Not many of us can afford trips to Italy very often; I've never been, though it's certainly a dream of mine. So when my friend Jamie from choir told me about chef Massimo Bruno's Italian supper club, I jumped at the chance to go!
The man himself, Massimo Bruno
We ended up being a party of nine people in the end; seven of us from choir or related through choir, plus Fong and Karon who ended up sitting with us and making friends. Much delicious wine was shared! I myself brought Reif Estates Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of ice wine as an after dinner treat to share. Delicious.
Above the choir ladies! L - R: Kat, Hilary, me, Dianna
I had never specifically heard of the region of Liguria before this dinner party, though I had heard of its' capital Genoa. It is the area of northwestern Italy near Nice and the Cote d'Azur, on the border with France. It's a mountainous region that also has beautiful beaches by the sea. It's an area that tended to go back and forth between French purview, Saracen (Arab/Middle Eastern) and "Italian" (Italy did not become a unified country until the 1870's so Liguria was at times under Milanese rule, Sardinian rule, etc.), so you can imagine that its' cuisine would have benefited from those cultures as well as its' marine bounty.
Massimo told us that the region is particularly known for it's olive oil, basil, and pesto sauce. And of course the seafood.
Here is the gorgeous printed menu we received:
The menu was as follows:
Antipasti
Focaccia al Formaggio (cheese Ligurian Focaccia)
Zucchine ripiene (stuffed zucchini with Italian Tuna)
Calamari in Zimino (Calamari with Spinach)
Melanzane sott'olio (olive oil and vinegar cured eggplant)
This is the focaccia and the cured eggplants, which I found particularly refreshing.
The stuffed zucchini with tuna and the calamari with Swiss chard were particularly revelatory for me. I could have just eaten those the whole night. Little did I know what else was in store for me!
First Course
Trofie al Pesto di Pistacchi (Artisanal Fusilli with Pistacchio pesto)
Tagliatelle alle noci (homemade Fettuccine with walnuts sauce)
Oh...the pastas. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of that incredible creamy fettuccine, but I got the pesto!
Pistachio Pesto on fusilli
Second Course
Pollo olive e pinoli (chicken with olives and pine nuts)
Burrida (fish stew)
So, so good! Our bellies already groaning, out came chicken with olives and pine nuts and a tomato-based fish stew called burrida which had shrimp, monkfish and scallop (sadly, no picture):
We could really taste the Mediterranean in these two dishes. I never think to put olives with my chicken, but it makes sense. They use olives with main dishes in the Middle East all the time!
Last Course
Funghetti ai Pinoli (mushroom with pine nuts)
Insalata (Italian salad)
You know it's funny, a simple thing like cooked mushrooms paired with pine nuts were such a treat for me. The earthiness of the mushrooms with the nuts just...fit. And then we had the salad which was simple romaine and radicchio with a citrusy vinaigrette which cleansed the palate so well. I don't even like radicchio, and I loved this! Kudos to Massimo's right-hand woman Giovanna for this one. Amazing.
And so we came to dessert.
Dessert
Semifreddo al Cioccolato (Chocolate Semifreddo)
The rich and creamy cold chocolate semifreddo (semi frozen) with raspberry sauce was like a cold chocolate pate, crossed with an ice cream. There were some very strong reactions to this dessert:
Simply delicious. A divine meal!
Food is such an amazing way to travel without spending thousands of dollars and taking months off from jobs that most of us can't afford to lose in this go-go-go life. In my opinion, Italians have it right in this respect. Earn money for the basics and enjoy living an actual life with good food, good wine, and good friends. Visiting Liguria in this way was such an unexpected pleasure for me; I can't wait for Massimo's next dinner in May. Sicily!
A few footnotes:
Check out Massimo's website as not only does he run supper clubs, he also organises culinary trips to Italy!
Special thanks to Jamie G. and Hilary M. for letting me use some of their photos of the evening. I specifically did not take my own photos as I wanted to simply experience the evening, but was then so inspired that I had to write about it!
As I have always said, in my next life I am coming back as an Italian!!
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