Arrivederci, Venezia; Guten Tag, Deutschland!
It seemed impossible that our 14 days in Venice would ever come to an end, but finally our check-out date arrived.
We’d enjoyed two fabulous weeks at the luxury bed-and-breakfast Villa Ines located on Via Lazzaro just off the main square in beautiful, downtown Lido (www.villa-ines.com). Run by chef Marika Seguso, we’d been treated to breakfast each morning served either in our room or out in the gorgeous garden, which featured a variety of croissants, breads, cheeses, fresh fruit, jam, orange juice and tea or coffee. (Eggs and ham were served upon request for an additional charge).
We were able to survive for two weeks in Venice on a relatively small budget, by eating low-cost meals at local restaurants supplemented with salads and sandwiches and bottles of wine and beer purchased from the local grocery store. We only indulged ourselves food-wise on two occasions: once to take the cooking class offered at our B&B by Marika Seguso (Culinary Experience Acquolina at www.acquolina.com for 150 euros and worth every single one of them!); and a gourmet lunch at the El Fontego Ristorante Pizzeria (owner, Sergio Pagan) on the island of Chioggia – a lucky find. These two food experiences will be written about in depth at the conclusion of this series.
Our Lido friend, Patrizia, was a wealth of information on home-made Italian recipes and during casual conversations would spontaneously describe for us something that she prepared at home. One particular recipe that she shared with us was for Make-Ahead Potato Salad. Her instructions were simply this: boil the potatoes; cool, then chop. Mix together tuna, mayonnaise, olives, salt and capers. Stir in the potatoes and form this mixture into your desired shape (for example, a fish). Then cover your shaped mixture with a layer of mayonnaise; decorate if you wish. Place plastic wrap over the top and chill until ready to serve.
Another of Patrizia’s favorite make-ahead dishes is Summer Rice Salad. She boils the rice, then drains. Then she adds vinegar and oil, chopped green peppers and carrots, tuna, canned corn, beans, a teeny bit of mayonnaise, salt, and lemon juice. Chill, then serve.
And her recipe for Salame di Cioccolata (salami and chocolate cookies) was simply this: crush dark chocolate cookies in a bowl. Melt butter and 200 – 250 grams of chocolate together and then stir this mixture into the crushed cookies. Chop almonds and mix in a shot (or two) of rum and add these ingredients to the mixture until it’s not too hard or too soft. Then use parchment paper to wrap the dough with slices of salami; refrigerate, then cut into slices and serve. Sounds fabulous – especially with the shot (or shots!) of rum added!
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