Molto Buono!

So many good things happened today, I don't know where to begin! The walk to school was bautiful and crisp this morning after the snow we had last night. And most suprising of all, the sun was out today shining brightly off the new fallen snow. It reminded me of snow in Denver when the sun comes out the next day and immediately melts everything. This is a picture of the gardens infront of my school covered in a light dusting of snow this morning.

It kind of reminds me of the gardens at Versailles. After our sunny walk to school, we had history class and a guest chef come from the region of Trentino-Alto Adige. As I said before this is the region that borders along Germany and has a rich influence from both Germany and Austria.

This region is particularly interesting because its cuisine is the result of two colliding cultures that have a long, intermingled history. We sampled this food today from Chef Karl Baumgartner who owns Ristorante Schoneck in Trentino-Alto Adige. The food from this region is the least "Italian" that we will eat while we are here, but the flavors and aromas are so uniquely interesting they won't be easily forgotten. Today he made for us roasted duck with a honey and pepper crust, accompanied by an orange pepper sauce and a puree of potatoe and celery root. I haven't eaten much duck before coming to culinary school, but this dish was one of the most flavorful and delicious I've had. My classmates and I were actually picking the meat off the bone and dipping it in the sauce - molto buono.

Chef Baumgartner also made a venison goulash with hazelnut polenta, a pate with gorgonzola and a Gewuztraminer gel (I don't usually eat pate, but this was incredible), and for dessert he made ricotta canederli(a ricotta dumpling of sorts) with caramalized pears. It was a comforting, heavy dish to finish off a very tasty day of eating. On the left of this picture below is Chef Christian, our main chef who teaches us in the kitchen and who translates at the guest demos, and on the right is Chef Baumgartner of Trentino-Alto Adige.
And the last good thing that happened today is we finally got internet in our apartments, which means no more traveling down to the common room. I also went for a really long run tonight with my friend Greg, becuase you can't eat like I did today and not exercise.

Strudel, Snow, and Gelato

Sunday I traveled with six of my friends to Rimini (a large city on the east coast of Italy, about a 2 hour train ride away from Parma) to attend SIGEP - an international exhibition of artisan gelato, pastry, confectionary, and bakery. We got to taste different varieties of gelato, as well as see new machines and products they use around Italy to make different chocolates, pastry, and breads. The exhibition was designed for professionals to check out new equipment, but it was still fun for us to go and see, and taste some sweets. The most interesting part was the gelato world cup. This is a picture of it to the left. There are teams from all around the world competing to make the best gelato. We didn't stay long enough to see who won, but it was nice to have some Americans to cheer for.

We have been back in the kitchen both yesterday and today focusing on the region of Trentino Alto Adige, which is in the north bordering on Germany. The region was at one point part of Germany and there is a very strong German and Austrian influence on the food. We had pastry class this afternoon, which is a nice break from the savory kitchen. Our teacher is Bruno, a young, small Italian man who makes everyone feel much calmer in the kitchen. Today we made a lindsor tart and an apple strudel. I was very excited to learn of these recipes because I don't particularly like many Italian desserts, and these are two things I am happy to know how to make. This is the lindsor tart I made today, it's not quite as soft as the cookies I've had before, but it's good, especially with coffee or tea.

And finally, it's snowing here. I don't know why I find this so amusing, I guess I never expected to it snow in Italy, atleast not in Colorno because we are not close to mountains or anything. But I've always loved snow, and it's a nice change from the fog that seems to always blanket this town.

We have guest chefs coming to do demonstrations both tomorrow and thursday so there should be a lot more to write about at the end of the week.

Liguria

Top left, chef Andrea Sarri. Top right mandilli with pesto. And the fog finally cleared so I was able to take some pictures of the school.

Each of the next nine weeks will focus on one or two different regions of Italian cuisine, wine, hisotry, and culture. This first week we have explored Liguria - the region on the north western part of the country, bordering on Piemonte and Lombardia to the north, and the Ligurian Sea to the south. Its position on the coast makes this part of the Italian Riveria temperate year round. Steep rocky mountains line the coast providing land that support little agriculture. Because of these rocky mountains the soil in this region that does sustain vegetation is high in minerals which allows for a distinct taste in both the produce and wine originating in Liguria.

