Cappon magroLayered fish and vegetable salad
Cappon magro is the grand Christmas Eve centrepiece of Genoa, once eaten by rich families on the night of "lean" eating before Christmas. On a base of gallette (ship's biscuits) rubbed with garlic and soaked with vinegar, cooks build a tall dome of boiled vegetables and white fish, held together by a rich green sauce of parsley, capers, pine nuts, anchovies and egg yolks, then decorated with prawns and mussels. It takes a whole afternoon and is served cold. Chef's tip: dress each layer of vegetables with oil and vinegar separately as you build; it seasons the whole dome evenly instead of only the outside.




