La Scarpeta

Last night, we headed back to Ristorante San Vito, located on Lungomare, the main street along the ocean, kind of like the Embarcadero in San Francisco.  The plan was to have cous cous, a local specialty, served with either meat or fish. San Vito makes theirs with fish, but upon arriving, we were told that they were running out.  

And so, for our group of ten, we had half cous cous and half pasta with swordfish.  But, that wasn't before an appetizer of mussels prepared two ways, one with lemon and the other in a tomato sauce.

I was taught the important technique of "scarpeta," a formalized process of mopping up the extra tomato sauce in a zamboni-like fashion.  It's legal here in Mazara.

The cous cous arrived, covered with gamberoni and some other white fish, and accompanied by a fish stock/soup that is poured over the top.  Unlike the Israeli cous cous we may be accustomed to in the US, this cous cous is smaller, more similar in size and consistency to tabouleh.  Garnished with parsley, it

was really tasty.

And let's not forget about the pasta, "busiata," spiral in shape, made fresh and served with shrimp and chunks of swordfish.  It was delicious with a nice chilled white wine.

After dinner, we ended up at a small casino/gaming house nearby, where one of Fran and Claudia's friends' Fabrizio, played guitar for a cover band that sang American rock from the '60s and were actually quite good...

Then, it was off to the city center, which, at 2:00 am on a holiday Friday was packed with people.  

We stayed and chatted for an hour or so,  finally headed home after a long day.  And so, another great day in Mazara was in the books.