Anyone remember that old song "Torn between two lovers?" Sure you do. We did parodies of it like "Torn between two tires," there was a bad tv movie based on the song, and I believe the singer disappeared after that. There was one line in the song that we all held with us: "loving you both/is breaking all the rules."
Let us not discuss, at least here, the issues with loving more than one.. whoever. The line is inspiring here as it invokes several conflicting strains of Annalena's cooking.
I love cheese. I love experimenting. And I love Italian food. And there are times when the three come together, and there are others when they most certainly do NOT. You should all know that the statements about how Italian cooking is easy going, and very flexible, is only true to a certain degree. For example, if you start out to make that wonderful Roman soup of spring, vignarole, and you are lacking peas, you do NOT substitute green beans. You make something else. Perhaps, there is a dish that uses the three of them and is "canonical," but I think not so. If you do not have fresh bread crumbs in a dish that calls for them, dried crumbs will not do, period. So you follow the rules.
And one of the most famous of the inflexible Italian food rules is "no cheese with fish." This is one to which Annalena subscribes. The juxtaposition of fish and cheese in a dish is jarring to her taste sensibilities. She winces, and often never returns, to a restaurant which serves a seafood based pasta where a server will offer cheese, and she applauds when a customer requests it and is told "we prefer that you not put cheese on the fish pasta." And yet...
There are times when I have made a seafood lasagna, using a bechamel sauce. Technically, no cheese, but how fine are we going to split hairs? Several years ago, bowing to the love of a friend, and his love of such things, Annalena served forth, as part of a Xmas eve dinner, pasta with scallops in cream sauce with parmesan and pecorino cheeses on top.
She anguished for days after that.
If you look at other cuisines, the taboo against this combination does not exist. "Coquilles Sant Jacques," for example, that exquisite dish of broiled scallops with cheese sauce on it. And of course, McDonald's filet of fish with cheese.
Oh, wait. Let's not bring in non food. But you see what Annalena meansa, yes?
So you can understand her conflict when one of her favorite food writers, Melissa Clark, presented a recipe with several of her favorite ingredients, including shrimp... and pecorino cheese.
I so wanted to make this, but... but... Well, I thought I'd give it a try as I gathered my ingredients: snap peas. Potatoes. Shrimp. Mint leaves.... and pecorino cheese. Even as I went into the kitchen to make this, I was conflicted. I couldn't see it working, but Melissa said it did, and every one of her recipes has been a gem.
But... but... I got to work. I made vinaigrette. I cooked vegetables. I poached shrimp. I took the young pecorino out of the refrigerator....
And then I put it back. I served it forth to the Guyman who said "I could see why you WOULD put cheese on this, but I don't see that you MUST. IT's fine as it is."
And that is good enough for Annalena. So, here's how I made it. And some ideas for substitution. And if, at the end, you want the cheese, please feel free to do so, but please also... don't call it Italian.
Start by getting a pound of smallish, boiling potatoes together. I used the red skins because they stay nice and firm. The size should be such that you are getting about 7-10 of them to a pound. Cut them in half, don't peel them, and put them in a pot of salted water to cook until they are done, but firm. This will take about fifteen minutes.
You will also need a scant pound of snap peas. If you use these, all you need do is wash them, tip them, and then cut them into about half inch pieces, If you choose, substitute green beans, and here, I would suggest you parboil them for about a minute. Perhaps in the water from the potatoes. You can do this, with the snap peas or the beans, while the taters cook.
You should also make your vinaigrette, which will be 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard (use honey mustard if you like), 3 tablespoons of vinegar (any kind you like), a pinch of salt, and a nice grind of pepper. Whisk this all together, and then whisk in half a cup of olive oil. You'll get a thick, dark yellow dressing, with the tint of red, if you use red wine vinegar.
when the potatoes are done, take them from the pot, but leave the water boiling. Let them cool, and while that cooling is happening take a pound and a half of peeled, deveined shrimp (I buy them as such. I am too old to be bothered with shelling and deveining. It's worth the 50 cents to me), or the same quantity of scallops, and put them in that boiling water, for two minutes, no longer, Pull them out, and put them right on top of your green vegetable.
By now, the potatoes should have cooled sufficiently for you to slice them into thick circles. Do so, and add most of the dressing. Toss it, and let the potatoes sit and absorb some of this (they will in fact take up most of it).
Now, get yourself anywhere from half a cup to 3/4 cup of coarsely chopped mint leaves. We use peppermint because the Guyman is adverse to spearmint. You could use cilantro if you like, or a mix of leafy herbs. The mint was, however, surprisingly good.
Let's assemble everything now. Take the remaining dressing and toss it with the seafood and the greens. Put that in a bowl with the potatoes, and then add the mint leaves.
At this point, you're done, unless.... you want to grate a good 3/4 cup of a cheese over it. Dont' go to the really strong stuff. Young pecorino was recommended, and that's what I would use if you do use the cheese.
This makes a lot of food. Think through it: a pound of potatoes, 1.5 pounds of shrimp, 3/4 pound of snap peas. So saying that it serves four is not stingy. Serving six may be a bit parsimonious, but the original recipe also said to serve bread. In my view, if you want to add anything to it, add cucumbers chopped up, or some soft lettuce, or maybe roll the stuff in a hard or soft taco.
In any event, make yourself a good lunch and enjoy the fresh flavors. You may feel like you are in Vietnam from the mint - but then you wouldn't use the cheese.
Have a free hand with this, and if any of you do make it with the cheese, please tell me how it tastes.
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3 comments:
I've always wondered about that rule. I read somewhere that it has to do with the flavor of fish being delicate, and competing against the cheese. I don't know, I love cheese too, and I can see why the two should never meet, but why not break the rules here and there? Isn't that what cooking's all about?
I will say this about that "rule." As far as Italian dishes go, I understand it because I don't really like how the things taste together. If I'm serving fish, I'll put the cheese elsewhere, like in a salad or for dessert. I agree with you, cooking is about remaking the rules: I grew up with "white wine with fish/red wine with meat, no ifs ands or buts,' and that is a thing of the past now. So, if it moves you, go ahead and do it. This one, at least to my taste , simply did not need the cheese.
Silly Italian food rules serve no purpose. There's no end to them. Calling the cuisine 'easy-going' is insane. Try making a carbonara with cream and bacon .... you know, the way it tastes good? Nope. must be made with guanciale and nasty old pasta water. Soft shell crab with some nice dolce gorgonzola? heresy. The rules for the use of raw garlic and onion alone are unacceptably strict. When a cuisine gets as rigid and doctrinaire as Italian cuisine has gotten, I write it off and move on.
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