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.