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Andrea Luca Rossi is a modern Renaissance man. He speaks Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Born in Venice, he was a gondolier at age 14, became a disk jockey at 18 and was soon discovered by a Canadian network that brought him to Toronto. He has worked in restaurants in Boston and Atlantic City, as well as in television.
Venice’s loss is Philadelphia’s gain. Andrea owns Cichetteria 19, a Venetian restaurant near Rittenhouse Square. He is also a fine home cook.
“My mentors are my mother and Alain Ducasse,” he said as he set up his mis en place on my kitchen counter. “I watched all his videos and learned from him.”
We were about to prepare Baccalà, polenta with squid ink and seared scallops, which the Rossi family enjoys during Christmas. Baccalà is salt cod. Italians prepare it in different ways, depending upon the region. In Florence, it is prepared with tomatoes.
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“For me, fresh ingredients are the most important thing,” Andrea said. “We Italians keep it simple. I buy Norwegian cod from Ipolito’s [1300 Dickinson St.] and soak it in water for four to five days.”
Andrea poured olive oil into a hot skillet, added several cloves of garlic and began to gently sear the thick pieces of fish. He lowered the heat, added milk and cooked it for about 25 minutes.
Polenta is easy to prepare. Once the cornmeal is added to the water, constantly stir it. Andrea brought a white cornmeal from Italy, but any kind found in the grocery store is fine.
As his sous, it was my job to stir the polenta. Once it was the proper consistency — think cream of wheat — he added about 1/8 teaspoon of the squid ink. As I stirred, the white polenta turned black.
“It looks like dark, wet sand,” I said as I peered at the chemical magic happening in the pot.
We tasted the polenta and decided it needed a pinch of kosher salt.
“I use kosher salt and fleur de sel,” Andrea, who gave me some samples of a coarse pink salt and fleur de sel, said. “I add a heaping tablespoon of mascarpone but don’t tell my mother.”
As the polenta thickened on low heat, Andrea placed the cod in the food processor fitted with a steel blade.
“You just pulse on and off about 10 times because you want the fish to be fluffy,” he said. “We Venetians eat the cod cool or at room temperature.”
The dry diver scallops were simply seared in a very hot cast iron skillet.
“How about wilting some arugula?” I asked.
We did just that. Andrea removed the scallops, added the arugula, tossed it around with tongs and topped the scallops.
The contrast of tastes, colors and textures made a deliciously satisfying lunch.
Baccalà
Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds baccalà, soaked in cold water for four to five days (change the water when you remember to do so)
Olive oil to coat the bottom of a skillet
3 fat garlic cloves, peeled
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
1-1/2 cups of whole milk
Handful of fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped
Directions:
Remove the cod from the water and dry well with kitchen towels. Cut the fish into 3-inch pieces.
Heat the skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil and lower the heat to medium-high. Add the garlic and move the cloves around with your fingers to flavor the oil. Add the cod and sear for about five minutes on each side depending upon the thickness of the fish. Season with the pepper and lemon juice.
Lower the heat to a simmer and pour in the milk. Allow to cook for about 20.
Remove the cod from the skillet. Place the cod in the bowl of the food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse on and off about 10 minutes, until there is a fluffy consistency.
Place the cod in a pretty serving bowl. Taste and correct for seasoning. Add a bit of kosher salt if needed. Top the cod with the parsley.
Serves four to six.
Note from Phyllis: The use of milk in this recipe helps reduce the saltiness of the cod. I often soak anchovies in milk before using them. Feel free to add more lemon juice. Meyer lemons, which have been in the market since September, contain less acid and more juice than regular ones.
Before he left, Andrea took half a lemon and cleaned my stainless steel sink.
“Before dish detergents, my mother always cleaned the sink with half a lemon. She still leaves a lemon in a cup on the kitchen counter,” he said.
My stainless steel sink was gleaming. SPR
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