[Sca-cooks] OOP--yummy food brag....*happy sigh*

[Sue Clemenger]

Okay, so normally I'm just drooling when y'all get into wonderful, 
lengthy descriptions of unusual meals you've cooked or eaten.  Tonight 
though, I got to go somewhere really special, so I have to share.
A friend and I went to a favored local restaurant that occasionally does 
what they call "Port of Call" nights, in which the restaurant serves a 
fixed menu (complete with appropriate wines), exploring a particular 
cuisine or region (usually Mediterranean).
Tonight was the Feast of Seven Fishes, based on a traditional Italian 
Christmas Vigil Dinner (with one course for each of the seven deadly 
sins, apparently).  There was fish in some variety in every course 
except the dessert.
This is what we had (as we ate and talked and drank lovely things for 3 
hours):
The evening began with glasses of a light, sparkling white wine 
(Zardetto, from Veneto--all the wines were Italian, to suit the menu)
The first course comprised Baked Stuffed Mussels from Veneto.  The green 
shell mussels were stuffed and baked with a delicate breading of leeks, 
garlic, currants, pine nuts and sweet cream sherry.  I also detected a 
citrusy note, but don't know if it was actual citrus, or just one of the 
herbs.  The first course was served with a Pinot Griogo '03, from Trentino.
The second course was Linguini alla Foriana (a village on the island of 
Ishcia).  Linguini was prepared with extra virgin olive oil, lemon, 
currants, walnuts, anchovies, pine nuts, fresh herbs and pomegranate 
seeds.  Wine same as first course.
The 3rd course was the soup--Brodetto de Sogliole, from some area called 
Marche in the northeast.  I had envisioned something pureed, or creamy, 
but this was almost like a really exquisite minestrone or something.  It 
was broth-based, and had been prepared with a minced vegetable soffrito, 
anchovies, tomatoes, garlic, saffron, herbs, white wine and sole.  The 
wine for this course (and the 4th) was a Da Vinci Chianti from Tuscany.
The 4th course was more pasta--Fazzoletti al Forno e Gambretti from 
Rome.  Essentially, it was a pasta crepe prepared with a filling of 
sauteed minced prawns, ricotta and other cheeses and herbs, and served 
with the most astounding beschamel sauce I have ever had in my entire life.
The 5th course was a seafood salad, from Lazio (town? region? in 
Sicily), comprising traditional marinated seafood including mussels, 
clams, squid and shrimp with olives, sweet peppers and capers.  The 
sauce was slightly spicey.  The wine was another red--Corvo, Rosso '01, 
from Sicily.
The 6th course was the risotto--a Venetian version, apparently, made 
with squid ink, imported Arborio rice, sauteed squid, herbs & spices. 
Same wine as 5th course.
The 7th course (the entree) was Pesce Ripience di Mare (Fish stuffed 
with scallops).  The chef took fillets of white fish (I think they 
actually used Pollock, which I'd never had as pollock <g>), and baked it 
with a stuffing of bay scallops, minced sweet peppers, capers, fresh 
herbs, leeks, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, fresh chilies, white wine, 
balsamic vinegar, cream sherry, olive oil and fresh lemon.  It had a 
light cream sauce with the sweet cream sherry notes from the 4th course, 
but with additional spicy notes.  The wine was another red (Monti, 
Montepulciano '02, from Abruzzo).
*sigh*
And then dessert, which was a traditional panetone served with a 
mascarpone cream sauce flavored with a hint of orange liqueur, which 
went marvelously with the drier texture of the cake and the hint of 
anise.  It was served with the most interesting wine from the 
Piedmont--a red, sparkling wine called "Branchetto d'Acqui" (I 
think...that might be the vineyard and "Banfi" the wine).

I've never in my life had so many different wines for one meal.  It was 
really fun (and enlightening) to explore how the food and the wine 
interacted with each other.  I'm in no way knoweledgeable about Things 
Vinous, but even I could taste the subtle differences between the 
whites, or the reds, and how this course was better with something 
drier, and this with .....

Dear God, if I could only go to SCA feasts like that (or cook them), I 
don't think I'd ever want to do anything else....

--Maire, very happy and very (pleasantly) full, and going to bed now....