Feast/Banquete

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I just finished my over the top foodening at Il Cappuccino. Around this time, most of my beloved friends and family on the Best Coast are getting ready to sit down at their tables for their own foodenings. My dinner was so delicious I'm compelled to write about each course in detail, because I would do the same were I fixing and eating dinner in the US.

This is also the post where I try my hand at being a food writer. In case this sportswriting thing doesn't work out, I can turn to writing for Bon Appetit. It's awesome to get paid to write about sports if you're a huge fan like I am, so I gather it would be awesome to write about food for someone who loves to eat as much as I do.

Italian food is among my favorite cuisines of the world. Mexican, Japanese, and Caribbean foods are my other favorites. I rarely go out for a delicious Italian dinner, so I took advantage of the great Italian place down the road from me.

Vino: I have to start this portion by telling you that I'm not a wine connoisseur. I know red, white, rose, Pinot, Chardonnay...and that's about it. To tell you the truth I'm not even a big wine drinker, but I've come around on red wine here thanks to attending FUNGLODE to-dos where appetizers/wine are served. I make it a point to go to those to-dos, mostly for the free food and booze.

So I can't tell you exactly what was in my glass today, but it was a Pinot Noir and it was quite good.

Entrada: Carpaccio del atun (Tuna steak carpaccio)

I love tuna steaks and I love sushi so this is a natural win for my taste buds. It was served with a slight sprinkling of cracked black pepper. I appreciated the simple presentation because it allowed the flavor of the tuna to shine. I also love tuna for its very meaty and hearty texture. It's among the top of the fish varieties out there for its close qualities to cuts of poultry and beef.

Entree: Cannelloni con espinaca y queso ricotta (cannelloni with spinach and ricotta)

I went into this foodening really wanting a big-ass steak. Because really, what's better than a big-ass medium-rare steak? But then I saw the specials and one of them was the cannelloni. Pasta rules on its own and the only way to improve it is to stuff crap in it. I cook pasta at home often but I rarely go with stuffed/filled pastas because I can't make them from scratch and the frozen varieties are hit or miss.

The cannelloni came out smothered in cream sauce with a drizzle of tomato sauce over each tube. The filling was delightful and the sauce was especially delicious when sopped up with the two kinds of bread from the breadbasket--good crusty French bread, and focaccia baked with tomato on top.

I ate the whole damn breadbasket and I'd do it all over again if you put the bread in front of me.

Postre: Tiramisu y cafe con leche

Tiramisu is another one of those slam dunk dishes for me. It and creme brulee trump all other dessert options. Even chocolate. The tiramisu was absolutely lovely and delicious at Il Cappuccino. It was presented more like a layered cake: a thin layer of the coffee soaked ladyfingers, a thicker layer of the egg yolks/marscapone, and a liberal dusting of cocoa and cinnamon on top. The ladyfinger layer was more uniform that just stacking the cakes under the other stuff, like a real bottom layer of a cake. The middle layer of marscapone was creamy and refreshing, a necessity between the rich coffee soaked cake and the cinnamon/cocoa dust on top. I also detected rum in the cake, which tied the whole thing together.

The cafe con leche was the perfect balance to the variety of flavors in the tiramisu. If you ever find yourself in Latin America, do yourself a favor and drink as much coffee as you can. I love a good cup of unsweetened coffee with a rich dessert and following my tiramisu with a stiff cup of Dominican joe was perfection.

The service was lovely today. I got a waiter who was very interested in me and where I was from. He asked me how to say things in English--like what the English equivalent of "bon appetit" would be. Here they say "buen provecho" when serving your meal. I don't know what I would say to my dinner guests upon serving them other than "bon appetit" other than "enjoy your meal" which is what I told the waiter.

I did not pig out. Each dish I enjoyed wasn't enormous and it allowed me to finish each one and to savor them. I usually pig out on Thanksgiving. The turkey and the carbs (mashed potatoes and stuffing)  are the best part of the meal. By the end I'm too full for pumpkin pie. Come Christmas, I'll do the very same, complain about my searing stomachache, mainline Tums, and then eat my pie at midnight while watching Golden Girls episodes On Demand.

I very much enjoyed my non-traditional Thanksgiving and I hope all of you are enjoying yours, traditional and non-traditional alike.