We took a day trip to San Gimignano, a well preserved mostly brick medieval town. It was declared a UN World Heritage Site, but I have no idea what that denotes. The town is predominately a tourist destination although the prices for goods there were much cheaper than what I saw in Siena, for nearly all goods I compared, for as much as 10 euro less.
I purchased a set of olive wood handled cocktail spears and a holder and a t-shirt for my hubbie there. At another store in San Gimignano, I purchased a leather bag less than Siena. I got my obligatory cinghiale sausage, which I have yet to try. I need a knife.
From there we went to a Chianti Classico winery. The host had won numerous awards around the world for his wines. He also spoke good English and was quite charming. His wines were delicious too! as was his olive oil. First we tried a white. I don't recall the name. The rest were Chianti Classico reds. Initially a 2008 and then a 2007, followed by a reserve 2007. Each taste improved with succession.
I tried some grappa there and because of the fact that I could actually stomach it I decided to purchase a bottle for Chef Luna at home. I know he likes grappa (and Calvados). If I hadn't already purchased olive oil I would have purchased some there. It was quite delicious too.
Next we visited another Chianti Classico winery in a small town with a population of only 52. We toured the facilities there while a woman spoke English with added emphasis at the end, like "reservo" instead of reserve and "the wine-a" instead of the wine, etc. This was a more commercial approach than the previous tour. We ended our tour again with some tastings. First with a white, which was tasty and then the reds. First of the reds was a 75% Sangiovese grape. This could not be labeled Chianti Classico because the Chianti wines must be a minimum of 80% Sangiovese. The last red was a 100% Sangiovese. I could tell the difference. These wines however were not as good as our fist stop and they didn't appear to have earned the accolades the first winery had. Possibly our inclusion with over thirty 70+ aged tourists tainted my opinion. It was not as inviting and intimate as our first stop and more like cattle-herding.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Siena- Day 1
We arrived in the late afternoon and walked around town some. There is lots of shopping here, but only for those with large wallets. Mine isn't.
We had one day of cooking class and made the following: tomato and bread soup, bigi (hand rolled spaghetti, typical of this region), a spicy garlic tomato sauce, a stewed beef with a potato souffle and a rice pudding cake. I found all dishes to be delicious, although the rice cake wasn't really my thing. Some in the class said the pasta was the best they'd had on the trip, but we had a clam and mussel spaghetti the first night that was really spectacular. I'd rank that one and today's two.
Next class we'll be making an egg pasta, a pork roast and I'm not sure what else. I'm sure it will be dalliscious though!
Gotta sign off- there's a wine tasting in the lobby. Ciao!
We had one day of cooking class and made the following: tomato and bread soup, bigi (hand rolled spaghetti, typical of this region), a spicy garlic tomato sauce, a stewed beef with a potato souffle and a rice pudding cake. I found all dishes to be delicious, although the rice cake wasn't really my thing. Some in the class said the pasta was the best they'd had on the trip, but we had a clam and mussel spaghetti the first night that was really spectacular. I'd rank that one and today's two.
Next class we'll be making an egg pasta, a pork roast and I'm not sure what else. I'm sure it will be dalliscious though!
Gotta sign off- there's a wine tasting in the lobby. Ciao!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sorrento- Last Day
Today we went to the market with Chef Biagio. First stop was a wholesale produce market. They had the largest squash I have ever seen. Imagine the largest zucchini you've ever seen, the kind from which you can make jack-o-lanterns, and triple that. I saw one cut in half and it appeared to have no seeds in the middle, pure orange flesh. We purchased zucchini blossoms which we stuffed in class for dinner.
Next stop was the fish market. This smelled like the ocean, not the stinky smell of fish markets in the States, even with the half sawed swordfish with a hacksaw laying next to it. Chef bought some sardines there.
Last stop was an Italian market. While most of the items there were familiar, I was interested in a particular pasta. Each box came with four pieces, shaped like large flowers. One was a gift pack in which each flower was presented in a clay bowl for baking. The pasta is cooked, similar to precooking lasagne noodles, and then stuffed to make up the flower pedals. This is then baked in the oven in individual clay dishes. If the boxes hadn't been so large and fragile I would have purchased one.
