The first time I ate a slice of meat cooked in a pan in butter was in Portofino. How old was I? Maybe 6.
Until then my mom had always cooked it in oil for me.
I liked it cooked in butter.
When I got home I always wanted mum to cook my meat that way.
In Portofino my parents had rented a room in the center of the town. The room was in a small apartment which had belonged to two old ladies. I remember them dressed in black, intent on working lace pillows. I remember them very old, with white hair. But I was little, who knows if they really were that old.
My father worked on one of the Cameli family yachts. Commendatore Luigi Cameli’s wife was called like me, Marcella. Once they went to visit them at their villa, taking an elevator dug into the mountain. I think my father should have come to an agreement with the Commendatore about boat matters. Signora Marcella gave me a small silver bucket to play in the garden.
Sometimes we slept on the yacht, a sailing yacht, with a cockpit at the stern where there was the large rudder wheel and benches arranged on three sides. I loved hanging out in the cockpit and pretending to be the captain at the helm (something like that happened many years later in Maine).
One evening there was a light surf in the bay of Portofino. I suffered from seasickness. My father made spaghetti alle vongole for us in the small galley. I couldn’t eat and I don’t know if I was able to fall asleep, certainly yes. I remember the strong smell of the boat and stuffiness down in the bunk. I was terrible. I threw up several times. I have never slept on a boat again. The opportunity never came again. Despite the seasickness, I’m happy to have that memory: my father still young and handsome, me sitting in the bow watching him, down there, as he moves down in the small galley. I still see him….
I’ve been back to Portofino other times. I have never found meat cooked in butter. It is certainly one of those simple things that are only found in homes and never in restaurants. Perhaps to truly understand Italy and its foods, one should enter homes rather than restaurants.
In Liguria, in addition to Trofie con Pesto, there are mostly fish-based menus: scampi al verde, fresh fried anchovies, the “zuppetta”, a fish soup.
Many years ago, in a restaurant along the Portofino pier, I found mosciame (or musciame), still prepared with dolphin fillet. It’s really a long time ago. Today the idea makes my skin crawl.
In the past the dolphin was considered a fish and therefore caught and eaten regularly. Not by all fishermen though. Some, especially from the area of my island, Giglio, called it “fera”, because it led to shoals of fish. It seemed that the Fera, that is the dolphin, came to warn the fishermen and somehow made themselves followed towards the school of fish. Obviously, it could not be fished because it represented an aid to the fishermen. “Fera” is very likely a word of vulgar Italian that derives from the Latin verb “fero”, to carry, to lead.
Today mosciame is still made on the Ligurian, Sardinian and Sicilian coasts, but tuna fillets are used.
The fillets are salted and dried. It is a delicacy that does not need to be cooked: it can be enjoyed in a salad, seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil, a few cherry tomatoes, fresh onions and crunchy homemade bread.
Musciame Salad
Ingredients:
Arugola
Cherry tomatoes
fresh oregano leaves
fresh basil leaves
spring onion
musciame, thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste, but not much: musciame is tasty and balances the other ingredients
Marcella Ansaldo © 2023