HUNGRY GERALD

Blood oranges are one of nature’s blessings. Cut a blood orange in half, eat the pulp, drink the crimson juices and you get a tasty burst of summer energy that is particularly welcome when winter skies are grey and wind is frigid. Blood oranges are a pleasant addition to alcohol. HG squeezes a quarter of an orange into a glass of white wine. Adds ice and a dash of Aperol (or Campari). A nice variation on the classic Venetian “Spritz.” HG often gives vodka the same treatment. With tequila, HG adds half a lime to temper the orange sweetness. Slices of blood orange are the perfect dessert after a Chinese (or Indian) meal. Gifted Daughter Lesley R. makes a sublime polenta cake topped by glazed slices of blood orange. (Gorgeous Granddaughter Solfia delighted the old folks by making a very presentable version of this cake a few weeks ago). FYI: David Lebovitz has a wonderful recipe for this cake on his Sweet Life In Paris blog.

A quick trip to Ferrara, a treasure of central Italy. Rich in architecture and history, it was once the seat of a thriving Jewish community. Many Americans remember the city from the bittersweet film, “The Garden of The Finzi Continis.”

HG was eager to spend time in the Boldini Museum, housed in a meticulously preserved 18th century palace. Giovanni Boldini was a painter whose career spanned the turn of the century into the 1920s. He was much admired, with friends ranging from Marcel Proust to Diaghilev, the great ballet impressario. His portraits of beautiful women are incomparable in their grace and stylish elegance. Boldini has been compared to Sargent, but a close examination of his work reveals a more daring artist. His brush strokes vibrate with energy and, in many ways, he is a precursor of the Italian Futurists and the French Cubists.

Of course, beauty always stimulates the appetite, so HG, BSK , Brilliant Daughter Lesley R. and her husband, Professore Massimo lunched at a bustling Ferrara eatery, Antica Trattoria Volano. Robust food. There was a risotto heady with the scent and flavor of white truffles, creamy polenta with braised eel,

more creamy polenta with mushrooms, pappardelle with a very tasty donkey sauce (that’s right, donkey makes a very superior sauce). HG managed to get down a big platter of bollito misto (the great Italian dish featuring a variety of boiled meats and sausages, the great-great-great grandfather of the New England boiled dinner). HG’s bollito misto was accompanied by some generous condiments — mostarda di fruta, salsa verde and sharp horse radish. Desserts included creme caramel and light-as-a-feather almond meringue cookies.

There was no lingering in Ferrara. The beautiful city is in the Po River delta and the entire area features impenetrable fog that can make highway driving a near lethal adventure. The HG group got out just in time.