The Omnivorous Fish

This Easter, I’m working. All the time. What’s more, I still don’t have a kitchen (though I’m getting closer every day).

I drove down to my Mom’s house yesterday, I’m going to my sister’s for dinner, and then back on my head tomorrow at 8AM.

My sister is making ham, which will be fine. She bought it at Sam’s Club, but it will be fine, since ham, even at its humblest, is a excellent vehicle for salt. I don’t know what else there will be, except for the bottles of barbera I’m bringing, but it will all be fine.

But I can’t help but fantasize about what I would cook. Want to fantasize with me?

First, you need to know that Easter is the holiest day in the Roman Catholic Calendar, and is a Feast day (as opposed to Good Friday, which is a Fast day [as is Christmas Eve, where you eat more than almost any other day, which makes no sense, but there you go looking for sense in religion]). Italians, however, especially Sicilians, have retained a great deal of their indigenous rituals, mostly regarding curses and charms, but also unabashedly use Easter as a ritual of Spring, and the traditional foods reflect that.

What are the traditional foods, you ask? Ace #1 Italian Easter food, hands-down no question: eggs. In times before modern animal husbandry, Spring is when eggs began to appear in abundance, and have been associated with fertility and rebirth since man first broke a shell. Goat and lamb rank high, as do peas, artichokes and cheese. In Naples, they stew kid with wine, peas, hardboiled eggs and hard cheese. In Lazio the Roman influence is strong, and many brodetti make an appearance, that is to say soups thickened with egg, often including lemon and rice. Salami, ham, etc. also pop up, as people cleaned out the last of the winter preserves. Thus, the Easter “Ham Pie” of Italian-American fame: Pizza Chena (or Pizza Rustica).

This Ham Pie, of course, begins a long list of things that get eaten after Mass on Saturday night, and Easter morning (and about an hour after Easter dinner). To me, it is the ne plus ultra for Easter foods, but the first runner up is Easter Bread, which is not unlike a brioche, rolled into long ropes and braided together with dyed, hardboiled eggs.

All that aside, what would I cook for dinner?

Pea Soup. No doubt about it, if fresh peas are available. Leeks, peas, mint, stock, cream, period. Falanghina or Greco di Tufo would be welcome additions.

Fava Ravioli. Traditional, but contemporary, favas blanched and mixed with basket cheese and fresh mint, stuffed into pasta and tossed with butter, marjoram and fava greens. A light red wine would be the order of the day for me, or a ballsier white, but I would rather see a nice Barbera d’Asti or maybe the varietal gamay from Edmunds St John. Mmm.

Kid Leg Roasted with Rosemary, Potatoes and Lemon. Yes, kid, as in goat. I guess you could have lamb, but it wouldn’t be the same. I would garnish this with hardboiled eggs and an herb salad. Call me a crazy American, but I would want Ridge zinfandel with this. A heavier Barbera or Dolcetto could do the job here, too. Don’t be afraid of the lemon; it loses its teeth in the oven.

For dessert, a cheese cake of some order would be traditional, but I might be inclined to go with Riso Nero di Pasqua, or Easter Black Rice. This is a black risotto, not from squid ink, but from cocoa and chocolate, thickened with cheese, and garnished with rum-soaked fried figs. Labor intensive, yes, but it’s a labor of love. Very much a traditional animal from Sicily, it should be served with a nice passito, but be sure to leave room for agneddu pasquali, the marzipan lambs.

Whatever you’re eating, having a good holiday.