Friday 13 November
We had tempted our friends Lois
and Jon to drive over from Urbana so that Jon could give a talk on one of his
favorite topics, the novel Ben-Hur and all its amazing spinoffs. Everyone loved the lecture, and as a reward,
we took him, Lois, and Catherine, who'll be teaching "Classics and Film"
next term, out for dinner to a buzzy local place, Enoteca Emilia.
It was crowded, and specials
were disappearing as soon as they were announced, but we managed to grab a
bottle of Francesco Cirelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2013, which was warm and
fruity on a chill evening.
When we finally managed to make up
our minds, we had tastes of Jon's whipped lardo
and nduja (which turns out to be one
thing rather than two, a sort of salami spread for grilled bread), as well as a
plate of white bean and kale salad scattered with hazelnuts, fig, pecorino
romano, and lemon, and a hearty dish of octopus and chickpea stew with tomato, chorizo,
lemon brown butter, and pea shoots on top.
Our lighter main course was bucatini
with Massachusetts Bay middleneck clams (out of their shells), pancetta, caper
butter, and garlic toast (we ignored the latter). The heavier was braised pork "osso buco"
(i.e. two pork shanks) lapped in creamy polenta, scattered with dried tart
cherries and walnut gremolata. Eating them produced a pile of bones that
looked bigger than it had when the meat was on them, and there wasn't a sign of
marrow, but neither of us was complaining, as the meat was tender, savory, and
filling.
After this good dinner, we took Jon
and Lois home for Dark 'n' Stormies, plus Graeter's and chocolate for those still
in the mood for edibles.
We stayed up drinking and talking on all topics till all hours, just like college kids. It's always fun when Lois and Jon visit.
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