NEWS | Wednesday, 10 September 2008

A celebration of Maltese seafood and wine with Delicata

A press dinner at Leonardo’s restaurant was held recently to inaugurate the Seafood & Wine Weekend which begins on Friday 5th September at the Southport Villa and Gardens in the fishing town, Marsaxlokk. This ‘seafoody’ initiative has been jointly organised by Emmanuel Delicata and Southport to coincide with and help celebrate this year’s long awaited Lampuki season.
A spokesman from Delicata said: “This weekend is a showcase for Maltese wine and Maltese seafood, presented at its best. We strongly believe that Maltese wine and fresh Maltese seafood are an essential, healthy part of our Maltese diet and quality of life. It’s that quality of life that needs to be shared with the visitors to our islands. Only through quality events and initiatives’ such as these can we get that message across to them. The quality of our seafood, our culinary skills, our dining out facilities and our Maltese wines can rate amongst the best in the world, if promoted professionally. The Maltese people are well aware of these quality attributes, that’s why they eat lots of seafood and drink lots of Maltese wine. We hope that this Seafood & Wine Weekend will help reinforce that opinion and at the same time spread the good news to a few unsuspecting gourmet visitors who might be around this weekend.”
Throughout the weekend a number of seafood based recipes that have been created by the Southport Chefs will be available with accompanying Delicata wines at the various outlets within the Southport Villa and its gardens.
In the Concept Café, fishy snacks like lampuki al cartoccio, Linguine with sea urchins and fresh salmon, seafood lasagne, tuna and green olive pie or the traditional lampuki and spinach pie are just some of the items on offer throughout the three days.
In the Vino Lounge a special platter for two people consists of a fritto misto of battered prawns and calamari, fried octopus, whitebait and breaded lampuki fillets with a spicy aubergine dip. The price also includes a bottle of the new aromatic dry white 2007 vintage D.O.K. Malta Medina Vermentino Zibibbo.
Out in the Villa’s delightful gardens diners can partake in a Seafood Buffet which includes a large selection of Shellfish Antipasto, a selection from the grill and a dessert. Seafood lovers can choose from an assortment of tasty fish dishes which include creative dishes like king prawns with lemon and ginger dressing, fried whitebait salad, tazor clams and herb butter, smoked fish carpaccio, monkfish kebabs, honey glazed cuttlefish, Grilled salmon and scallop skewers, Herb marinated lampuki fillets, Fresh tuna etc.etc. When it comes to the wine, Delicata will be operating a wine station next to the grill, with a choice of 12 D.O.K. and I.G.T. wines, which are being offered all at the same special price, which diners can taste beforehand if they wish, so you can be sure that you will like what you buy!
Upstairs in the Villa is Southport’s fine casual dining restaurant Leonardo’s and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday a special 4 course seafood set menu (with choices) is available for lunch and dinner, with a recommended glass of wine served with every course. The menu includes dishes like – lampuki carpaccio and tartare dressing with 2007 Victoria Heights Chardonnay D.O.K. Gozo; ravioli of lampuki with fennel, orange and baby scallops with 2007 Medina Vermentino Zibibbo D.O.K. Malta; Baked sea bass with Lobster tortellini and vanilla foam with 2006 Gran Cavalier barrel fermented Chardonnay: Poached lampuki with king prawn mousse served with sea urchin hollandaise and caper tempura with 2007 Medina Rose Grenache D.O.K. Malta; Stuffed calamari served with shellfish stew with 2007 Medina Syrah, Carignan, Grenache D.O.K. Malta. As for desserts, you can bet that a nice chilled glass of sweet 2006 Casella Moscato will round off your meal perfectly when accompanied by either Chocolate Tiramisu, strawberry trifle or Banoffi semifreddo.