Before going to Venice, I read about a pasta bigoli, a pasta with an anchovy and onion sauce. I love anchovies so it was on my list as a 'must-try.' We went to the Black Olive, and it was there that we had it. It was one of my favorite dishes on the trip------so simple, but ono. That flavor memory was the inspiration for the base of this salad. A poached egg would have done the same thing, a broken egg sauce, but then the sunny side up egg reminds me of a loco moco. Maybe this is a 'loco salad.' The large crouton fried in olive oil, butter, and garlic props the egg up and a parmesan oil, laced with fish sauce and chili flakes brings it all together. In the process of it all, I couldn’t resist making a pan of pasta to try and recreate the dish--------it was good, but maybe the ambience or the fact of just being in Venice and eating it there made me feel that something was missing. Nevertheless, it was really close----- with a few touches of my own.
