White Fish & Roasted Pepper Puree, and Fashion Pet Peeves

When in Italy, one can only talk of food and fashion. Before I discuss the former in length, I must just get some of my frustrations out on the latter. My father has always told me, “Maria, we’re Italian, we always dress well.” Now, I’m not one to read Vogue, follow fashion blogs and lose control in a shopping mall. I don’t spend 45 minutes in the morning to pick out my outfits and make sure that the accessories match, and I do not judge people’s clothing, at all. Well, in general. I just have three pet peeves, and it just concerns men.

1. Caps worn backwards. I’m sorry, no grown man should ever wear a baseball cap worn backwards. No grown man should actually ever wear a baseball cap at all unless he’s at a baseball game or it’s a sunny day and he has it on for practical reasons. It should not be a part of his outfit on a night out, and it should never, ever be worn backwards. Ever. And it should never be a “look” to wear a cap and then wear your hoodie over it. You’re not cool, this house party isn’t taking place in douchetown. Oh and wearing it in class – take the damn cap off and show some respect.

2. Baggy jeans. I have this uncontrollable urge to pull his trousers up when I see a man with baggy jeans. I don’t want to know your choice of underwear, I barely know you, man. If you can’t run without your trousers falling off then it’s not acceptable to be worn outdoors. Wear a belt. Buy a pair of jeans that fit. For f*ck’s sake, you’re an adult.

3. Skinny jeans. I’m sorry, must we highlight the fact that your legs are thinner than a girl’s? Must we make all the girls feel uncomfortable because your legs are prettier? Man up, you’re worse than the guy with the baggy jeans.

Ok. Now that that’s done, let’s talk food.

 White fish?  Yea, I have no idea what that fish was, so just use any white fish.  I was in a market, and oh, Italian markets are so lovely. All the produce is so fresh and beautiful and cheap – if only all food markets were so.  So I was at this market and they had this weird mean looking fish...and the guy said it was good so I got it. 

The fish here is just grilled, and it’s sitting on this puree of roasted peppers.


Serves 2
Ingredients
2 fillets of white fish of choice
2 small red peppers
1 garlic clove
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig basil
good extra virgin olive oil

Method
Wrap the peppers in tin foil and put it in a preheated oven of 200C and let that roast for about an hour or until soft.

Put the peppers in a brown paper bag and leave that for a couple of minutes to cool. Then take off the peal, cut off the stems and put it in a food processor along with the garlic, parsley and basil. Add oil to make it smoother and enough that you get the notes of olives running through.

Heat up a grill or a pan until it’s piping hot. Rub the fish with olive oil and salt. Make a couple of slices on the skin and place them on the grill, skin side down, a couple of minutes on each side.

Spoon some pepper puree onto a plate and top with fish.