Food for Thought
Julia Child might cry, but Cat Cora knows fish can sing sans butter
Ciao Bello's Red Snapper Tesoro cooked in lemons and vermouth and topped withcrab and shrimp
A close-up of Tony Vallone's whole baby trout gently oven roasted and swimmingin a lemony ristretto
Ciao Bello’s menu Red Snapper Mandoriate with crunchy toasted almonds and littleAlba mushrooms bursting with flavor
Some things in life just aren’t fair.
Like the fact that by the time you develop the knowledge and funds to really enjoy food, great restaurants and fine cooking, your body decides it can no longer handle the calories involved. I’ve given up the idea I’m ever going to fit into the size two jeans in the back of the closet, but still, I would like to hold off the onslaught of gaining more pounds.
So, enter the Mediterranean diet. Buh-bye thick filet mignons and burgers dripping with meat juice that runs down your chin. So long beloved butter. Hello fish and olive oil.
Celebrity chef Cat Cora knows the benefits. In town Saturday for a cooking demonstration at Macy’s at Memorial, Cora is not only the only female Iron Chef but also 43 and just gave birth to a son and looks like a fashion model. She told me last week that she is still inspired by her mentor Julia Child, but often uses olive oil instead of Child’s go-to ingredient of butter. Somehow I can’t imagine Sole Meuniere cooked in olive oil, but I’m trying.
And I do love fish. Salmon is on the menu at my house several times a week, although I’ve cut back on Tyler Florence’s seared salmon recipe where you smear the skin side with butter to make it extra crispy.
Sigh. But at least I’m not alone in my fight.
Lunching at Ciao Bello with owner Tony Vallone last week we were plied with tasty dishes from the thin-crust margherita pizza to the amazing osso buco ravioli with its light meaty flavor and rich porcini sauce. It’s a little mound of umami heaven on a plate that melts in your mouth. But Vallone was having none of those goodies. He patted his stomach and explained that his doctor wants him to lose some weight.
What a terrible thing for a restaurateur to hear but, once again, it’s the fish to the rescue. What Vallone did polish off was a wonderful and very light dish of whole baby trout gently oven roasted and swimming in a lemony ristretto. Fragrant and flavorful, it was truly a healthy and filling meal on its own that can invoke images of seaside dinners along the Amalfi Coast even if you’ve never been to Italy. Also not be missed on Ciao Bello’s menu is the Red Snapper Mandoriate with crunchy toasted almonds and little Alba mushrooms bursting with flavor. And then there was the Red Snapper Tesoro cooked in lemons and vermouth and topped with crab and shrimp, a seafood explosion of taste and sunshine.
Truly this whole fish with no butter thing is something a foodie on a diet can embrace, and I’ll be back at Ciao Bello soon to soak up the fresh fish swimming in delicate flavors that warm the heart and satisfy the stomach while keeping the girth in check.
Just remember the immortal line form the Godfather — slightly revised — “leave the cannoli, take the fish.”
