Fresh panettone stuffed with Grand marnier cream, wrapped in beautiful paper...stepping into a bar for coffee and being greeting with BUONGIORNO! by strangers....driving on the autostrada during a major soccer game and cars blocking the toll booths to be able to hear a key moment in the game, (no reception under the booth) and no one caring...the list goes on.
Paternò is famous for bar-love. Every corner in our town has a bar... or two. The bar is the center of social interaction outside the home. People have their favorite bars, favorite baristas, favorite specialties. Some bars specialize in 'dessert', which are soft butter cookies dipped in chocolate or with added nuts or candied fruit. Some specialize in savory treats like cartucciate (puff pastry with tomato sauce, ham, cheese and olives), arancini (fried rice balls stuffed with everything from eggplant Parmesan to meat sauce to ground pistachios and cream), fried stuffed olives or mini pizzas. Some make cakes or tortes or ice cream. My favorite bar, Bar Elios, is minuscule, and makes the absolute best almond paste cookies...melt in your mouth...and in cool weather makes the raviola, a puff pastry pocket with homemade ricotta, sweetened with a bit of sugar and cinnamon or cocoa. He makes the best pistachio arancini and smoked salmon cream arancini too,.. I could brag all day about Signor Pippo and his talents. Moving on!
The other day my brother-in-law picked me up so we could get our girls at school together and catch up. We stopped at a bar he prefers, to kill some time and grab a drink. This bar wasn't impressive on the outside, and upon entering (after the BUONGIORNO!) I note a small gathering of people watching a tv screen. It's the Lottery crew. Watching the numbers. Two old women, a young man and a little girl. Fixed on that screen.
We approach the bar, browse the very few offerings of pastries, and decide on just 'l'aperitivo'. We choose 'analcolico', non-alcohol. Sitting down at a tiny marble table I see the 'dessert' case. Three levels high, about 10' long, packed with trays of every dessert cookie I think I've seen. This is apparently their specialty. Giant 2'x3' wicker baskets are piled in the corner, waiting to be filled with Spumante or Prosecco, wrapped panettone and dessert cookies. And here comes the barista.
He brings us two American style glass water glasses, filled about 2/3 up with a neon orange liquid and a slice of orange floating at the top. He brings a tray of salatini, or salty snacks, and a plate of four mini pizza bites. Not bad. Nice bonus, I'm thinking. Toasted hazelnuts, tiny spicy rice puffs, chips, peanuts and more. What a treat. It's the little things.
The aperitivo is not sweet, not sour, it's almost bittersweet. Kind of like eating an orange peel. Strangely enjoyable. You've seen those tiny triangle shaped red bottles I'm sure. That's this. It piques the appetite, prepares the stomach for eating lunch, starts the digestive juices flowing. There's method in the madness.
We drink, and talk, and snack, and talk. The bar fills and empties four or five times, glasses clinking and coffee saucers sliding back and forth across the marble. A young woman comes in along and the ocean of men parts to let her reach the bar, quickly down a coffee, and depart. A deaf man comes in to follow his apparently daily routine, signs to the barista and is served with a smile and a nod. More lottery crew come and crane their necks to watch the numbers. I could sit here all day.
This week why not pick up a little pack of these Campari aperitivi at the store and serve chilled with some little snacks before dinner. Add your own little something special.
