Capon Maggro

By John, 19 March, 2015
Region
Italy
Description

Capon Maggro for a Birthday

This is a fabulous seafood antipasto: seafood on a pile of steamed vegetables with a piquant Genoese green sauce to hold it together. 

The top image shows one that was made by Richmond for a gala affair at the Old Colony Club with 80 guests. It was an extravagant showpiece with numerous kinds of seafood, including lobster. Then he used the head and flippers to make it even more eye-catching.

"A capon maggro for 36 people"The middle image was for a smaller event at the Old Colony Club, this one a structured wine tasting with 36 guests.  This Capon Maggro was made by my friend Mary Quinlan. It had to share a table with cheeses and salumi from Piedmont and Genoa, so she made it simple and elegant, so as not to overshadow the other foods and the Roero Arneis and Gavi di Gavi wines that we were showcasing in this room. In addition to the basic structure of bread topped by the vegetable salad garnished with seafood, she also added steamed mussels and cherrystones around the bottom for color contrast. The white and green along the top are quartered hard-cooked eggs and large green pitted olives.

A Small Cappon Magro

The bottom image is a small one made for an appetizer for a dinner for four people. It was made with only shrimp with steamed potatoes and pearl onions.

See the notes for tips on how to make this delicious invention into a less intimidating affair.

Yield
36 Servings
Preparation time
2 hours
Ingredients
1 Slab of Country Bread (1/2-inch thick, Toasted)
1 clv Garlic
1⁄4 c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T Wine Vinegar
1 Piquant Green Sauce (see recipe)
2 lb Mixed, Cubed Vegetables (Steamed)
1 Lobster (Cooked and sliced into generous medallions)
2 lb Mixed Cubed Fish (Salmon, Halibut, etc)
1 Lemon (Juiced)
2 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Lobster Claws
2 Eggs (Hard-Cooked, Cut in wedges)
12 Black Olives
16 oz Large Shrimp (Cooked and Peeled)
8 oz Sea Scallops
Instructions
  1. Trim the crust from the bread, score it into wedges, and toast it until it is crisp.
  2. Cook the vegetables and put them in separate bowls. Dress with a little olive oil and salt as needed.
  3. Cube and poach the fish. Cook the shrimp. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil.
  4. Sear the scallops. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil.
  5. Put the bread on a large decorative platter big enough to hold it and the garnish.
  6. Rub the bread with a garlic clove, then brush it with a dressing of olive oil and wine vinegar.
  7. Brush the bread thinly with a little of the Piquant Green Sauce.
  8. Put a layer of potatoes on the bread base, and dress it with a few dabs of Piquant Green Sauce. Repeat with other vegetables in layers to build a pretty mound the size of a roast capon.
  9. Dab all over with the Piquant Green Sauce. Be generous.
  10. Use toothpicks to attach the fish, shrimp, and scallops all over the surface.
  11. Do the same with the lobster medallions.
  12. Dress with Piquant Green Sauce to balance the presentation visually.
  13. Garnish around the base with hard-cooked eggs and black olives. Add the lobster claw meat for dramatic effect.
  14. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Notes

I first made this for Annette's 65th Birthday Feast and it was so delicious that we did it again for a few other events, including Richmond's 70th Birthday Feast.

Tips to simplify this:

  1. Nobody goes into the Capon Maggro looking for the vegetables. You can use canned whole potatoes, beets, and carrots to save time and labor. 
  2. You can make the Piquant Green Sauce and steam the vegetables ahead of time and chill them. 
  3. When assembling the vegetables on the base, put the biggest pieces with a flat side around the border to help ensure stability of what goes above, especially if you will have to transport the finished product to the place where you will serve it,

Consider doubling the sauce recipe - it is incredible!

Source

Anna del Conte, The Classic Food of Northern Italy