Clement of A La Cuisine! went and made me all rambly nostalgic and in the process reminded me of one of my Uni era grand food projects, the muffuletta. A kind of delicatessen terrine, cached in a loaf of bread. The special occasion was an outdoor concert in King's Park with Ben Folds and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Dining with Robbie and Veronique, and Robert and Manas .
It's actually not that hard at all, most of it is brought. For heavy duty deli shoppping I usually go to the Contintal Supermarket on the corner of Fitzgerald and Roe. The only real kitchen work are the roasted red capsicums (peppers) and the fried eggplant . I roasted the capsicums over the burner until the skin bubbled, then picked the skin off, persuading a few recalcitant bits with a paring knife. I think this can also be done by placing them in a paper bag in the oven, but I've forgotten how exactly. The eggplant was sliced to a 4mm thinckness and cooked in a pan with EVOO.
Next was the ricotta mix . A cup of ricotta with a handful of finely chopped basil , and an egg yolk and mixed. The dressing was a 1/4 cup of EVOO , 2tbs capers and a tbs of oregano .
Get a nice round loaf of bread, slice the top off, and hollow it out. The ricotta mix gets spread aound the bottom and the sides. Then it's just a matter of stacking food up to the top. For this one is used – prosciutto, fried eggplant, roasted capsicum, coppa, rocket, green pesto, and stuffed olives with the dressing poured over. The lid is put back on, wrapped in foil and refrigerated for 8 hours.
As for the concert. Situated on freshly cut lawns in a natural ampitheatre, surrounded by gums trees, with the stage in front of a small lake; it would have been good even if Frente had been playing. Ben Folds is a supreme human being. Talented, funny, humane, and just makes fantastic songs.