Cleaning out the fridge

Christmas break is almost upon us.  Most of our number are fleeing home, wherever that may be.  The  remainder of us are joining with family or friends to travel.  And all of us have over-stuffed fridges that need to be emptied...

A UNISG fridge may be small in size, but mighty in storage capabilities.  After all, we travel often, and our souvenirs are food ones: French cassis, ever elusive cilantro from the Torino Saturday market, six different varieties of beans and grains from Umbria, truffle cream from Alba, Sorrento lemons...

Working your way solo through the random array of goodies in your fridge does have its charms.  After all, crafting slow-simmering Umbrian white beans, garlic and rosemary using the remnants of pork rillette from France, thickened with potato water from Thanksgiving's garlic mash and served over the artisanal orecchiette from Puglia does a sublime comfort food make.  But we as a group are inherently social beings, and we as in my roommate and I, have a large dining room table.

So Thursday was deemed "clean out the fridges" night, and 7 guests descended on our (finally) toasty warm apartment.  The brainchild of Wendy and Andy, everyone contributed with reconstituted leftovers.  Well, with the exception of me.  Having spent the afternoon in Cuneo battling Italian bureaucracy to collect my residency permit, I was in charge of wine selection and on dish duty.   (Where is the dish fairy when I need him?)

So Wendy and Andy spent the afternoon cooking up a storm.  Locally made sausage and Swiss Presidium cheese started the aperitivo - unfortunately, the cured bladder eagerly purchased by Andy at Salone del Gusto had passed its best by date.  My beans and grains from earlier in the week became roasted stuffed red peppers. Andy's "starter" created two fresh-baked sourdough loaves. Wendy, having freed herself from the no-deep frying constraints, fashioned fried green tomatoes and the leftover stuffing into deep-fried stuffing balls. Obscene, yes, but tasty. Local greens, sourced from the road along our bike path (but purchased at the local fruit & veg) were tossed with pomegranate and fresh lemon, and the remaining potatoes from Hanukkah's first night were cooked in duck fat, along with duck confit from Dijon.

Jesse made a spectacular fruit tart, using up some of Laura's leftover peach & rosemary jam.  Crystal provided a rich orange and star anise bread pudding and Laura finished off the dessert spread with torta di nocciole and an apple cake.

Our Medieval and Renaissance Food History professor for the week, Allen Grieco, joined us for the festivities and brought a friend of his, a Colombian Food History professor.  The dinner conversation was lively, witty, often irreverent and full of laughter.

Cleaning out the fridge on a regular basis is so much more than being cognizant of our food consumption habits, trying out new products or creating new recipes.  There's a vibrant conviviality in these shared dinners, and a recognition of the gift of this time, and this place.  With the holidays dawning, and only 2 months left of classes upon our return - only 5 weeks of those being here in Bra, we're all quietly acknowledging the end is near.  Upon the completion of our internships, many of us will be returning home.  Some are lucky to exist in food communities such as this one; where everyone contributes, innovates, examines and discusses what we eat in slightly obsessive detail.  Many of us are the sole foodies in our circles - the ones who seek out and provide experiences everyone enjoys, but aren't necessarily supported in the same way.

This act of cleansing is a symbolic one in some ways.  We're clearing out old definitions of self and desires, combining the new and old to create more interesting combinations.  And for this year, we are fortunate enough to do so with like-minded others.  Not necessarily people we would always choose as a part of our daily regular lives, but with those who provide the last unique element to complete the feast.