A taste of history
MANILA, Philippines - One way to discover the past is to savour it. Literally.
Friends and guests of CVCLAW were treated recently to a one-of-a-kind sensory experience. On this special day, the “Firm” invited its friends and clients to have a taste of 14 of the dishes served 2,000 years ago to Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar.
The dishes served at the feast were prepared by renowned chef Gaita Fores, from the preserved recipes of Casa Artusi, a culinary school in Forlimpopuli, located in the heart of Romagna, Italy. Fores, together with her select staff, visited Casa Artusi for a month this year to train in the art of preparing traditional Italian cuisine. Fores, who runs CVCLAW’s Rainmakers Lounge, wanted to share her newly discovered recipes to partners of the firm, who in turn, decided to share the same to close friends and clients.
Casa Artusi, which was founded by Pellegrino Artusi, boasts of 45,000 volumes of recipe books. With the support of the Italian government, Fores will open a Casa Artusi school in Manila to further share the secrets of Italian home cooking.
Indeed, the selection of 14 dishes served that night did not disappoint even the most experienced. Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari himself declared that the dinner was an unparalleled experience. The night began with a generous buffet of antipasti. A variety of cheese, marmalade, salami, prosciutto, artichoke and olive caper berry fritters lined the tables at the deck of the Rainmaker’s Lounge.
The highlights of the meal were the main dishes served– baccala frito and bollito. The delicately fried cod was a perfectly light segue into the bollito – a more filling assortment of slow boiled (10 hours) meats, flavored only by sauces served on the side. The carefully selected wines – Umberto Cesari Liano for red, Pinot Grigio for white and Marchesi Antinori, Vinsanto del Chianti Classico for dessert – complemented every dish that was served.
The evening was not a mere gustatory feast. It was also a visual delight. The dining tables were covered in lively magenta linen, and abundantly decked with fresh cherries, grapes, green and red apples, pears and oranges. On each wall of the Rainmaker’s Lounge hung a television monitor, playing scenes from the popular mini-series Rome.
