Tell you what, there is a tiny island in the lagoon where they grow a very special kind of artichokes you can find only there. They are called in Venetian dialect "castraure" (same word as castrate, that is cut) because they are the sprouts of this ONLY local variety of artichokes and cut as soon as they grow. They are deep purple, quite tiny, not more than a thumb big, and are only available for about 15 days, exactly during this period. As they are very tiny, they are quite tender, sweet and soft and you eat them raw, usually finely sliced as a salad or spread on a white risotto. In this case they are deep fried for just one or two minutes. Another of their characteristics is that they have a subtle salty taste, as they grow close to the sea in a sandy soil.
Being so rare - you can only find then there and only for a very short time - they are quite expensive, but worth the try.
If she knew the local kitchen so well like she is pretending, and she wanted to cook something very special, unique and gourmand for the guests, she would have gone to the Rialto market instead of a local cheap supermarket, part of a national chain, and she would have known.
Well, she cooked something unique indeed, a nondescript, never seen before, mushy blob of bizarrely assembled ingredients. I wonder if the guests' stomachs could face that assault without consequences.
Oh well, they had some fresh salad, dressed with some poor quality oil from the jar of the artichokes sott'olio to comfort them.
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