HUNGRY GERALD

Easter Sunday was one of the happiest–and most delicious–days in HG/BSK’s long lives. HG/BSK joined gifted daughter, Lesley R., and her husband, the equally gifted author and Brown tenured professor, Massimo R., at their Riverside, RI, home. An epic food and wine feast was prepared by them to welcome the arrival of Spring weather and flowers–and a modest bow to the religious aspects of the holiday. Sunny, mildly breezy day. The L.and R. home has a flower abundant deck facing spectacular views of the Providence River (before it empties into Narragansett Bay). Happy HG faced the sun’s rays bouncing off the water while seated in a comfy deck chair and sipping an Aperol “Spritz” prepared by Massimo. Outdoor delight. After an hour of sunning, the first two courses were eaten on the deck–two big, fresh shrimp (possibly best ever) and four oysters deftly shucked by Massimo. He poured a chilled, dry Prosecco as an accompaniment).  This was followed by a bit of country pork terrine with a dab of Mostarda (HG’s happiness level began to verge on ecstasy). Then, indoors for serious eating. Lesley prepared unusual asparagus ravioli (they were a shade of asparagus green) and stuffed with a flavorful fresh asparagus mix. Final touches were a chunky asparagus sauce, grated parmigiano, ground pepper and sea salt. More Prosecco. Oh,my!! HG could have stopped there–but the parade dish was yet to come. It was a rack of lamb, roasted with a mix of spices and herbs. Fabulous. The chops rested on a bed of baby spinach leaves and were accompanied by creamy mashed potatoes for HG and small, roasted spuds for the rest of the group. BSK made her lush Greek avgolemono sauce to cover some of the chops (HG poured some of the goodness over HG’s taters). Massimo decanted a bottle of  Amarone, the powerful, mouth filling Italian wine, giving it plenty of time to breathe. It lived up to its lofty reputation (HG, sadly, was limited to a small glass because of HG’s alcohol stricures- HG could have spent hours drinking the entire decanter). Dessert was a down home flan made by Lesley’s Portuguese house cleaning aide. HG’s portion was topped with a crown of whipped cream. This was a meal never to be forgotten and replayed in HG’s mind whenever hungry or handicapped.