Saturday, November 8, 2008

Eating Dutch in Rome

Via Corsini, Rome, Nov. 8—

aristo.JPG
Aristo, broccoli, potato gratin


IT MAY BE SIMPLY my imagination, but last night's dinner tasted echt Dutch to me. And why not? Hans and Anneke had gone to the market in Campo dei Fiori, where they found sliced aristo, roast pork and veal combined; and potatoes; and Venetian broccoli, the spiral kind that has such a nice subtle flavor.
Once home, they peeled, boiled, and mashed the potatoes, then set them in a baking dish, covered them with slices of cheese (having forgotten the name: not parmagiano, not pecorino) and set it in the oven. They heated the meat in the frying pan and steamed the broccoli. Dessert was a melon, also from the Campo. Excellent quiet inexpensive dinner at home.
Nebbiolo d'Alba: Marne Brune, 1996 (!)

sard.JPG
Lindsey, CS, Anneke, Hans, at Albino il Sardo


TODAY, ON THE OTHER hand, we took midday dinner out, at Albino il Sardo all'angoletto (via della Luce, 44-45; tel. 06.5800846): and we were the only people in the dining room, apart from the cheerful and friendly but reserved waiter. I had the same meal I had four years ago, and neither it nor waiter nor chef nor room had changed. Maloreddus, those short, fat-maggot-sized ribbed pastas, in tomato sauce; then porchetta, roast suckling pig. No cinghiale chop on the side this time; perhaps they've had to cut back. No matter: the meal was filling. Before it, carta di musica, "music-paper bread", the Sardinian national wafer-thin crispy flatbread drizzled with nice butter; on the side, cicoria ripassata, "overcooked" chicory; after, a nice almond cake, a sort of genoise with almond paste here and there, and a good coffee.
White and red table wine "Segolaj"

No comments: