Stuffed Anchovies
It would be nice to say that we are now fully recovered after our trip to Roma. We are both back at work now and life is pretty much back to normal other than a persistent cold that I have. We can nearly celebrate our three week anniversary! Between you and I, though, the relationship is starting to wear thin. This week, the cold and I enjoyed each other’s company with a hearty cheasty cough. It was at its worst last Thursday where I had most of my colleagues at work fitting ear plugs. Without wanting to jinx myself, as of this evening I think I might be winning. I am weaning myself of cough syrup and even managed to go swimming this morning with Vilija.
One thing that quietly passed under the radar was the official 1 year anniversary since I arrived in Italia last year. The 6th of January is La Befana here in Italia. A public holiday where a nice witch on a broomstick brings lollies and sweat things to kids throughout Italia. Though after a year here, I didn’t make it onto La Befana’s lolly list. 
Maybe next time?
On last Tuesday we had a meeting with our Client in Roma with the other suppliers for the systems that are part of the same Power Station upgrade that we are working on. We flew down early in the morning and took a cab from the airport in Roma to our clients office. When we got there and had passed security (I don’t think I will ever except the fact that I “MUST” leave photo identification every where I go!!!!) we were introduced to our fellow attendees; three engineers from Spain, five from Austria, 2 from Germany, two client representatives, my five Italian colleagues and me. Needless to say the meeting was officially conducted in English with splashes of everyone’s native tongue thrown in as conversations were held within groups. Whilst the meeting was generally successful it gave me some ideas on how to hold meetings with people who native language is not the same. Promote visual communication and try to summarise and confirm all points made to ensure that everyone understood what was said.
Whilst the meeting was originally scheduled for two days, luckily enough it finished up within a day and we were able to return back to Genova that evening. By the time I arrived at home Vilija had just gone to bed and I was exhausted.
A while back one of Vilija’s students gave her a recipe for stuffed anchovies, one of many local specialties. After trying unsuccessfully to find anchovies at the market, Vilija bought some on Friday night and we tried it out last night. It turned out to be a very tasty dinner. For those interested I have put the recipe below;
Ingredients;
- 1kg Large Anchovies
- 1 Bread Roll
- Milk
- Origano
- 2 Eggs
- Salt
- Gratted Parmisan Cheese
- Bread Crumbs
Method;
Clean the anchovies (including the back bone, this wasn’t the most pleasant task but was easier than I originally though. By cutting the tail off, then gutting the fish and cutting trough behind the gills you can remove the head and back bone together.)
Soak the Bread Roll in milk for a couple of minutes. Remove the excess milk and add Origano and Salt to taste. Then mix all together, mushing the bread roll. Add the eggs and cheese and mix again.
Stuff each Anchovy with a small spoonful of the stuffing. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 180° for about 30 minutes. Enjoy!!
We had it a simple salad and it was delicious. If you have a go, we would love to hear how it was.
As one final note after a extended period without broadband internet and general slackness in cleaning them up we have got around to uploading more photos from our trip to Roma over Christmas. To have a look, head over to our flickr page and don’t be afraid of leaving your comments on how brilliant we are at photography 
