This morning we awoke early. Last evening we set the alarm clock on our tablet for 07:00 thinking that we would walk to the city center to see the morning fish market. Someone had told us that we could get good fish there. We arrived as planned, but the center of the foro is filled with its usual cast of produce vendors and the old fish market is empty. The big slab tables under the roofed in area are vacant. Did we miss it or simply misunderstand what someone was trying to tell us?
Whatever the case, we did find a pescheria opened for business in the market. He had a small shop with a dozen bins of fresh fish. All were whole and many were still wiggling about. I didn’t want to have to gut and fillet fish back in our tiny apartment kitchen, and I know Cinzia isn’t a big fish fan, so I asked her if she wanted shrimp scampi for dinner. She agreed, so I asked for due etti, about 7 ounces, of gamberetti for her.
At the end of the counter sat 2 blue net sacks of big black mussels. Franco has told us that the quality of the cozze found along Senigallia’s coast are some of the best in the world and sought after by restaurants throughout Europe. I pointed to the smaller bag and asked, “Quanti costi?” He weighed the bag, said it was 2 kilos and the price was €5. I said that I’d take the whole sack. The €3,80 for the gamberetti brought my total to €8,80. I paid and we were on our way.
At the produce market we picked up a melone (cantaloupe), a couple vines of bright red pomodori (tomatoes) just smaller than plum tomatoes, a few susine (plums), and some prezzemolo (parsley). We added a bottle of vino bianco (white wine), burro (butter), té (iced tea), pane (bread), and tagliatelle pasta before making our way home.
Now that cena (dinner) was planned our next decision was what to have for pranzo (lunch). Franco has recommended a restaurant along the beach. The first time we went there a sign said that it was chiuso Lunedi e Martedì (closed Monday and Tuesday). Since it was Wednesday we figured that we’d have a good chance of finding it opened. No such luck. Today’s sign read chiuso Mercoledì, Giovedi e Venerdì (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
We turned around and went to Ristorante Pizzeus. We had lunch there before and it was pretty good. I ordered the same thing: Tagliatelle Frutti de Mare (pasta with seafood) and Cinzia ordered The Ensalatone (The Big Salad). My pasta was cooked in a little butter and white wine, and covered in seafood: cozze, vongole, calamari, and half a granchio. Cinzia’s salad had greens with prosciutto cotto and mozzarella di bufala. I think you know who made the better choice.
At the end of the counter sat 2 blue net sacks of big black mussels. Franco has told us that the quality of the cozze found along Senigallia’s coast are some of the best in the world and sought after by restaurants throughout Europe. I pointed to the smaller bag and asked, “Quanti costi?” He weighed the bag, said it was 2 kilos and the price was €5. I said that I’d take the whole sack. The €3,80 for the gamberetti brought my total to €8,80. I paid and we were on our way.
At the produce market we picked up a melone (cantaloupe), a couple vines of bright red pomodori (tomatoes) just smaller than plum tomatoes, a few susine (plums), and some prezzemolo (parsley). We added a bottle of vino bianco (white wine), burro (butter), té (iced tea), pane (bread), and tagliatelle pasta before making our way home.
Now that cena (dinner) was planned our next decision was what to have for pranzo (lunch). Franco has recommended a restaurant along the beach. The first time we went there a sign said that it was chiuso Lunedi e Martedì (closed Monday and Tuesday). Since it was Wednesday we figured that we’d have a good chance of finding it opened. No such luck. Today’s sign read chiuso Mercoledì, Giovedi e Venerdì (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
We turned around and went to Ristorante Pizzeus. We had lunch there before and it was pretty good. I ordered the same thing: Tagliatelle Frutti de Mare (pasta with seafood) and Cinzia ordered The Ensalatone (The Big Salad). My pasta was cooked in a little butter and white wine, and covered in seafood: cozze, vongole, calamari, and half a granchio. Cinzia’s salad had greens with prosciutto cotto and mozzarella di bufala. I think you know who made the better choice.
We've easily fallen into the Italian schedule of having pranzo at 13:00 and cena at 20:00. Cooking shrimp scampi and mussels in our tiny kitchen would prove a challenge. I started by cleaning all those mussels and the shrimp. That 2 kilo sack held 80 mussels! They were put into a pot with a little olive oil, white wine, and parsley to steam. The shrimp were added to a skillet with olive oil, butter, garlic and parsley to sauté. Somehow dinner came together perfectly. The mussels were big, plump, tender and tasty. I ate them all. Cinzia said that her scampi was the best she’d ever had. When you’re cooking with great ingredients it’s easy to turn out amazing meals.