Bronzini all compagna

Bronzine is a Mediterranean/Adriatic fish and it is one of my favorites. It has a substantial flavor without being too fishy or oily.  On Sunday, at a Corlo picnic, we were treated to a bronzini feast. The preparation could not have been simpler: go over to the orto and chop down a bunch of sage, rosemary and mint. Stuff the fish with the herbs, seal them in individual packets of tin foil, roast over an open fire and eat. No salt, no pepper, there was some lemon on the table and some salt if you were so inclined, but the fish was succulent and moist and flavorful just as it was.  Now, I would never think to add mint to the herbs, but it lifted and intensified all the other flavors, it was an exceptional preparation.
Emilio brought along some soft sepia type fish, although he used another name for them. Sepia is cuttlefish, and not that popular in the States, but if you find it, it’s delicate and soft and delicious…as long as you don’t over cook it.  These fish had been stuffed with their chopped tentacles, some breadcrumbs, onion, parsley and white wine. They were roasted at home, and then just heated on the fire.   To round out our picnic feast, Curtis and Lauren made an exceptionally fragrant potato gratin.  Just the thing for a late summer’s night picnic.

Today at the restaurant, or cantieri (work site), the activity centered on the laying of our gas pipe line. The line is being run from the church across the street (why it’s not coming from the closer apartments in the piazza is beyond me) and as we had to cut across the street, all the paving stones had to be numbered so that they would go back in the exact same place.
We were successful at laying the line on the entrance to the restaurant, but the stonecutter machine wasn’t working properly when I left, so the street portion still remained to be finished.

The beginnings of our herb garden have been planted. We have sage, rosemary, mint, thyme and lavender. We want to try a lavender butter on grilled meat, or Curtis and Lauren are raving about a lavender chili combination that I’m anxious to try.  So much to do!