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Soft Shelled Yummy Things
Nov. 7th, 2003 06:15 pmLee and Melissa are visiting Venice this week. Lee and Melissa are friends of Bruce and Karen, but I’ve met them a few times at food and wine related things, and they asked if they could come to Venice this November. I am being, mostly, a poor host – going off to the library in the day, but joining them for scrumptious meals at night. We began with a dinner across the street at Ristorante Bruno, which was as normal and decent as always. Two days ago we at Zucca, one of my favorite places. I had the lamb and pumpkin soup, both of which were heavenly. Duck, fennel, cipolline in prosecco, and fagioli joined the feast, but Lee was feeling a bit under the weather. Last night, having failed to get up in time to go to the fish market (I was long gone to the library), they took me to Alla Carampane. This is a restaurant without menus, and mostly without English. Specialties of the night included these odd translucent large sea shrimpy things, which were yummy as could be, but the big winner were the soft-shelled crabs.
Lee, Melissa, and I swung by the fish market on Tuesday, and there were crabs, but no soft-shelled ones. I’ve been here since September, no soft-shelled crabs. On Wednesday, at Alla Carampane, there were these delicious little creatures, lightly fried, a bit salty, and utterly fabulous.
But I’m not writing this to tell you about my restaurant experiences. I’ve had a lot, I’ve liked them immensely, and I look forward to having more. But I’ve written about them before … But when I got home from the library Thursday night, I arrived to find my guests in preparations for making a feast. (I hadn’t told them how to find the fresh pasta store, so you’ll have to wait for that for tomorrow).
Aperitivo – Limoncello di Napoli. Nice and tart.
First course – salad, with a little proscuitto crudo of San Daniele, one of the best Italian prosciuttos, and a little bit of some fancy yummy pungent salame.
Second course – Fagioli (big beans), prosciutto, shallots, and aromatic herbs friend in olive oil. Just a few spoonfuls for each of us.
Intermezzo – White truffle butter on a piece of bread. (A small slice, just to taste it. Mmmmm. I need to bring home 40 of these jars).
Third course – A small branzino (Sea bass), cooked whole in oil, served with lime. The fish required no seasoning.
Fourth course – soft-shelled crabs. They were still alive, though quite cold having sat in the fridge all day. Now, I have no problem with taking a live crustacean and killing it and eating it. But it seemed kind of rude to take a live crab, dip it in egg, dip it in batter, and then toss it into the oil. So instead we tossed them into the oil for a moment, put them (now red and dead) into the batter, then back into the oil. Yummy. Some problems ensued when we tested the first three of the nine crabs we had, ate them, and let bits of batter burn and ruin the oil. So we had to run out and buy more oil and re-do the process. Anyway … the soft-shelled crabs we made were as heavenly as the ones last night, except less salted batter. Today the crabs were not so good, but we’ll check again tomorrow.
Fifth course – Porcini mushrooms baked in olive oil. At this point we switched from a very dull, if ok, Quintorelli white Veronese table wine to a Jerrmann “Red Angel On Moonlight” Pinot Nero. The Jerrmann whites and reds we’ve had this week have been extraordinary, especially after a few hours of aging. The Quintorelli, a producer that Lee likes a lot, we not very good (though acceptable to my untrained taste buds).
Sixth course – A fried orata (bream) with lime.
Seventh course – Pioppini (spelling may vary. They are perfect little mushroom) and some bright orange fungus (like chanterelles) sautéed in butter and put in a sauce of mascarpone (a cheese) and milk and
Eighth course – Schie (little baby shrimp) fried and breaded with the leftover breading from the crab (bread crumbs, oregano, garlic salt, black pepper) served on deep fried pieces of bagette (ok, so, much of this meal isn’t actually healthy). More importantly, a tiny bit of white truffle butter was mixed into the mix, giving it that special million dollar taste.
Ninth course – Vongole in the broth made from the heads and bones of the two fish courses. Served with a little French bread.
