Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sandwich. Peruvian lentils.

Oakland, September 3, 2010 —
DOWN IN THE East Bay again for various reasons. Lunch was a deli sandwich, my very favorite: galantina and mortadella, lettuce, buttered ciabatta roll. There's something perfect about this sandwich. I can't elevate it to the Hundred Plates, I guess — it's only a deli sandwich — but the sweetness of the butter and the meat, the textures of the galantina and the bread, the crisp note of the lettuce — it's just a wonderful sandwich.


galantina and mortadella sandwich
Genoa Delicatessen's galantina and mortadella sandwich
(click on image to enlarge in new window)

Alas, galantina's not so easily found any more. It's defined on one website as "an Italian style chopped-ham luncheon meat": not terribly informative. What we get in the Bay Area is apt to come from Molinari and Sons, who refer to it as "a delicious course-ground pork loaf, spiced with wine and pistachio nuts." Lindsey doesn't like it, complaining that it's gristly: but I like a discreet amount of gristle, though I'm not your mange-tout tête-de-veau type. I find mortadellas in this country, even Molinari's, just a little bland; the galantina points it up a bit. And butter's the only logical lubricant here: mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato slices all confuse the issue, and raw onions mask the delicate flavors. So give me GML, galantina-mortadella-lettuce, every time; and on buttered bread, please.
  • Genova Delicatessen, 5095 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 652-7401

  • Dinner in the loft-apartment of a couple of friends we hadn't seen in years: Margaret made Peruvian lentils, using smoked salmon with cajun spices in lieu of bacon or chicken, and dressing it with a sauce new to us, aji, essentially (I believe) the Peruvian Capsicum baccatum, ground into a paste with onions, salt and pepper, and vinegar or lime juice — one recipe is here (I'd be leery of cilantro, which seems culturally irrelevant).

    Also on the table: dolmades and olives, Peruvian and Sicilian olives, and nuts, and other delicacies… afterward, a green salad.
    Viognier (forgot to note the label: sorry)


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