GINA'S NEW YEAR FEAST

A wonderful lunch yesterday at Gina's. I'll take you straight to the food:



First, there was her famous dish of tagliatelle al forno, this time made for 15 people and even more delicious and crispy as it was cooked in a wood-burning oven.



Next, the main courses: polpettone of minced meat, omelette mixture and chard



and cotolette of chicken and veal



and good old Italian salsiccia



accompanied by orange salad



and peperoni



and cipolline in agrodolce [little sweet and sour onions].

There was also a green salad plus patate al forno or "Gina's chips". She cooks them in the oven in olive oil and rosemary. I remember the first time she served them when I was there some years ago and everybody wanted some. "But I've only done them for the children", she cried. "Ma noi siamo bambini!" ["But we're children!"] came the reply from all the adults present. She now makes plenty but yesterday they disappeared before I could snap them!



For dessert there were just-picked mandarins and oranges so sweet that they are called "vanilla oranges" here. Yes, they really do taste of vanilla!



Then there was gel al limone [newer readers might like to know that the recipe is here],



then these dolci



and of course, panettone.

Grazie, Gina!

And those of you who've read to the end get Gina's recipe for the sweet and sour onions:
Peel some very small onions and wash them well. Sprinkle some flour over them and fry them in a little olive oil. Then add some white wine vinegar to the pan [about a tablespoon to a half kilo of onions] with some salt, black pepper and sugar [about a dessertspoon of sugar, I would say]. Cook over a low flame for 15 minutes. Buon appetito.