Dear Mary. .
Q. During May I attended an exceptionally good party given in Venice. Among the `aristo-kraut' dishes we consumed was a starter involving a kind of sea-bass carpaccio. I wonder if you could enlighten me as to the recipe for this unusual and gratifyingly textured dish?
M. W., Wiltshire A. Many of the illuminati present at the party you mention held in the Granaries of the Republic enjoyed the dish you refer to. It was prepared by the chef of the Hotel Cipriani, Renato Piccolotto. He kindly passes on the recipe for the enjoyment of Spectator readers. To serve ten people. buy 500 grams of sea-bass fillets. Cut them into fine slices and marinate them for approximately two hours in lemon juice. In a glass bowl mix 60 grams of diced tomato, 60 grams of diced cucumber, 60 grams of fennel and three basil leaves cut into juliennes. Season with salt and pepper, and add extra virgin olive oil. Leave to marinate for approximately two hours in a cool place. Drain the marinated sea-bass from the lemon juice and lay out on the plate. Season with salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Place the marinated vegetables in the centre, garnish with a fresh basil leaf and serve. As you observed, this dish has an unusual texture which is always worth remember
ing when trying to stimulate the experienced palates of international sophisticates.
Q. My brother-in-law is a highly praised writer and broadcaster. Even during family lunches and dinners he manages to hold forth in an entirely scintillating, if faintly pompous, way as he regales us with his talent. I feel all this success may be bad for his humility. How can I gently take him down a peg or two on these occasions?
Name withheld, East Lothian A. Let us imagine that your brother-inlaw's name is William. Purchase an African Grey parrot (costing roughly £600) and name it William — as a tribute. These parrots can have a vocabulary of up to 500 words. It will be a simple matter to train the parrot to respond 'Shut up,
William!' at a given signal from you. The surreal experience of hearing a bird tell one to shut up by name is enough to put even the most Churchillian of orators off their stride. And in this way you can put a cap on your brother-in-law's bravura displays without appearing to have any hand in the matter yourself.
Q. May I pass on a tip to readers? This summer I have noted that people holding barbecues for large numbers of guests are often under pressure to turn more sausages, pieces of chicken, etcetera, than they can reasonably handle on their own. Other would-be helpers are prevented from joining in by the fact that most barbecue hosts possess only one pair of tongs. I have found that an ordinary pair of kitchen scissors does the job just as well as any tongs, as it is only necessary to grip the piece of meat very lightly in order to turn it over.
H. de F., Chagford, Devon A. Thank you for this useful tip.
Mary Killen
If you have a problem, write to Dear Mary, clo The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL.
Previous page
