Life Is Meals_ A Food Lover's Book of Days - James Salter [119]
K.S.
FRITTATA
Pasta is good the next day, either crisped brown in olive oil or as part of an omelet, although, as Marcella Hazan notes, leftover pasta is a rare commodity. It is even worthwhile, she says, to cook spaghetti specifically to use later in a frittata, a kind of Italian omelet cooked over low heat and on both sides, a flat cake of egg with various fillings mixed in that allows the cook to be creative.
FRITTATA
1 egg per person, or egg substitute plus 1 egg for authenticity
Grated Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese to taste
Salt and pepper
Herbs to taste
Olive oil
Filling: previously cooked pasta, vegetables, seafood, ham, or almost any leftover (if using spaghetti as a filling it should be tossed and coated with butter immediately after draining to keep it from sticking together)
Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the other ingredients, and combine. Pour the mixture into a preheated frying pan with the olive oil. Cook at very low heat, lifting gently around the edge to allow any uncooked egg to seep underneath. When firm and golden on the bottom, flip the frittata and cook on the other side to the same golden brownness. You can, if you prefer, cook the top by putting the pan under the broiler, though not long enough to brown it. Slice into wedges and serve immediately, or serve later at room temperature.
CANDLES
The simplest meal seems more special when there are lighted candles on the table. The more the better, though that can add up. In Aspen, there was a woman who was planning an elaborate dinner party and went to Wax and Wicks, the local candle shop. She wanted dozens of candles, but the ones the owner began showing her were too expensive, she said. He showed her some others. No, those still cost too much. Were there any that were less expensive? He brought out the most basic of his stock. She still wasn’t satisfied. Didn’t he have anything cheaper? “I’m sorry madam,” he said coldly, “we do not rent candles.”
DELMONICO’S
On this day in 1835, a huge fire destroyed much of lower Manhattan, including a restaurant that, when it was later rebuilt nearby, would become the restaurant of the century, not only in New York but in the entire country. Established by two Swiss brothers and named for them, Delmonico’s was acclaimed and widely imitated but nowhere rivaled. It was organized on the principle of European restaurants that offered a variety of dishes rather than the American commonplace fixed meal, and the menu at one time listed 340 entrées.
Delmonico’s had outstanding food and service amid sumptuous surroundings. There were silver chandeliers, orchestras, and rooms decorated in satin. The restaurant had French chefs and its own farm to provide fresh produce. The cellars were filled with the finest wine. Price was never a consideration, and the fact that it was expensive was part of the appeal. At its height, late in the 19th century, there were four locations and the clientele was drawn from the best of society, business, celebrity, and the arts. Charles Dickens ate there on his visit to America, and the name of a prodigious feeder of the time, Diamond Jim Brady, is intimately linked to Delmonico’s.
Quarrels between heirs eventually spelled the end of the restaurant, and the advent of Prohibition in 1920 sealed its fate. By that time, Delmonico’s had been synonymous with excellence for so long that the courts decreed it was part of the general language and the name could be used by anyone.
BOSTON TEA PARTY
On this day in 1773, the most famous tea party of all was held in Boston Harbor by colonists dressed as Indians who, angered by Parliament’s decision to cut out American middlemen in the tea trade, threw three shiploads—342 chests—of British tea overboard. One of the “Indians” was Paul Revere, whose historic ride two years later was said to have inspired a recipe for wild rabbit in one of the first United States cookbooks.
AMPHOUX
Mme Amphoux, a Frenchwoman,