“Coffee and side dishes” is the new The Sign Moak section that will tickle your fancy and disclose how coffee can be combined with innumerable foodstuffs, from citrus fruits to fish and pasta. Chef Carmelo Chiaramonte will accompany us through this trip full of surprises foe eyes and palate. Culinary scenographer, television writer for Gambero Rosso Channel, he also published a book “A tutto tonno” (word play of a tutto tondo = all around, and tonno= tuna). He defines himself “ramble cook”, though with a strong sense of identity towards his region, Sicily, rich of history and sayings he loves to recall in his cooking.

The short winter days are coloured with orange: certain sunsets, a burning fireplace, a grill and thousands of vermilion spheres hung here and there in Mediterranean gardens. Oranges are the juicy sweets of cold weather, we drink orange liquid to restore some freshness in our limbs and feel the pleasure of a rich breakfast.

For those who are curious about ironic and playful cooking, here you have coffee combined with the most unusual winter fruit, the bitter orange. A ball with rough skin, similar to an orange, which can be found in many Italian gardens, featuring sour and slightly bitter juice. The unusual taste of the bitter orange makes this scented grilled meat dish unique, ideal for evening aperitif and wish to have a seat in front of a burning fireplace.

Black pig rolls, bitter orange scent and coffee powder

preparation:

Wrap a long rasher of bacon around every raw spring onion. Broil or bake them for 10 minutes at 200°C. Softly dip the rolls in coffee powder and serve immediately before getting cold. The juice in a coffee cup will do as sauce colouring even the greyest winter evenings.

Recommended song for the reading of the present article: German Clap – Orange Colored Sky – Betty Hutton