Just in case you wondered what I was doing in Italy yesterday...
...eating, of course! This was the first course of warm seafood salad. In fact, three of us shared it You can see mussels, octopus and calamari, palourdes (a sort of small clam) and prawns. The big fellow on top is perhaps a langoustine - which seems to translate as a scampi or Dublin Bay prawn.
After this, we all had pasta with Pesto Alla Genovese, so named because it originated in Genoa just along the Ligurian coast from here. Pesto is probably my favourite Italian sauce - made of basil, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino cheeses, olive oil and pine nuts. It's traditionally ground with a mortar and pestle - in fact, the word pesto is the past participle of the Italian word for 'to pound or crush.'
You can buy freshly made Pesto Alla Genovese in any market in Ventimiglia or Menton so I confess I never bother to make my own.
Very interesting to see and hear about these fruits of the sea which for us are forbidden fruits (not kosher).
ReplyDeletegorgeous to look at. bet it was great to eat. & of course, mortar & pestle. I didn't know pine nuts were part of real pesto sauce.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Jerusalem is special. Very kosher. But over near the Mediterranean coast, in the secular cities, you can buy such creepie crawlies and even pork.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dina. That's interesting information. I'd never have imagined pork would be eaten yet, come to think of it, I recall asking for an omelette without meat somewhere in France and it arrived with ham. I queried this and the waitress said, 'that's not meat, it's ham.' And I had to gently point out that ham was meat. She'd thought of meat as something red and which needed cooking.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandmere -- was from Genoa but never cooked like that??I can do without the shellfish-- but I do like the recipe of the Pesto it would be my favorite as well with some rustic bread and glass of wine -- water with lemon , and coffee, chocolate for dessert please..
ReplyDeleteOh my -- very good photo -- looks like it is right in front of me.
Joanny
Oh, Jilly, you have made me soooo hungry for 'fruits de mer' now....nothing like this here in Belgrade, or if there is, naturally it's traveled a bit.
ReplyDelete--What you said about the ham makes me think of the aunt's remark in My Big, Fat Greek Wedding, something to the effect, 'What? He don't eat no meat? I'll make lamb."
That's great, Bibi!
ReplyDeletehummm sur une terrasse au bord de la mer YESS
ReplyDeleteHmmm... This makes me want to "beam" myself over there!
ReplyDeleteIf this was the starter, I wonder what the main dish was...
Seafood tastes best at the seaside!
I bet the water had the same colour as the table cloth!
Barbara from Germany
mmmmm, scrumptious. this is a meal after which i would be sorely tempted to lick my fingers, even at the risk of appearing horribly crass. as for your question about larger format, the truth, Jilly, is that i am woefully inept at this technology. my daughter set me up so i could participate but my skills are quite limited. i feel such gratitude for you; i respect you and your work so very much. to get a compliment from you makes my day, my week, and my month. i'm taking a few days off from posting, hobbling off to Boston to meet Clueless and Quincy. have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteBrattcat - am writing you privately. I remember soon after I started wih CDP someone suggested I increase the size of my photos and told me how, so I'm writing to tell you! It's v simple.
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing at Bibi as well. I loved that movie! And Jilly, I'm pleased to report that when I read your title, I said to myself, "Fruits de mer!" I'm coming along so very slowly! HA
ReplyDeleteIt looks delicious. I love seafood. Well I'll share the calamari with all of you.:)
V
I am a follower of Dina's blog, and spotted your comment about your first husband being Jewish. So, I thought I would wonder over and see who you are. 257 Followers? Wow! I'm impressed. And, some beautiful pictures too. I write about economics and politics, the political-economy. I also post my artwork on Saturdays. Drop by, you never know, you might find my blog Moneythoughts interesting. My late wife had a Jewish husband too.
ReplyDeleteLooks D-licious to me. Reminds me, it's time for lunch. Oh, nice presentatin of the dish too.
ReplyDeleteI smiled when I read Dina's comment.You really did take a nice picture of your plate.
ReplyDeleteOh,yummy! Shellfish is my favorite type of seafood. I only wish it had the health benefits that salmon, for example, has. I can't seem to develop a taste for the kinds of fish that are best for me.
ReplyDeleteAs for the pesto alla Genovese, I think it is my favorite Italian sauce
as well. To me there is nothing like the smell and taste of basil. So lovely. I admit to liking my own pesto sauce the best, but I'm sure the store-bought pesto sauce here in Pennsylvania doesn't come close to what you have in your area.
I'm sorry that I wasn't able to take your phone call invitation to your luncheon! :-) Maybe next time!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for whetting my appetite! My expanding waist line will certainly enjoy the LOW-CAL stuff that we'll have for OUR lunch. :-) I'll pretend that it's a "warm seafood salad".
Ken B.
No-one could resist a platter of food like that, I'm sure!!
ReplyDeleteOh I can just taste the Fruits of the sea, definitely one for me, and with pasta and pesto after mmmmmm!
ReplyDeleteYou are soooo lucky, you don't have far to go to Italy :-)
Are you going to watch the Monaco grandprix this year? I remember the post you did about watching from an apartment there.
This is just what I wanted for lunch! I had chicken instead. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteAnne, yes I have been invited - both the Historic Grand Prix and the FI - have to decide if my ears can stand the noise!
ReplyDeleteWow Jilly soooooo lucky.. Oh you must go to both :-) One day I will get there.
ReplyDeleteOh I won't come here anymore... it's too depressive. No such seafood over here! lol
ReplyDeleteSounds great! I can't wait to try it myself
ReplyDelete