Hello Summer: It's Time for a Grigliata!

It is summer, which means there are changes in Trieste. A new bus schedule shifts public transportation away from school and towards the beach. Nonna stops making Jota and starts making pesto and, as soon as the price for San Marzano tomatoes comes down at the mercato coperto, she will put the camping stove outside and make enough salsa to last the winter. Likewise, you may notice that your social calendar has changed. For if winter in Trieste means pizzas out with friends, the summer is all about the grigliata. 

Something for Everyone

Study the roles closely and see where you can make the best of your talents at the next grigliata!

The Organizer: This person may or may not be the host. The most pro-active of the grigliata roles, it carries two main responsibilities: 

1. Create the whatsapp group announcing the event. Find an appropriate profile photo for the group. This might be an image of an ice-cold beer, glasses clinking, a picture of a grill, or any image that communicates “it’s party time.” 

2. Circulate the List of What to Bring. Only two columns are necessary: Nome and Salato or Dolce.

Grill Maestra/Maestro:  This person throws beers in the fridge and fires up the grill. Later, she (or he, why not?) will confer with other Grill Heads about proper strategy. 

Grill Head: Anyone who stands at or near the grill for more than 5 minutes. This includes the person with a fork ready to eat cevapcici directly off the grill.

By the way, the definition of “Grill” in Italy has a wider range than in America. Almost anything can be classified as a grill in Trieste as long as it is outside and you can cook meat on it. 

Spritz Aperol Fairy: As the name implies, this person brings the ingredients for Spritz Aperol (Prosecco, Orange slices, sparkling water, Aperol) and makes carafes of it until the ingredients run out. Spritz Aperol fairies must arrive punctually as this is a before dinner aperitivo.

Torta Salata Specialist: This person brings the same torta salata to every potluck they attend. A torta salata can come pie-shape like a quiche or it may be a rectangular store-bought crust filled down the center, wrapped like a burrito and baked. T.S. Specialists favor tried and true combinations like: spinach and ricotta, potato and tuna, or Ham and cheese.

The Experimenter: This person, usually the foreigner of the group, is not bound by Italian tradition and food combination rules. In the past, this person’s dish went home untouched. Social media and global food trends have changed the tide, however, making the experimenter’s quirky dishes more attractive.  

The Principe: Every good party needs a little prince, or the cherished male child of someone who is good at making insalata russa, which is basically a fancy version of potato salad decorated with olives and mayonnaise squeezed out of a tube. If the principe has a very loving mother, she will throw in a batch of peperonata and a strucolo de pomi for dessert.

There are many other roles to cover depending on how many people are invited to the grigliata. I mention only the main ones.

A Word about Location

Possible places for the grigliata include, for the lucky ones, the back yard or, even better, the terreno, someone’s piece of land they rent for the year or own specifically for social occasions. A corner of the terreno is reserved for a vegetable garden with radicio picio, tomatoes, and way more zucchini than necessary.

Other grigliata locations include the cemented cortile, the terrazza, or even the roof.

What Goes on the Grill

While in America there are generally two choices: Hamburger or Hot Dog, the Italian grill can hold an unlimited number of meat makes and models -- the bigger the variety the better. Just remember, the Grill Heads will be able to tell if the meat has been frozen and thawed. With this in mind, it is highly recommended to go over the border on the same day and buy fresh. Don't worry about it, though. As a foreigner, no one expects you to know much about food anyway. Let someone else do the errand and contribute to the spesa.  Also, vegetables can and will be grilled. 

The Conversation

Don’t be surprised if the main topic of conversation is the food itself.  Asking for and giving recipes, commenting on various dishes and how you would have made them better differently, where in Slovenia the meat came from and, most importantly, a grigliata is not a grigliata unless someone takes a moment to complain about the fact that there is WAY TOO MUCH FOOD.

Yes, next time we will do better.