"Per un essere inglese", remarked Irma's husband, Cesare, at the end of last night's meal, "tu fai un buon caffè". ["For a British person, you make good coffee."] - A compliment, indeed, from a Sicilian!
I more or less repeated the menu I prepared for friends last week, partly because Italians are fascinated when presented with a whole, roasted bird. However, having found limes in the shops for only the second time since I've been in Sicily, and avocados being readily available, I omitted the pasta [at the risk of being deemed a revolutionary] and made guacamole and nachos instead. [For some reason my guacamole goes down incredibly well with the Sicilians!]
You may have noted that above I translated inglese as "British". This is because the adjective britannica is hardly ever used, although la Gran Bretagna for "Britain" is. I am sorry to tell my fellow-Celts - and there are some here, here and here - that even an English-teaching friend in Modica has difficulty grasping the fact that we are four nations, not regions!
13 comments:
That indeed is a compliment, Welsh...I refer to your coffee! And it is a compliment that you guacamole is so well-accepted and well-liked by Sicilians...as they're pretty particular about their food! Good for you! :)
Have you been experiencing problems with blogger, too, Welsh? I have...and it's driving me crazy! I used Firefox as my browser and I can't post on my own blog...but can if I use Internet Explorer, though, only after going through a lot of 'kafuffle' to get into do it. I wasted hours yesterday trying to fix the 'problem' but to no avail. It is very frustrating!
To be fair, many of our Celtic friends have trouble understanding that there are four nations, not three and a lot of English regions.
What sometimes gets to me is how in the US the UK is referenced as 'England' with no mention of the composite parts of the UK. x
You make good coffee for an Inglese. I like that. The food sounds delicious. Nachos are always good.
I've cooked Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight, would that confuse the Sicilians? I'm sure you could recommend a cheeky little Chianti to accompany it.
Oh, Ellee, I am homesick! Shepherd's Pie - the ultimate comfort food. I like to do Madhur Jaffrey's spiced up version but you can't get minced lamb here. I have made it with beef and it's OK, though. How about a nice Etna red to go with it?
By the way, the removed comment was me doing a test, as I hadn't received any comments for days!
And I know I definitely wrote a comment on this post!
From memory what I previously wrote was, that is high praise regarding your coffee, Welsh! Congratulations.
And as for your guacamole...again, accept the praise extended in form of your guests enjoyment of your food...it proves they must have good taste...and you know how Sicilians...all Italians, for that matter, love their food! So feel proud of yourself...you well deserve it, by the sounds of things. :)
I think you might have removed my early comment, Welsh when you removed your 'test' one...I hope I haven't written anything to offend you.
You really I am telling you... have to put a cookbook together! lol ~M
If you ever get a chance and feel like making me the best sister in the whole wide world... my brother loves shepards pie.. the recipies ive tried... well let's just say he didn't eat it!
So....
:) ~M Grazie!
I definitely sent a comment on the your previous post, which never appeared!
Hi, Lee. No, I didn't remove your comment; I never received it. this thing is driving me barmy lately! Anyway, thank you for your encouraging comment - you have really cheered me up. How could you possibly offend me?! Will be over to you soon. Auguri.
tin drummer, I didn't receive your other comment either. Blogger driving me bonkers!
Thanks for those words, Welsh...I'm going crazy down this way too with my blog...when I bring it up in my Firefox browser I can't post! But when I bring it up in Internet Explorer...using my OLD account, by the way, I can post! Figure that one out...I can't...it's way beyond my understanding. I've email Google a few times but I guess they are pretty busy with thousands upon thousands of complaints at present and will eventually get around to fixing whatever the problem is. I do hope so...I've got very little hair left! ;)
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