chez adrideo & chez gorgeoux: a monday feast Tweet

Used to going out on Monday evenings, at least from this year's beginning, we were keen to do something special this week, too, even if staying in. Two lovely dinners out, on Friday and Saturday had only increased our feasting appetite, so here's what we managed to put together quickly, while chilling a special bottle of red (Italians know a few things about this):

1 & 2. salted butter and bread with walnut and dates, next to mussels kindly prepared by Waitrose (yes, we could cook our own mussels, but removing their beards is a tedious, exhausting process)

3. grilled hake fillets covered in a lemon juice & olive oil emulsion with lemon peel, thyme, salt and pepper, served with a tomato ceviche

4. cherry tart with almond flakes, served with buffalo double cream

a monday feast, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I haven't got a better word than ceviche: even though it contains no fish, the side dish is no salad. Finely chopped onion spends a couple of hours (ideally) in lemon juice and sea salt, to relax its heat and focus its sweetness, and then is joined by tomatoes, capers, a handful of dill and chili flakes. Fishes are often bland, and often served in restaurants next to cooked tomatoes and such, which doesn't help. My intervention helped the hake shine, as proven by the head chef's greatest compliment: a second serving.

A lot of these products and ingredients had been found at the farmers' market, and while the bread and the double cream were good value, not every stool discounts products when the market closes. The tart baker charged 3 pounds while lamenting that he would throw remaining goods to the bin—dozens over dozens of tarts. The fishmonger wanted 8 pounds for that hake, and reluctantly accepted 5 in the end. And the tomato stool kept its usual offer: 3.50 for a punnet or 6.50 for two. The only reason why I keep buying from them is, well, flavor: at least two types of tomatoes every week, and more often than not a warning that some are... overly sweet. Because, yes, one should stay far far away from sweet tomatoes (Italians know a few things about this, too, and Romanians follow closely behind). These experiences are only cementing my view that marketing should be studied early on in school by everyone.