Ferragosto

In Italy, August 15 is a national day of festa called Ferragosto. Perhaps it is better to wikipedia, but from what I gather, this is the day Mary died and was reborn in heaven. For those not so religiously inclined, it means another day of eating. And for Southern Italian families, even more so.

For us here in Fossacesia, Tonino, a family friend had organised for several families to go to a restaurant in a seaside area nearby called Lido La Foce (lido meaning beach area). Around 1:30pm after a morning at the beach in the sun, we drove around the Adriatic coast and through more vineyards and olive groves to find this restaurant sitting below the road, about 100m from the sea. The menu consisted of 10 courses, the consumption of which took approximately 5 hours.

The restaurant in an area surrounded by olive groves

Our table: there were in a group of 30

Menu

Drinks

Local white wine – still and sparkling

Lina and Gino: we were hungry and bored, hence the photo

Antipasti

1. Antipasti freddi:

Octopus and black olive salad

Prawn cocktail with rocket

Smoked salmon on bread

Marinated anchovies

Salad of fresh mussels, squid, cuttlefish, carrot and lettuce

Antipasti freddi

2. Cozze ripiene

Cozze ripiene

3. Antipasti caldi:

Grilled aubergine and zucchini

Crêpes with prawn crema

Cockle gratin

King prawn

Seafood and potato sauté

Antipasti Caldi

Primi piatti

1. Rintrocilo ai granchi e gamberi

Homemade pasta with a tomato, crab and giant prawn sugo

Afrodite eating her rintrocilo with king prawns

Lina got a whole crab in her pasta

2. Risotto alla pescatore

Risotto with mussels, cockles, prawns and coriander

Risotto alla pescatore

Secondi piatti

1. Pesce al forno

Whole-baked fish

Fish with two contorni: salad and potatoes

2. Frittura mista

Fried baby octopus, calamari and cuttlefish

La frittura mista

Contorni

Lettuce and tomato salad

Roasted potatoes

Frutta

Slices of watermelon

Cocomero!

Dolci

Tiramisù

Tiramisù: they almost went the whole day without using plastic plates

Digestivi

Liquori

Caffè

Caffè italiano

It took us about 2 hours just to get through the antipasti, and by the time the first primo piatto came out I needed a break from the table. To help with the digestive process I took intermittent strolls around the restaurant to see the beach, the gardens, the campsite next door, and watch the live music. By the time the secondo piatto finally came I really couldn’t stand being at the table any longer. Nevertheless, I was made to come back to the table and try the fish that had been placed at my seat in my absence. I’m glad I did because it ended up being deliciously tender and moist. I guess there is a reason this fish is called the “Queen of the Sea”.

The beach just down the driveway

Thankful that I didn’t receive my own plate of fried seafood, I congratulated myself with a sigh of relief that I had made it through the entire menu…until I realised there were still the contorni to go. Afrodite was quick to tell me that they had come on the plate with the fish, so I could relax again knowing that no more giant plates of food would be passed my way. That is until the huge platters of watermelon came out. I devoured three pieces in lieu of my tiramisù, which I gave to Afrodite. Finally we were ready for caffè and could get going. After 5 hours of lunch, we were more than ready.

That evening Lina, Afro and I spent the night at home playing cazzimma with a bit of nocino, and Gino went out to visit friends (who had invited us to eat more dessert). Around midnight Gino returned home with three cornetti: two chocolate ones for Afro and Lina, and a crema one for himself. I instead had a pistachio Magnum, which was too good to be true. Apparently they are knew in Italy this year, the icecream inside is green, though it’s difficult to see from the photo.

Afrodite and her chocolate cornetto

My pistachio flavoured Magnum

After a nice calorie-dense cornetto or gelato there is nothing better than going straight to bed and letting it pile right on. All I can say is I hope the food in Germany is nowhere near as good as it is in Italy, because I could sure do with a break, and I am positive that my jeans would agree!