Our study of Liguria began 9am Tuesday morning with wine class. I've really been looking forward to learning more about wine, and I was not disappointed with our class. Matteo, our wine "coach" as he calls himself, is charming and knowledgeable. He is a great instructor to teach us teach us about the national drink of Italy. We first discussed the four factors that influence wine - grape, origin, vintage, and producer. Then we learned how to taste wine using all of our senses. I am going to need a lot more practice, but it is helpful to taste with someone who can really tell you all the hidden aromas and tastes in a wine. We sampled two whites - a vermentino and a gewurtzaminer, both were on the drier side and had a very strong mineral taste due to the region.

Continuing our study of Liguria we headed to the kichen to try our hand at some of their traditional dishes. In New York, I always felt very comfortable in the kitchen, here it's different. Getting used to the different style of teaching and lack of clear communication made our first days in the kitchen somewhat of a disaster. We slowly struggle to make Cappon Magro (a warm vegetable and sea food salad with a delicious green sauce made from parsely, lemon juice, garlic, anchovies, boiled egg yolk, and a soaked piece of bread that is mixed with an immersion blender), Calamari in Zimino (squid with a swiss chard, parsley, and garlic sauce), and Corzetti (a thin round pasta made from only white flour, wine, and water, served with a pesto sauce). Because of our poor performance the first day, we made all these dishes again yesterday and it went much smoother. I'm grateful that we re-made some of the dishes because I was able to really focus on the important flavors of each dish.

Thursday we weren't in the kitchen at all which was a welcome relief after the stressful days before. We had our first history and culture class Thursday morning which is extremely interesting because it gives us a background and understanding of why specific foods belong to each region. Our teacher is a character. His name is Stefano Bently and he was born in England but moved to Italy when he was very young so he has both an English and Italian accent when he speaks which is just interesting to listen to. He knows a lot about the history, culture, and geography of Italy, and is helping to put meaning behind why we cook the foods that we do. I've learned that many parts of the Italian cuisine are not actually Italian, but rather a modified version of another culture's discovery (pasta) or a result of trading food, which in the old days was largely influenced by preservation.

Thursday we also had our first guest chef, Andrea Sarri who owns Agrodolce, a restaurant in Liguria. He cooked 5 dishes from his restaurant that are typical of the region and they were amazing. To the right is bruchetta with Oneglia prawns that can only be found in the Ligurian sea. They are so rare our head chef has only seen them 3 times in his whole career - and they are so smooth and flavorful. I found chef Sarri to be very inspiring and watching him work was a great experience. It was interesting to watch how a beautiful dish like the one to right comes together. He also made us focaccia, fried salted cod, ciuppin with cappellotti (a fish soup with a type of ravioli), and mandilli with pesto (a thin egg pasta).

It's been a lot of work, and a little stressful, but I've really enjoyed the first week here, and I'm excited to continue exploring the Italian cuisine.

Fogg and Food

Aparently Colorno is a foggy town from November till January. A deep fog has set in that never seems to clear. It makes for some interesting walks through town but I can never see that far and makes it difficult to gain a clear picture of what the city looks like. Once the fog clears I'll take some pictures and post them.

We also traveled to Parma for dinner tonight which is about at 10-15 minute drive south of Colorno. Parma is beautiful. The fog seems to be thicker down there which made for a very memorable first impression. There are palaces with high brick arches silhouetted by spot lights shining dimly in the fog. It's a bigger and busier city than Colorno, and has great food. We stopped for a spritz (bitters, prosecco, and tonic) at a local bar before dinner. Our meal was chosen by our head chef at the school and was delicious. We started with amazing Italian red wines and prosciutto, sopresatta, and local parmesan cheese - all so fresh. Dinner was veal cheeks braised for 6 hours and the best polenta I've ever had. Before eating polenta here, I didn't understand what the point was, but when it's done right its well worth it.

Orientation also started today at school. So we met our various professors for wine instruction, history and culture, pastry, and our main chef, Christian. We got many looks from the other Italian students at the school, I've been told we'll get a chance to prove ourselves when we get the opportunity to cook for the entire school in the main kitchen.

That's all for tonight, I'm very tired so please excuse any spelling errors, atleast untill I fully adjust to this time zone.

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