Padua: Barbara’s Birthday

Saturday 10 July Padova

For Barbara’s birthday we went out to the calmly comfortable Osteria Dei Fabri. A rather hot evening and so we relished being met with a glass of cold and frizzante wine, and only right for the birthday girl. Primi were the classic Venetian sepie in nero (squid ink being a running theme) and bigoli (a sort of thick tubular spaghetti native to the Veneto with a bit of whole wheat in the mix) all’ anatra (which has its own web page for gosh sakes).

Stinco de maiale with a creamy soft polenta, which we think we’re going to go for from now on—the texture was just more pleasing than the ordinary slab.

But the best was the pesce spada affumicata (smoked swordfish) as a carpaccio with pea shoots and tender greens and toasted bread and butter.

Wine: Montecchia Ca’ Emo Colli Euganei 2008, a cabernet franc from the Euganean hill just a little ways outside of town. Nice and complex.