Digestivo – More limocello
Cheese – a little fontina and montasio.
Tonight’s feast includes a bit of gorgonzola and walnut tortellini (about 2 each), six different type of shrimp things, some in risotto and frittata, and whatever else those mad geniuses of the kitchen have come up with. More Jerrmann, this time a sauvignon. If you want a great white wine and can spend $25 or so (it’s 15 euros here. There will be a markup. Maybe higher), buy Jerrmann!
Lee, Melissa, and I swung by the fish market on Tuesday, and there were crabs, but no soft-shelled ones. I’ve been here since September, no soft-shelled crabs. On Wednesday, at Alla Carampane, there were these delicious little creatures, lightly fried, a bit salty, and utterly fabulous.
But I’m not writing this to tell you about my restaurant experiences. I’ve had a lot, I’ve liked them immensely, and I look forward to having more. But I’ve written about them before … But when I got home from the library Thursday night, I arrived to find my guests in preparations for making a feast. (I hadn’t told them how to find the fresh pasta store, so you’ll have to wait for that for tomorrow).
Aperitivo – Limoncello di Napoli. Nice and tart.
First course – salad, with a little proscuitto crudo of San Daniele, one of the best Italian prosciuttos, and a little bit of some fancy yummy pungent salame.
Second course – Fagioli (big beans), prosciutto, shallots, and aromatic herbs friend in olive oil. Just a few spoonfuls for each of us.
Intermezzo – White truffle butter on a piece of bread. (A small slice, just to taste it. Mmmmm. I need to bring home 40 of these jars).
Third course – A small branzino (Sea bass), cooked whole in oil, served with lime. The fish required no seasoning.
Fourth course – soft-shelled crabs. They were still alive, though quite cold having sat in the fridge all day. Now, I have no problem with taking a live crustacean and killing it and eating it. But it seemed kind of rude to take a live crab, dip it in egg, dip it in batter, and then toss it into the oil. So instead we tossed them into the oil for a moment, put them (now red and dead) into the batter, then back into the oil. Yummy. Some problems ensued when we tested the first three of the nine crabs we had, ate them, and let bits of batter burn and ruin the oil. So we had to run out and buy more oil and re-do the process. Anyway … the soft-shelled crabs we made were as heavenly as the ones last night, except less salted batter. Today the crabs were not so good, but we’ll check again tomorrow.
Fifth course – Porcini mushrooms baked in olive oil. At this point we switched from a very dull, if ok, Quintorelli white Veronese table wine to a Jerrmann “Red Angel On Moonlight” Pinot Nero. The Jerrmann whites and reds we’ve had this week have been extraordinary, especially after a few hours of aging. The Quintorelli, a producer that Lee likes a lot, we not very good (though acceptable to my untrained taste buds).
Sixth course – A fried orata (bream) with lime.
Seventh course – Pioppini (spelling may vary. They are perfect little mushroom) and some bright orange fungus (like chanterelles) sautéed in butter and put in a sauce of mascarpone (a cheese) and milk and
Eighth course – Schie (little baby shrimp) fried and breaded with the leftover breading from the crab (bread crumbs, oregano, garlic salt, black pepper) served on deep fried pieces of bagette (ok, so, much of this meal isn’t actually healthy). More importantly, a tiny bit of white truffle butter was mixed into the mix, giving it that special million dollar taste.
Ninth course – Vongole in the broth made from the heads and bones of the two fish courses. Served with a little French bread.
Digestivo – More limocello
Cheese – a little fontina and montasio.
Tonight’s feast includes a bit of gorgonzola and walnut tortellini (about 2 each), six different type of shrimp things, some in risotto and frittata, and whatever else those mad geniuses of the kitchen have come up with. More Jerrmann, this time a sauvignon. If you want a great white wine and can spend $25 or so (it’s 15 euros here. There will be a markup. Maybe higher), buy Jerrmann!
