by Lynne Green (Seattle, WA)I HAVE A KILLER tiramisu recipe. I begged it off of the manager of Hong Kong’s top Italian restaurant, Grappa’s. I really love it, and have yet to find one I like more, many that I like as much, but none more.
It seemed appropriate while in Italy and having group dinners that I make one and take to the dinner. I planned my time so that I could make it on Saturday while we all had time off and it could chill and be ready for Sunday night. I planned my time properly; I did the beach during pausa, cleaned up afterward and headed off to the grocery when I knew it would be open. There were really only 5 ingredients: mascarpone, eggs, sugar, lady fingers, amaretti cookies, and the espresso and liqueur was at the house already. I had seen the mascarpone the last shopping trip, so I knew where it was. I easily found the eggs. Perusing the cookie section took quite a while to be sure I had what looked like and WAS the real kind of lady fingers. They have a distinctive look, but the packaging was a little different, so I picked up and poked three or four different types before I was sure I had them. The amaretti should be in the same place, but I could not see them. I was looking for the ones that are wrapped individually. They should be here! I think they are originally Italian. Why don't I see them? I decide that I can make do without them.
Now to find the sugar, easy right..... NO
I have now made several laps of the market and I have found flour, salt, all the pasta, even rice flour and cake mixes, but no sugar... Surely I am not sunk for the reason of a lack of sugar am I? I feel the tension rise and the frustration that occurs when something so simple eludes me. I KNOW that there is sugar somewhere in this store. Not knowing the word for it, I am at a loss even how to ask for help. I make a few more laps. People are looking at me now...well that is at least how I feel.
I finally stop again in front of the cake mixes, it seems that it would be somewhere close by. Looking carefully I see a package that looks like it says sugar and with angel wings on it, I bet that it is confectioners sugar. I take that package to the deli woman that has been very helpful when I got things at the deli. I show her the package and ask for zucherro ( I can now read it from the package) “Si,” she says, maybe not quite getting I am looking for something besides what I have in my hand. I show her the first word, and she smiles and reaches down close to the deli counter and in front of the vegetables... Lo and behold there is a whole stack of packages of sugar that look like what my eyes had been searching for. Getting bolder and pushing my luck ... “ Dov’e amaretti?” I ask. She smiles, walks right to the shelves I had searched already, and pulls out a package that clearly said amaretti.
My shopping list is complete and I can now go home and make the tiramisu. I am still not sure why the sugar was where it was. Maybe it is always in that place, or maybe they will put it somewhere close to where I had been searching. Rather than focus on the frustrations, those are a given in any new situation, I prefer to focus on the people that are kind and helpful. I have an entire list that grows daily:the deli lady, the kids that redirected us to tre pozzi, the woman that showed me where the old bridge was and told me it was too dangerous, but then showed me how to get on it and watched me across, the smiling woman that waited for me to catch up and walk along the road with her to the river. These are the many memories I choose to focus on. Desserts will come and go, will or will not get made, but the people and their kindnesses are worth cherishing!
