby's flesh. The closed bag concentrated the flavor of the lemon, parsley and wild dill. It was one of the tastiest fish dishes I have had and I would readily serve it to guests.
Soon I will try the same technique with a Mediterranean sea bass, know as branzino here in the north and as spigola in the south of Italy.
A really great fish restaurant in Milan is La Risacca 2 in Viale Regina Giovanna, a cross street of Corso Buenos Aires. It is not cheap, though. Fish restaurants tend to be more expensive due to the higher cost of the creatures from the sea. All fish products restaurants in Italy, however, are fresh. Frozen fish costs much less and if your restaurant is serving you frozen fish, chalk it up to experience and move on.
