SPECIAL SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: EASTER LUNCH FOOD PORN!

Instead of the jolt of despairing reality usually served on Sunday, namely, Tick Tock the Climate Clock, here’s something fun:  Easter lunch, Sicilian style, in a neighborhood restaurant. 

This contemporary Sicilian restaurant, called FlaM Osteria Contemporanea, is right in our neighborhood, a mere block away.  Thanks to my husband for the video.

After admiring the non-traditional, subdued color scheme of our upstairs dining room—milky olive green with dusty lavender—not to mention the adorable if inscrutable table decoration above, we proceeded with a glass of Oltrepo’ pavese Spumante (a sparkling Riesling from Lombardia, on the other side of the Po’ River).  That spells Old Home Week for us, as we lived in Pavia, 25 miles south of Milan, in 1984-85, and recall very good sparkling wines from this area.

You want to sample every course in Sicily, but there’s only so much your waistline can stand.  So, our plan of attack was to share an appetizer and a pasta and then to order our own main courses, with wines by the glass, as we were having both fish and meat.  Dessert would be an ice cream at a nearby gelateria.

Having cleared the first hurdle, it was on to a shared Antipasto Siculo, which paired nicely with the Spumante:   Eggplant caponata, home-cured porchetta, saffron-infused cheese from Siracusa, sun-dried tomatoes, peppery caccio cavallo from Ragusa, olives and capers, fragrant honey (I succumbed to a point-of-purchase jar), bitter orange marmalade, and house-cured cinghiale (wild boar) salami.  My rule of thumb is, if the appetizer rocks, you’re in the right restaurant.  The appetizer rocked.

As a primo piatto, we ordered the spaghetti with chunks of sautéed baccala’, pane mollica (slightly sweetened, toasted bread crumbs), and pine nuts.  Delicious, as the photo attests.

With this course, I had a glass of Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige and my husband opted for the local Inzolia.  The latter is a white grape primarily grown in western Sicily but also in southern Tuscany, where it is called Ansonica.  Inzolia is also a component of Marsala.   Both wine choices were very credible, unlike us, because we forgot to photograph the pasta course until the last bite. 

As my secondo piatto, I ordered cotollete agnello (lamb cutlets--I avoid lamb for obvious reasons, and make an exception only at Easter) with rosemary and a smear of potato puree.  

My husband stayed with fish and ordered the involtini pesce spada, sword fish fillets rolled and stuffed with pane mollica, pine nuts, finocchietto selvatico (wild fennel), and raisins.  The involtini were served with three condiments:  apple sauce, olive oil, and mint sauce.  We shared the oven roasted potatoes, which were so soft, they were almost caramelized.  

I switched to a Perricone with the lamb and my husband continued with his Inzolia.  Perricone is a deeply colored, full-bodied red grape predominantly grown in Sicily.  It’s often blended with the Sicilian grapes Nero d’Avola or Nerello Mascalese because of its density of color and flavor, but it is also vinified alone.  It’s the main component of Marsala.  Very smooth and really good. 

After dinner and for future reference, our sommelier recommended his favorite Perricone, which we’ll be on the lookout for.

Not a peep about our X-rated gelato.  Eat your little hearts out!

Keep it real!

Marilyn