A craving for Parma ham.
The lunch I made today was a result of re-watching Bernardo Bertolucci's stunning 1964 film Before the Revolution, completed when he was 22. It is set in Parma, so I got an almost unnatural craving for prosciutto di Parma. I got my butt to the market to buy a half-pound at $17.99 a pound. Got a real juicy canteloupe too. Back home I made prosciutto e melone as an appetizer, so elementary and yet so overwhelmingly satisfying! For secondo piatto I pan-grilled three slices of left-over polenta, covered them with a light garlic tomato sauce and grated parmigiano and pepper. I drank no Italian wine, just a bottle of cheap California chardonnay, which hit the spot. In fact it hit several spots and is continuing to approach new ones. A very ripe pear brought the repast to its finale.