A SICILIAN BIRTHDAY PARTY

Irma called at 08.30 yesterday morning. "Open the shutters!" she commanded. "What? In the daytime?" I asked, having become quite Sicilian in this matter. "Yes, the afa [extreme heat] is over and the air has changed" she replied. I did as I was bidden and in wafted a delicious, cooling, refreshing breeze such as I was beginning to think I would never feel again. Simi and I went straight out and, as she sniffed the air, I could see precious Simi's energy returning - a fact which she immediately proved by barking at passing motorbikes. It's still hot but for the past two days, we have been able to breathe properly and find relief in the evenings. It's only when this sort of heat lifts that you realise how oppressive it has been: I had started to believe it was "normal" to be permanently befuddled, unable to sit comfortably anywhere and to generally not know what to do with myself.

The second reason for Irma's early call was to invite me, along with other friends, to celebrate her husband Cesare's 55th birthday at the excellent Bar Consorzio last night. So they picked me up at 9 pm and we sat outside in the fresh breeze, further protected by the shade of an olive tree and a tall prickly pear plant. Note the garlic strung around the tree: this is not merely decorative but also keeps mosquitoes away.

Now to the food: it was a set menu but Irma had warned the bar that I cannot eat fish so you will see that I had alternatives: To start with there was a cold soup, rather like a gazpacho: mine was decorated with ice cubes and basil whilst the others had mussels with theirs. Little savoury pastries were served with this. Next came a fish antipasto for the others, whilst I was offered this beautifully presented bresaola with salad, more pastries and arancini [rice balls]. Then I had pasta with grilled vegetables whilst my friends had pasta with fish. The main course for my companions was this dish of prawns. Mine was a delicately cooked fillet of beef, very prettily served as you see. The contorno for us all consisted of barely cooked green beans and carrots with tomatoes.

Then you see some humans! First Cesare [seated] with his daughter, "Gilda" and the chef / owner of the bar, another Simone, a friend of the family. "Gilda" was such a little girl when I first came to Sicily in 1992. Now she has blossomed into this lovely young woman who, we have reason to believe, is well on her way to becoming an opera star. In the next photo you can see me [though I hesitate to post a photo of myself after the post-I-haven't-read at James's!], Irma and Cesare. Finally, a very happy Cesare opens the champers.

There was one sombre note, however: among our company was a young man who has cancer. Because of the drugs he has been prescribed, he has had a very bad reaction to the heat this time and his mouth is a mass of blisters. He could only nibble at a slice of bread and eat an ice cream. I so wanted to wrap this young man in my arms and tell him everything would be all right but of course I couldn't do so because I don't know that. And I was grumbling about my reaction to the heat?!

I don't know how this post will look as I am having trouble with the spacing, presumably because of the number of photos. Pazienza!