gaetano cortese , a tall , thin , sunburned 27-year veteran of italy 's guardia di finanza -lrb- finance police -rrb- is waxing eloquent on his favorite subject : food .
we picked it this morning from the hills of lampedusa , '' he declares with a flourish , waving thin sprigs of wild asparagus under my nose .
he demonstrates how you must break it apart with your fingers , which you keep aside to boil down in water for the pasta sauce he is preparing with his shipmate , enzo idone that