A Sicilian Influence, and a good meal.

The Granite Belt is home to many families who can claim Italian or Sicilian ancestry.
Four of our five neighbouring farms have families with such backgrounds.

Recently one of those families asked us for "a simple dinner, Sicilian style".
Their adult son was home for a few days, and one of the meals he requested was one of his favourites.....steak cooked over the embers of vine-cuttings.

When we arrived we saw that the steaks were marinating in red wine, garlic and parsley.

After a few glasses of a wonderful white wine, (an old Semillon) we all went outside to light the vine cuttings.

Here are the vine cuttings, before lighting.
They are piled high.



..and alight, burning very brightly.


Once the flames had died down, and the vine cuttings were glowing embers, the steak was added.



And cooked to perfection...medium rare.

The steaks were served with a salad, and thick wedges of potatoes, which had been cooked slowly in the slow combustion stove.  Yum!

The steaks had a subtle aroma of wood from the vine cuttings, and a delicate taste to match. Delicious.

We drank nothing but good reds to complement the wonderful steaks.
Would you like to know the wines? I'll tell you anyway.
A Penfolds 707 Cabernet, followed by a Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz.
Absolute heaven!

Our neighbours told us that in Sicily most meats were cooked like this, especially in the old times.
On the ground, the Sicilian farmers would outline a fireplace with large stones.
Vine cuttings would be placed inside this ring of stones, and lit.
Home-made sausages would be cooked this way, as would other cuts of meat.
The aromas drifting around the farms then would have had everyones salivary glands working overtime!  Mmmm!

It was a wonderful night. Thank you S and C and A.