Celino's - tutto per tutti - Glasgow

Somebody told us about Celino's, Italian Deli Cafe at 620 Alexandra Parade in Glasgow (http://www.celinos.com) and I always wanted to try this place. It is a Trattoria and Delicatessen, established in 1982.  I checked on Tripadvisor to read about the place - it sounds good so my husband booked the table for three for 7.30pm - for me, my husband and younger daughter, Maria.

There is no parking place but it was not difficult to find a place to park nearby. As soon as we walked into the place, we were surrounded and mesmerised with delicious looking food sold at deli counter. It was Thursday night and the place was really busy, however as we booked our table, we were seated right away. They do pre theatre menu till 6.30pm however we discovered that they do pre theatre menu all evening on Thursday, so we decided to try dishes from this menu - two courses for £10.95 and three courses for £13.95.

So for the starter, my husband and I had Ravioli Fresca (home made ravioli parcels filled with spinach and ricotta cheese with a butter and sage sauce) whilst Maria had Antipasto (cold cuts of San Denielle, Celino's Parchetta and Salame served with Puglian olive, mixed antipasto vegetables and Italian Bread).

Home made ravioli - this was really delicious!

Maria's antipasto that came with slices of bread - she really enjoyed this!

For the main course, my husband and I had Spaghetti Camberoni alls Ortolana (spaghetti pasta tossed with panfried courgettes, king prawn, sun blushed tomatoes in a white wine and chilli sauce) and Maria had Pollo Diane (pan fried chicken breast smothered with sautéed mushrooms in a cream sauce glazed with brandy with a touch of French mustard served with herb infused rice).

Lots of king prawns ....

Maria's chicken - she really enjoyed this one too!

By this time we were all full but my husband and I also wanted to try their Tiramisu so he ordered one so that we could all share.  A big slice of Tiramisu came with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream with warm chocolate sauce.

I then had a macchiato and my husband had cappuccino. Yes, you are not meant to have cappuccino after lunchtime but he likes to have this after meal so he did. I thought the coffee was good.

Including 2 glasses of wine and Maria's drink, it all came around £50 - which is not bad at all!

When we first entered Celino's, I spotted Arancini right away.  These are fried rice balls coated with breadcrumbs, filled with mozzarella and peas. Wikipedia informs me that the name derives from the food's shape and colour, which is reminiscent of an orange (the Italian word for orange is arancia, meaning 'little orange'), and is said to have originated in Sicily. Well, this was one dish on my 'to eat' list when we went to Sicily and to my regret I never tried it when we went there twice! If you are a fan of Inspector Montalbano, you know how much he loves Arancini, so I got to eat this someday ... and here I am, in Glasgow, I finally get to eat this!

After we paid the bill, I did not waste anytime at all to approach the deli counter.
I bought 2 Arancini balls, a tab of antipasto vegetables, and for my husband's lunch, Vegetable Calzone.

The next day, he heated up the Calzone in the oven with crunchy antipasto vegetables. There were lots of vegetables inside of Calzone and he enjoyed this too.

I asked him if he would get this again and he said yes so it must have been delicious. I had my Arancini cold (as I did not deep fry them and not sure if microwave may explode this...?) with salad and crunchy vegetable and I enjoyed it.  Next time when we go back to Celino's, I may try this for starter so that I could eat it hot properly.

Celino's - tutto per tuiit, 'everything for everyone' indeed!

That's all forks.

What I want to eat in Sicily....

My husband and I will go back to Sicily again this month for holiday. It all started when my sister in law and her husband went to Palermo while ago and recommended us to go there. I could not find any good flight connections to get there and could not decide on a hotel to stay, I started looking for package tour to Sicily and we ended up going to Taormina. That was 2 years ago and we really enjoyed our holiday there.

View of Mt Etna from our hotel ground in Taormina

We thought we would then go to Palermo this time, but again could not find good flight connections and any hotels we fancied.  One day I was watching some food and wine programme on TV and saw a presentor visiting a winery at the foot of Mt Etna and had a wonderful lunch there. I thought why not staying at agriturismo near there, perhaps at Tenuta San Michele,  the one owned by Murgo wine producer. Unfortunately the Agriturismo Murgo was fully booked for dates we wanted to stay but we now have found another great place to stay near Mt Etna.

Anyway, I bought a book of Sicilian cooking Eat Smart in Sicily by Joan Paterson and Marcella Croce (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eat-Smart-Sicily-Decipher-Adventure/dp/0977680118/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347562546&sr=1-1) when we went to Taormina for the first time but never properly appreciated this book then. Now more obsessed about Sicily and its cuisine, I revisited this book and have noted all the Sicilian food I want to eat this time.  Here are my list:

• arancine agli spinaci - deep fried, saffron-colored rice balls filled with spinach and béchamel sauce.
• brioche con gelato - sweet brioche bun cut open and filled with gelato.
• caponata - one of my favorite; sweet and sour eggplant dish, served cold or at room temperature.
• carciofi arrostiti - roasted artichokes: mixture of olive oil, chopped mint and garlic is poured into artichoke hearts, which are then wrapped in aluminium foil and roasted over hot coals or in warm ashes.
• cassata - classic Sicilian cake of Arabic origin; assembled from layers of sponge cakes and almond paste (marzipan) filled with sweet ricotta cream, and beautifully decorated with icing, candied fruits and zucchini preserves. 
• cuscus di pesce - couscous with fish.
• insalata di arance - orange salad; oranges are peeled, sliced and mixed with smoked herring and sliced scallions, and dressed with olive oil and salt. 
• involtini di melanzane - eggplant rolls; slices of eggplant are grilled or fried and then rolled around a mixture of toasted bread crumbs, pine nuts, currants and cheese.
• pasta alla Norma - pasta with tomato sauce, diced fried eggplant and grated salted ricotta.
• pasta con acciughe e mollica - pasta with toasted bread crumbs and anchovy fillets. 
• pasta con i broccoli arriminati - pasta stir-fried with a cauliflower sauce with currants, pine nuts, saffron and anchovies dissolved in olive oil. If you have ever watched Inspector Montalbano, you would know what I am talking about.
• pasta con le sarde - saffron-coloured pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel leaves and a small dollop of sun-dried tomato.
• pesto di pistacchio - pistachio pesto. 
• spaghetti con bottarga - spaghetti with grated, salted tuna roe (bottarga), olive oil and garlic.
• spaghetti con il nero di seppia - spaghetti with black cuttlefish ink.

Let's see how many I can cross off this list when we return from our holiday to Sicily...