Orange Compote, at its best, may be obtained in any small Turkish or Armenian restaurant where the coffee is good and the dishes aren’t too offensively clean. When made at home it is never quite the same—I don’t know why. This, however, is the best working substitute that I am able to concoct.
Take as many oranges as your system is capable of absorbing, and peel them, removing all of the thin white inside skin, and all of the film-like tissue that divides an orange into sections. I forgot to mention that the orange should be large, luscious, juicy and free of seeds. Place the oranges in individual serving dishes and pour over them this sauce, while hot:
For about six oranges you will need one middle-sized jar of orange marmalade and one small can of Hawaiian pineapple. Put the marmalade, the pineapple—cut into small cubes—and the pineapple juice into a double boiler and cook, briskly, until the liquid begins to thicken. Then pour it over the uncooked oranges and allow them—each in its individual dish—to stand in the ice box until dessert time. Just before serving, sprinkle with a few pine nuts, or salted almonds. Pine nuts are best.
LXXVI
Stephen Vincent Benet
ZITELLI’S MACARONI STEW
Take one-half pound of real Italian macaroni, boil it in plenty of water, slightly salted, till soft, say, about twenty minutes; take one quart of tomatoes, one-half pint of water and two ounces of fat bacon cut into small pieces. Now one onion and a small bunch of parsley; boil all these together (apart from the macaroni) for half an hour, then pass the mixture through a colander; add one tablespoonful of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Put it on the fire again and let it boil for five minutes. Let the macaroni and the sauce both be very hot. In a tureen place a layer of the macaroni covered with grated cheese; then cover with a ladleful of the sauce and repeat the layers until the entire amount is served. It should be dished in deep soup plates for individual servings.