Welcome back, Agretti!
At first sight they remind the chives. Then their
thicker consistency, the reddish color of the root suggest that we have
something else in front of us. Agretti are not so common, they can be found
only in this season. Nowadays, sick of so many usual foods, we, tired consumers,
like to go to the market just to see if there something we do not know. Agretti
is one of these rare delicacies. This particular veggie takes different names:
Barba di Frate, Barba del Negus ( Beard of monk, Beard of Negus, Negus grass),
Lischi.
Rich of sodium, the Agretti have a weakly acid taste
and leave a slightly astringent sensation in the mouth.
Elegant both in shape and flavor, they match well with
a well balanced sour-oily condiments. In order to maintain their unique texture
– thick and pleasant at the byte – it is enough to boil them in salted water
for three minutes. The best is to steam them.
Ingredients for 4:
600 gr Agretti
12 quail eggs
80 gr fish roe
60 gr extra virgin olive oil
The juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper
Coarse salt for the water
Clean the Agretti cutting off the root. Rinse them
carefully.
Bring to boil a pot of water. Salt it with 10 gr
coarse salt. Bring to boil another (smaller) pot of water.
While waiting, prepare a vinaigrette whisking olive
oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Slice the fish roe.
Cook the Agretti in the boiling water for 3 minutes
and drain ( at this point you can optionally immerse the Agretti in iced cold
water to stop the cooking. I don’t, as I like this dish still lukewarm). At the
same time, immerse the quail eggs into the smaller pot with a holed spoon, so
that they do not break in the impact. Cook them for three minutes: the white
part will be completely coagulated and the yolk will be still soft. Take the
eggs off and put in cold water.
Make four nests with the Agretti: big fork and big
spoon would be useful. Place three quail eggs on top, distribute the slices of
fish roe and dress with the vinaigrette.
This is a simple warm salad, but the details in preparation
are what makes the difference: a longer cooking of the Agretti would change
their color and texture; a hard-boiled quail egg would loose its velvety
flavor. Also the wine to pair is very important: it must be brilliant enough to
stand the acid idea of the vinaigrette and not strong enough to not cover the
delicacy of all these tastes. My first choice goes to Gavi de’ Gavi. This wine,
“cortese” both for the name of the grapes and its own characteristic –
“cortese” means gentle - , balances the fatness of the fish roe and the light
sourness of the lemon vinaigrette. Nice pairing surprises would come also with wines
like Lugana di Lombardia and with La Favorita delle Langhe.
If you chose the sparking version of the Gavi de’
Gavi, due to the presence of fish roe and eggs, this easy appetizer would be a
perfect aphrodisiac….
Enjoy!
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