Like every year, it’s already Christmas time and we’re filled with occasions to celebrate. It’s always the right moment to have a drink and something to eat with friends. Drinks, dinners and parties that really don’t help us, common mortals, to keep our figure and even keep guilty feelings away.
Like everyone else, I’m always looking for an original way to spend a sparkling Christmas, even if I often fall into the usual routines, that are more than common.
This time though I really made an effort to make things different, especially because 2015 was a very special year for me, filled with surprised and lots of work.
Because 2015 is the year in which my MissClaire project started, and this project has brought me to work with seven wonderful people, that helped me (and still do) to achieve what was a mere dream until some time ago.
What I wanted was to offer a special meal to these seven “angels” – I know you’ll think I’m exaggerating, maybe I am a little, but after all we’re all more generous at Christmas time. Obviously I couldn’t just organise a simple and ordinary Christmas dinner, right?
And so, after having thought of every possible alternative, I decided to invite everyone to my house and turn the Christmas dinner into a lunch: less binding and more fun.
To warm our plates I decided to call Uros Fakuc, a young Slovenian chef whose food I’d already had the pleasure to try. Some of you will remember him; his restaurant is called “Dam” and it’s in Nova Gorica.
I gladly left the preparation of the lunch up to him, and his expert hands, knowing he is an excellent catering chef and that he sometimes works as a personal chef too.
The lunch was a success. Uros was accompanied by an assistant and the two of them worked together and were incredibly professional as they “tiptoed” around with care for every detail: from the service (excellent to say the least) to the presentation of the plates, without even considering how delicious the food was.
For a few hours my home turned into a gracious and refined little restaurant. And now have a look at what they prepared for us…
Tuna tartare
Potatoes with a truffle cream centre, egg and mashed potatoes
Potatoes with a truffle cream centre, egg and mashed potatoes
Pumpkin dumpling on a saffron sauce and with a drop of fresh cheese
Pork Cheek with creamy potatoes
Vanilla yogurt with a persimmon (kaki) cream
For the occasion, of course, I decorated the table with products from the area – with an excellent price-quality relation – of which all this area is rich.
A few days before our lunch I had a walk around my lovely Carso and went up to Prepotto, were I bought, directly from their cellars, a few bottles of wine: the KK classic method from Kante, a Malvasia and a Vitovska from Skerk and a Terrano from Zidarich.
As well as the wine, I got my coffee from Sgonico, from a small but very special coffee company, Qubik Caffè, were I often get my coffee from.
I finished my tour of local producers with Quadra di Chox, a delicious soft chocolate with candied oranges, to be accompanied with a nice taste of Rum. A perfect match to accompany an afternoon chat among friends.
I chose everything with great care and attention, without forgetting anything. With the same care I also set the table, making it rich and very theatrical, traditional with a vintage look. But I’ll tell you about this in my next post…
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- MissClaire lunch can be copied without violating any copyright. But if for Christmas you’d prefer to eat out, remember that Dam is open. I’m sure it will be a party for all tastes.
Photo Andrea Zangrando
