Saptamana 5 / Week 5

Saptamana aceasta ma aflu in Regatul Unit, in capitala Scotiei. Edinburgh e un oras plin de farmec, in care cel mai mult frapeaza contrastul excelent dintre griul umed al cladirilor si verdele crud al ierbii perfect tunse. Imi tihneste acest oras pentru ca revad niste oameni tare dragi, de care ma leaga o sumedenie de amintiri din cele mai placute.

Castelul Edinburgh, Scotia

 [Pe masura ce “imbatranesc” J, mi-e tot mai grea despartirea de casa si de persoana draga… tot timpul devin euforic la momentul pregatirilor, dar seara de dinaintea plecarii e sinistra si trista tare!]

Minunatia aceasta de oras, in care Principesa Margareta a Romaniei si-a petrecut studentia, va fi, se pare, gazda pentru nunta nepoatei reginei Elisabeta a II-a in acest an. Cu siguranta va fi un moment fericit pentru Casa de Windsor, insa nu se va putea compara cu “evenimentul anului”: nunta principelui William de Wales.

Cum era de asteptat, Casa Regala a Romaniei a confirmat invitatia primita de la Palatul Buckingham pentru data de 29 aprilie 2011. Nu este o surpriza aceasta invitatie! Chiar daca William nu este mostenitorul tronului, ci doar al doilea in succesiunea tronului britanic – ca urmare nunta din aprilie nu este a state affair – era imposibil ca Familia Regala din Romania sa nu fie invitata. Legaturile dintre cele doua familii sunt foarte stranse, fiind cunoscut faptul ca Principesa Margareta a copilarit si are o relatie speciala cu tatal mirelui, Principele de Wales.

Holyrood House, resedinta oficiala a suveranilor britanici in capitala Scotiei



Regele Mihai se inrudeste cu Casa Regala britanica atat din partea tatalui, cat si din partea mamei:  regina Maria a Romaniei (bunica regelui Mihai) si regele George al V-lea al Marii Britanii (bunicul reginei Elisabeta a II-a) erau veri primari si la un moment dat se credea chiar ca se vor casatori. Din partea reginei mama Elena, Regele se inrudeste atat cu Elisabeta a II-a, cat si cu Printul Consort Philip, duce de Edinburgh [ultima persona care a purtat titlul de duce de Edinburgh, inainte de sotul actualei suverane britanice a fost printul Alfred, fiul reginei Victoria si tatal reginei Maria a Romaniei]: mama Reginei Mama, regina Sophie a Greciei era si ea verisoara primara cu regina Maria a Romaniei, iar fratele reginei Elena era tatal printului Philip. Destul de complicate aceste legaturi de familie J…

In postarile mele viitoare voi incerca sa deslusesc aceste legaturi, sa le fac mei usor de inteles si sa arat de ce marile evenimete regale din Europa sunt “evenimente de familie”.

Risotto al Barbaresco

Recunosc ca acesta reteta e un pic mai migaloasa, daca nu chiar dificila! J

Eu am inceput prin a pregati consommé-ul vegetal. Principesa ofera optiunea cea mai gustoasa a consommé-ului facut “in casa”. Acesta varianta dureaza, dar efortul merita: o combinative excelenta de morcovi, telina, sparanghel, dovlecei, praz, patrunjel, marar, tarhon, busuioc si dafin… Trebuie tinut minte ca toate aceste arome superbe vor patrunde bobul de orez, contribuind decisiv la rezultatul final!

Am continuat prin a pregati sosul Barbaresco: am calit o cepa rosie in unt cu vin rosu sec, foaie de dafin, cimbru, nucsoara si cuisoare. Am lasat totul la foc pana compozitia s-a redus, dupa care am scos dafinul si cuisoarele, si am pisat tot  acest amestec.  

A urmat “untul acid”: am fiert vin alb sec cu o lingura de otet, ceapa rosie si tarhon, dupa care am adaugat gradual untul. Am obtinut un amestec cremos, la care am adaugat sare si piper, dupa gust.

Risotto-ul l-am facut in acelasi mod ca si reteta din Saptamana 1, cu diferenta ca, in loc de vin alb am folosit vin rosu, iar ceapa alba a fost inlocuita cu ceapa rosie. Consommé -ul trebuie adaugat polonic cu polonic, iar inainte de ultimul polonic se adauga jumate din sosul Barbaresco.

