Elena and Beatrix - Two German Friends

Lovely view of Lake Lugano, Switzerland.

When living in Milan I made two German friends.  I’ll call them Elena and Beatrix.  Elena was from Munich in Bavaria.  She was short with dark hair and eyes. Her laughter was contagious, her smile genuine.  I passed her when I went in and out of of the entrance to our apartment complex. One day I got up my nerve and invited her to tea.  Her Italian was excellent and she helped me improve.  As I remember she had worked at Siemens in Milan where she’d met her husband, Nino.  He was from Bari in the south of Italy.  The town of Bari is sometimes called The Paris of the Mediterranean.

Bari, The Paris of the Mediterranean.

Elena told me stories of the American occupation after WWII.  Both of her parents were killed during the war and she was raised by her grandmother.   She told me they mainly subsisted on sauerkraut and potatoes. After the war, Elena lived in fear of the occupying American soldiers.  Her grandmother told her to run and hide if they came down the street.

Every couple of weeks, Elena, Nino, Vincent and I would have dinner  together.  First we would have language lessons.  I taught Nino English and Elena taught Vincent German.  After that we would have dinner.  In addition, the four of us went on excursions to Venice on the Adriatic or to Lugano in the Pre-Alps. 

Elena and me in Venice.

Elena visiting us in Verona with her little girl, Chris and Charles.

Another view of Lugano.

I met Beatrix through Elena.  They were acquaintances but not close friends.  Beatrix was tall, blond and perfectly groomed.  She wore her hair in a chignon and dressed in neat, conservative clothes.  When I had coffee at her house there were delicious cakes on pretty plates and linen napkins.

I don't have the recipe for this chocolate cake.  It looks pretty and delicious.

Beatrix was a perfect hausfrau in the German sense.  When her husband arrived home she had his slippers ready and dinner on the stove.   She and her husband seemed to be able to control their very existence.  Beatrix told me they planned to have a baby on  such and such a day, let’s say May 1st. Lo and behold the baby arrived May 1st right on schedule.  That’s German engineering! 

Gnocchi alla Romana

For one of our get-togethers, Elena made Gnocchi Alla Romana.  It’s served as a first course instead of risotto or pasta.  It’s made with semolina flour but I have made it with American Cream of Wheat.

Gnocchi alla Romana

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Semolina Flour (Bob's Red Mill)

1 quart milk

Salt

Grated nutmeg

1/3 Cup butter

2 Egg yolks

1 cup Parmigiana

1. Heat the milk, adding a few tablespoons of butter, a sprinkling of salt and some grated nutmeg.
2. When there are bubbles around the edge of the pan, slowly sprinkle in the Semolina, stirring vigorously with a whisk to avoid lumps.
3. When all the semolina is added, switch to a wooden spoon and continue to stir as the semolina cooks and thickens.  Cook for several minutes.
4. Remove pan from stove.  Vigorously stir in each egg yolk and 3/4 of parmesan cheese.
5. Spread the semolina out on a buttered cookie sheet, about 1/2 inch thick.  Cover with plastic wrap and let cool.
6. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cut out rounds of semolina with a biscuit cutter and place the rounds attractively in a buttered baking dish.  Melt the remaining butter and pour over the semolina rounds.  Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.
7. Pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

I like to serve this with the basic tomato sauce I described in an earlier posting.