Posted by on Feb 5, 2017 | 19 comments

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Whew! They’re gone.  Now I can get some REST!

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The outer skin debris from the onions with romesco sauce in the background,

Well, mama came home yesterday raving about those onions on the grill that I wrote about yesterday.  A casual invitation from friends who had visited them when we were in Italy said, “stop by around 1pm for some grilled calçots” (whatever those are!), and just by chance mama grabbed a package of sausages from the bio store and papa took some wine and mama’s limoncello and mama had made a fougasse (that nice bread with holes in it) and some chocolate truffles and picked some rosemary for the grill and when they finally got there, there were ten or so neighbors sitting around a table watching the host grill these succulent, sweet onions.

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Hey, anthros are weird.  Onions?  I don’t eat them but differences make the world spin, right?

“A casual little gathering,” mama said to me, “is a grand feast for these neighbors!” Oh, and by the way, mama had done some research and made a romesco, the sauce in which the grilled onions are dipped–grilled garlic, tomato, olive oil, grilled almonds, sweet pepper, bread and vinegar all whipped up into a smooth paste.

But a ‘casual’ lunch turned out to be sliced Spanish ham (the host had WON a whole one (!) at a rifle, a bingo game), the grilled onions, sausages, a duck (tough but tasty), red and white turnips braised in broth, and the traditional cheese board and a magnificent raspberry/banana tart by a lady who became famous around here for her incredible quiches and tarts. The company was Tartemarie and here are the photos.  Unfortunately for us but fortunately for her, she has sold the company.

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The owner of Tartemarie, in her kitchens.

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The host, Henri, grilling sausages and onions.

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The hostess, Michiko, demonstrating how to ‘peel’ off the outer charred skin of the onion.  This is not a dish for forks and knives, mama said.  The guests were covered in charcoal by the end of it!  Not for fastidious eaters, either.

After that story, I felt I really needed to clean up a bit.

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I hope no one wore white gloves to this party…

*****

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