La final, cand toate lichidele sunt absorbite de boabele de orez, se indeparteaza tigaia de pe foc si se adauga o parte din “untul acid” si branza parmezan. Restul de unt si sos se pastreaza pentru decorare, impreuna cu niste foi de dafin.

A avut o mare trecere aceasta reteta! Este surprinzator cat de bine absoarbe orezul toate aceste arome, dominate, dupa parerea mea, de minunatul vin rosu. J

Reteta detaliata se afla in “Cartea regala de bucate”, Ed. Curtea Veche, Bucuresti 2010, pag. 192-3.

***

I am in the United Kingdom this week, visiting Scotland’s capital. Edinburgh is a charming city, where one is taken aback by the excellent contrast between the wet gray of the buildings and the sparkling green of the perfectly-edged grass. I always enjoy it very much as I get to see some of my best friends, with whom I share some of my most precious memories.

As time goes by, I find it harder and harder to leave home and the special person in my life… As I prepare myself for that moment, I become excited every time, but the night before the actual leave is always very sad and depressing.

This wonderful city will apparently be the venue for the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest granddaughter this year. It will surely be a happy moment for the House of Windsor, but I am sure it will not be comparable to the greatest event of the royal year: prince William of Wales’ wedding to Ms. Catherine Middleton.

As expected, the Royal House of Romania confirmed the invitation received from Buckingham Palace for the 29^th of April 2011. This invitation should not come as a surprise! Even though William is not heir to the throne, as he only comes second in Britain’s line of succession – therefore this April’s wedding is not a state affair – there is no way the Romanian Royal Family would have been overlooked from the guest list. The connections between the two Royal Houses are very strong, given the well-known special relationship between Princess Margarita of Romania and the groom’s father, the Prince of Wales, who have known each other since childhood.

King Michael I is related to the British Royal Family not only from his father’s side, but from his mother’s side as well: Queen Marie of Romania (King Michael’s grandmother) and King George V of the United Kingdom (grandfather of Queen Elisabeth II) were first cousins and at a given time, many believed that the two of them would marry. On Queen Helen’s side, the King is not only related to Elizabeth II, but also to Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh [the last person to wear this title, before the present Prince Consort was Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria and father of Queen Marie of Romania]: the mother of Queen Helen, Queen Sophie of Greece was also a first cousin of Romania’s Queen Marie, while Queen Helen’s brother was the father of Prince Philip.

These family connections are a bit complicated… J

In my next posts I will try to elucidate them, make them more comprehendible and show why the major royal events of Europe are very much “family events”.   

Risotto al Barbaresco

I must confess this recipe is a bit more punctilious, if not entirely difficult!

I started with preparing the vegetal consommé. The Princess offers the tastiest option of the home-made consommé. This might take longer than usual, but it’s sure worth it: an excellent combination of carrots, celery, asparagus, courgettes, leek, parsley, dill, tarragon, basil and bay leaf… One needs to remember that all these gorgeous flavors will literally be absorbed by the rice. 

I continued with the Barbaresco sauce: I sautéed a red onion in butter mixed with dry red wine, a bay leaf, thyme, nutmeg and cloves. I let the composition simmer until it was reduced, afterwards I removed the bay leaf and the cloves and I puréed the remaining mixture.

I started preparing the “acid butter”: I boiled white wine with a spoonful of vinegar, some chopped up red onion and tarragon, while gradually adding butter. The result was a creamy composition, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

I prepared the risotto the same way as for the recipe presented in Week 1, with the slight difference of having used red wine instead of white wine and red onion instead of white onion. The consommé needs to be added ladle by ladle, and, just before the end, half of the Barbaresco sauce will be added.

In the end, when all liquids were absorbed by the rice, I removed the pan from the heat and added part of the “acid butter” and parmesan cheese. I kept the rest of the butter and sauce for decoration, together with some bay leaves.

I received a lot of positive feed-back for this recipe! It’s surprising how well the rice can incorporate all these flavors dominated, in my opinion, by the red wine J

The detailed recipe can be found in “Cartea regala de bucate”, Ed. Curtea Veche, Bucuresti, 2010, pag. 192-3.