Pane e Salsa: La Cernia (Something Big cont.)

Il tavolo

Well my dinner party was a huge success. I was initially terrified by the fish, but as I began its preparation, I felt calm and capable. It actually became quite a relaxing, wholesome experience to be so hands-on with the food I was cooking. The worst part ended up being cutting up the pancetta before stuffing it into the fish. When I ordered the pancetta at the market the macellaio cut it into three thick slices instead of multiple thin ones so when I got home I had to improvise. Instead of cutting it into thin, long slices, which I couldn’t do even if I wanted to due to my awful cutlery, I sliced it horizontally creating little slivers of pancetta, perfect for stuffing. I then sliced four whole lemons and four cloves of garlic. After cleaning the fish, I made several cuts into the outer part of the flesh and stuffed each one with garlic, pancetta, rosemary, and lemon. I used the leftover fillings to stuff the cavity. Before putting it all in the oven, I added diced potatoes, a glass of white wine, and a bit of lemon juice to each pan. It was fantastic. The only problem was that the fish cooked faster than the potatoes so I would therefore recommend cooking the potatoes a little bit beforehand (brown them on the stove with a little bit of olive oil). But the fish was moist and lemony. It had delicately soaked up all of the flavors of the salty pancetta, the earthy rosemary, and the aromatic garlic and at the same time retained the wonderfully fishy taste of grouper. While it was cooking I had served a lovely tray of marinated olives, bruschetta, scarmorza and pecorino cheeses, a chianti-infused-wild-Tuscan-boar salami, and of course a generous amount of wine. just in case we didn’t have enough food, I also made a bowl of aglio e oglio with fresh tomatoes and basil. It was a fantastic evening and definitely worth every penny. I might be crazy and my parents may have already notified me that spending that much money on fish is not normal for a college student, but this is who I am: go big or go home. In this case it was more like go big at home but either way it was an absolute pleasure to finally be a host. My passion for food goes far beyond loving the act of cooking and eating. I have a passion for sharing food with other people because I believe that food is a vehicle for building relationships, connections, and bonds. Here is how it all looked: