Hands-on Hostess Part 2
Our extraordinary culinary journey commenced Tuesday last, inside the pretty imposing Casa Delle Palme, home of Elisabeth and Heinz Simonitsch – a dining experience that would commence with coconut chicken soup and ackee with rucola and broiled with Parmesan cheese served around a magnificent 22-seater mahogany dining table.
Elisabeth Simonitsch has, after two courses, created such a gastronomical flutter that SunDay Cuisine is forced to wonder (and out loud, might we hasten to add) what the very hands-on hostess would rustle up next. Our fears are soon allayed.
Lunch guests are once more comfortable, this time a little further up the room in what can be described as a cosy alcove. Our table this time boasts basil and cherry tomatoes on the vine as well as formal silver on green table setting. Elisabeth has once again donned her red Vienna apron and is in the kitchen, this time preparing tomato basil risotto. “It’s a dish that I learnt to make during my three years in Italy. The shrimps are added to offer a personal twist. Plates come out one at a time (each course is cooked to order) with instructions from the hostess to start right away.
This we do, enjoying tasty mouthfuls of risotto and the subtle explosions afforded by the plump, spicy shrimps. Our hostess, having plated the last entrée, removes her apron and joins us. This allows her to share entertainment tips. “The behind-the-scenes preparations are key to any successful event.and that’s what I spend most of the time doing.” There’s more, like designs for the dining area and the right dinner plates.
“I’m a collector of plates,” she shares. “What you’re eating on is as important as the meal.” There’s no arguing that point as we venture down to the lower garden area for dessert. If Simonitsch brought the outdoors in for our first three courses, she has certainly taken the magnificent flora and fauna into consideration for dessert. The dessert table is covered in a cloth of tropical blooms with bold tangerine napkins, each set with the greenest of limes.
Sweet plates of perfect proportions comprising the traditional Austrian Gugelhupf, a tangy soursop icecream made “this morning” by the hostess with soursops from the garden, home-made chocolate mousse and mini cheesecake. The sunshine, taunted for most of the day by a temperamental rain, is now able to dominate, tentatively at first, but finally strong enough to make an impact through the lush tropical setting. Lunch ends with espresso, but truth be told, it’s difficult not to contemplate dinner at Casa Delle Palme.