The green sauce (La salsa verde)

Il Natale di Where Lemons Blossom ha il sapore ricco della salsa verde, nell’inimitabile ricetta del nonno Sergio

Although many are my childhood recollections of Christmas preparations at nonna Pina’s house, those connected to the salsa verde (green sauce) have been haunting me lately. First of all the green sauce was my grandfather’s territory, as was his fish brodetto; it was strictly man stuff. The salsa was meant to accompany the boiled meat (il lesso) which had been used to prepare the broth for cappelletti (filled little hood-shaped pasta, hence the name). Plain boiled meat (hen and different beef cuts) did not look too attractive to us children when compared to the other Christmas goodies on the table, but nonno Sergio’s green sauce was something we would wait for all year round. Back then we were six grandchildren and, by the time the sauce had gotten onto the table with the boiled meat, its level had remarkably decreased owing to our frequent intrusions in the narrow kitchen to taste more than one unauthorized spoon. As it is often the case in Italy when it comes to food, the sauce was a rite. Grandpa Sergio would prepare it the day before Christmas grinding green peppers in red vinegar together with capers, parsley, anchovies and bread crumbs soaked in red vinegar. The proportions of the ingredients unfortunately died with him, but the green sauce has been a faithful Christmas companion ever since.

Molti sono i ricordi legati ai preparativi per il pranzo di Natale a casa dei nonni. Ho scelto di ricordare la salsa verde che accompagnava il lesso, appannaggio del nonno Sergio come del resto lo era il brodetto di pesce, perché noi nipoti ne andavamo ghiotti e perché, a distanza di tanti anni, resta uno dei pilastri del Natale a casa nostra.

Simona Ortolani

Immagine: Flickr – The Delicious

Simona Ortolani. Laurea in Lingue e Letterature Straniere con una tesi sul Demetrius di F. Schiller e diploma in Counseling, si occupa di internazionalizzazione da oltre dieci anni. Globetrotter mancata, racconta l’Italia col cuore trotterellando per il Bel Paese insieme al suo compagno – ‘food&wine guy’ del blog – e la figlia di 9 anni. Suona il violino in un’orchestra amatoriale.