FoodNet

The gourmet's guide to Europe

1903

Page 134 · 6 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Genoa has its own especial Minestrone soup flavoured with Pesto, a paste in which pounded basil, garlic, Sardinia cheese, and olive oilMinestrone Soup with Pesto are used ; and the fish dishes are Stocafissso alia Genovese , stock-fish stewed with tomatoes, and sometimes with potatoesStocafissso alia Genovese as well, and a fry of red mullet, and Moscardini , which are cuttle-fish, oblong in shape and redolent of musk. The tripe of Genoa is as celebrated as that of Caen, and the Vitello Uccelletto , little squares of veal saute with fresh tomatoes in oil and red wineVitello Uccelletto, is a very favourite dish. The Ravioli I have already written of. The Faina somewhat resembles Yorkshire pudding made with pease powderFaina and oil. Funghi a Fungetto are the wild red mushrooms stewed in oil with thyme and tomatoesFunghi a Fungetto, and Meizanne is a small, bitter egg- plant, only found on the Riviera, stuffed with a cheese pasteMeizanne and then fried. Pasqualina is an Easter pie. The figs of Genoa are excellent. The wines are those delle cinque terre , and in some of the cellars you will find them dating back sixty years or more. AFTER DINNER As in all the other large Italian towns the principal Opera House, the Carlo Felice, is only open in the winter months. The music hall in the Via Venti Settembre, the Verdi, though its entrance is not pre- possessing, generally has a very good programme. In the summer it is more pleasant to listen to the band of an evening in the Aquasola Park than to go to any of the stuffy minor theatres. Venice From the sunlight and the fluster of the grey wings of the doves in the Piazza San Marco a narrow dark passage takes you to the all white rooms cappelo Nero, of the Cappelo Nero, the best known of Merceria the Venetian restaurants since the Quadri has ceased to be a restaurant, and only remains a cafe. Over this lapse of the Quadri I must be permitted to shed a tear, and to hope that the old maitre (Thotel , who had the manners of an ambassador, and who assisted one to order a typical Venetian breakfast with the utmost delicacy, is leading somewhere a pleasant life of retire- ment. To return to the Cappelo Nero, it can trace its history back to *1376, and in 1483 a Turkish naval captain, who lived there, wrote in its praise. In the old comic opera, Crispino e la Comare , the bass is given an air in praise of the good things to be obtained at the Cappelo. Its principal entrance is in the Merceria, that bustling street which is the main artery on land of Venice. It is an hotel as well as a restaurant, and Garibaldi slept there when he visited Venice after the war of liberation. The bed in which he slept is religiously preserved as an historic relic. The main room of the Cappelo on the Mer- ceria side is really tastefully decorated in creams and light colours, its mirrors are in carved frames, and 246 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe