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Neighborhood Chefs Dish on Lamb, Polenta and Easter Past and Present

Aliseo Osteria's Albano Ballerini and Abigail's Abby Hitchcock discuss favorite ways to prepare lamb and what Easter foods meant to them growing up.

When growing up in Le Marche region of Italy, Albano Ballerini, owner of , was not an Easter fan.

He found the holiday's foods and family traditions unsavory, forced and stultifying. He had a particular dislike for lamb and still believes the meat to be an acquired, adult taste. But now, Ballerini refers to himself as a “master of lamb," which he prepares in a vast variety of ways.

For one of his signature dishes, he first sears the meat, then finishes the recipe with root vegetables and mushrooms. Garlic is a given. Ballerini talks poetically about seasoning spring lamb with thyme, the same wild herb on which young sheep graze.

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“Lamb is very special this time of the year, also eggs. They are all symbols of birth, rebirth and rejuvenation,” he says.

His advice to home cooks when attempting lamb: “Keep it simple and rustic.” 

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Among his pasta repertoire, “Testaroli” is Etruscan, pancake-like and made with regular flour and farro flour. Ballerini (who also anoints himself “the master of polenta,”) says he could eat the cornmeal dish for "breakfast, lunch and dinner” but “hated it with all my heart as a child.”

When he is not running between his apartment on Vanderbilt and the pizza restaurant across the street, Ballerini is hosting or making pasta at cozy, charmingly distressed Aliseo.  The dreamy DIY destination he crafted with his wife Ellen Fishman boasts worn wood, brick, tin and floral wallpaper that transports you to an episode of “Mildred Pierce.”

The loquacious photographer recalls Easters of his youth when he was inundated with people he did not even know, “All the relatives you’ve never seen show up at your house. I never ever got the feeling it was a joyous day. Things were forced on you and you had to dress well and parade on the street.” On top of that, the holiday was such a big deal in Ballerini’s homeland, restaurants would be booked six months before Easter. Aliseo will be closed this Sunday, though his saucy Lamb Guazzetto is already on the stove.  

If you want to show off your new straw fedora and make the scene, will be open on Easter Sunday for brunch at 10 a.m. and dinner, which begins at 5 p.m.

On the morning and early afternoon menu: eggs topping “bubble and squeak,” a crunchy concoction Abby Hitchcock first ate in England made by frying  leftover mashed potatoes and vegetables in a skillet. Her version features leeks and peas.

The homey, Seasonal American eatery she owns with husband Jason Noble, turns 3 in May, so this is only their second Easter on Classon Avenue. Hitchcock, who also owns bistro Camaje in the West Village, has found her Crown Heights neighborhood relaxed and appreciative.  In preparation for the holiday, she's decorating eggs with special dye her mother first found decades ago in a Ukranian shop in the East Village, which she'll sell in place of her regular hard-boiled eggs.

Hitchcock anticipates trying something a little different with leg of lamb this year, which will be slow-cooked with red wine, garlic, herbs, tomatoes, olives and for a surprise flavor pop, raisins. This entrée will be plated with scalloped potatoes, asparagus and cremini mushrooms.

She says she enjoys savory cooking and baking sweets equally, and still recalls bounteous Easter baskets when growing up on the East End of Long Island and how she rationed the chocolate.

"I wanted to make the candy last until Halloween. It's not that my parents deprived me of sugar, but for some reason I'd eat a little at a time," she says, almost smacking her lips. "To this day, I enjoy really good quality chocolate."

Folks in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights are more spontaneous than in Italy, but Hitchcock hopes people will think ahead and make a reservation for Sunday, or at least stop by for an Easter egg or one of her dark chocolate lollipops.

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