Words written in italics are in dialect
Memories
Today Sergio, a nephew of Vigina, is coming for lunch and is bringing his girlfriend (morosa) to introduce her to his uncles and cousins. Sergio is the son of Teresina, one of Vigina‘s sisters-in-law.
The two women have lived together for some years with their respective families.
It was a nightmare.
The two sisters-in-law were always quarrelling. Vigina had many children and was constantly exhausted. The doctor had said to her: “Eat lots of fresh eggs. As soon as the hens lay them, go to the hen house and eat them”. But this angered Teresina because, by doing so, the eggs could not be sold. The neighbours, grinning, used to say that the windows in the house of the two sisters-in-law never lasted more than a week.
Sergio is the only son of Teresina, and he grew up with Vigina’s children. He was always well dressed. As a boy, at Christmas, he would receive a bag full of marzipan in the shape of coloured fruits from the Infant Jesus, while his cousins received white and red sugared almonds. On Christmas morning the children traded their sweets, but Sergio demanded two sugared almonds for each marzipan fruit.
An exacting one, like his mother.
However when it comes to lunch, everyone has to be on their best behaviour. And particularly so on today’s occasion, since Sergio’s girlfriend is coming from Vigina’s hometown. For such an occasion, they need to prepare the mixed fry – the best dish of the house. The pig has already been slaughtered in anticipation of the meal – many of the fried dishes of the region are made with pork.
Recipe
The Piedmontese mixed fry has thirty-six components: twelve sweet, twelve savoury, and twelve based on vegetables. However, very few people still make it as rich as this. It is not a particularly difficult dish to make, and perhaps the most challenging component to prepare is the sweet semolina.
This is made from sweetened milk and a pinch of coarse salt which is put on heat to cook.
When the liquid starts to boil, the semolina is slowly poured. After another two minutes of cooking it is removed from the heat, and an egg yolk and grated lemon are added. The semolina is poured into a large, greased serving dish, and this is let to set for a few hours before being cut into rhombuses.
In the mixed fry that Vigina prepares there are veal steaks, breaded pork chops, liver, sausage and sliced lung which is fried without breading. There are also sweetbreads and the brain of the pig, which have both been previously boiled.
The sliced apples are put into a liquid mixture composed of white flour, yolk, milk and sugar. The amaretti are softened by dipping them first in milk before breading them. The night before, Vigina boiled a cauliflower and some fennel which, when later breaded, will be cooked in a pan. Carrots will also be cooked in a saucepan with some oil, salt, sugar, a knob of butter, and a bay leaf.
The only vegetables that are quick to prepare are the lemon slices which are used to degrease.
Among the most difficult components of the mixed dry are the frize, a type of long-prepared meatball. The black liver and white liver (liver and lung), the spleen and the kidneys are cooked in a pot with water flavoured with salt and bay leaves. Once the pot is removed from the heat, the offal is minced and enriched with milk, breadcrumbs, macaroons, sausage paste, and nutmeg. To work them more easily, lard and highly vascularized tissue is wrapped in the rissole (omentum).
Tasting
The hot, tasty, plentiful mixed fry is a success! Vigina knew it would be: it is one of her go-to dishes for special occasions like this.
Sergio’s girlfriend is a beautiful girl. An only child, idolized by her parents. It is said that every morning her father tells her: “Wait before you leave the house. I’ll see if it’s cold and if you need to dress accordingly “.
When she will be married who will act as her barometer?
God makes them and then pairs them.
Marinella Bera
The names: Vigina (Luigina)
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