Unable to tour the limoncello factory, I decided to walk the shops in town. I was able to pick up a ravioli cutter, but no gnocchi board.
Upon return, we had our last class. We made stuffed zucchini blossoms- way better than any I've had in the States. The blossoms are larger than I've seen. We were told to remove the stamen, something very bitter that I've tasted in other versions of this dish. We also made braciole (pronounced brigole in old Sicilian), a rolled meat dish stuffed with cheese, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and raisins. This is then browned and braised in tomato sauce. DALLISCIOUS! (Finally something on this trip worthy of the exclamation, although the octopus was worthy. I haven't had my dalliscious hat ready. No one here knows of it, or gets it.) To go with the braciole, we made bucotini (buco means hole in Italian) pasta. This is not the known version that is like long spaghetti with a hole through the center like a drinking straw. Instead the dough is rolled into a long rope and chopped like traditional gnocchi. Each piece is then wrapped around what looked like a piece of coat hanger or some type of thin skewer and rolled until smooth. When removed from the coat hanger the pasta has a hole through the center. It looked more like castellane. Some people in class had problems making these. I think they, two sisters from Manitoba, just had too much wine at lunch as they were also particularly giggly.
We didn't make dessert this class. Apparently there was an afternoon class that made gelato and that was dessert. I'm pleased that my last class here in Sorrento was a particularly tasty one!
Next stop was the fish market. This smelled like the ocean, not the stinky smell of fish markets in the States, even with the half sawed swordfish with a hacksaw laying next to it. Chef bought some sardines there.
Last stop was an Italian market. While most of the items there were familiar, I was interested in a particular pasta. Each box came with four pieces, shaped like large flowers. One was a gift pack in which each flower was presented in a clay bowl for baking. The pasta is cooked, similar to precooking lasagne noodles, and then stuffed to make up the flower pedals. This is then baked in the oven in individual clay dishes. If the boxes hadn't been so large and fragile I would have purchased one.
Unable to tour the limoncello factory, I decided to walk the shops in town. I was able to pick up a ravioli cutter, but no gnocchi board.
Upon return, we had our last class. We made stuffed zucchini blossoms- way better than any I've had in the States. The blossoms are larger than I've seen. We were told to remove the stamen, something very bitter that I've tasted in other versions of this dish. We also made braciole (pronounced brigole in old Sicilian), a rolled meat dish stuffed with cheese, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and raisins. This is then browned and braised in tomato sauce. DALLISCIOUS! (Finally something on this trip worthy of the exclamation, although the octopus was worthy. I haven't had my dalliscious hat ready. No one here knows of it, or gets it.) To go with the braciole, we made bucotini (buco means hole in Italian) pasta. This is not the known version that is like long spaghetti with a hole through the center like a drinking straw. Instead the dough is rolled into a long rope and chopped like traditional gnocchi. Each piece is then wrapped around what looked like a piece of coat hanger or some type of thin skewer and rolled until smooth. When removed from the coat hanger the pasta has a hole through the center. It looked more like castellane. Some people in class had problems making these. I think they, two sisters from Manitoba, just had too much wine at lunch as they were also particularly giggly.
We didn't make dessert this class. Apparently there was an afternoon class that made gelato and that was dessert. I'm pleased that my last class here in Sorrento was a particularly tasty one!
Monday, September 20, 2010
More Sorrento
On our next day of classes there were just the three of us. I noted there is much fried food here, but according to the locals "it's not fried in animal fat and no proteins are fried." I guess that makes it okay. We made eggplant parmesan, first frying the eggplant in sunflower oil. This is stacked in a layer, with parmesan and mozzarella, a few speckles of tomato sauce and the layers repeated three times. This is then baked in the oven. It was the highlight of the meal.
We also made two types of gnocchi, each with two parts riced potato and one part flour. First was a traditional means in small dough balls cut from a line of dough and served in a tomato sauce. The second was more interesting and I thought more tasty. The same dough was rolled out like a pie crust and cut into small circles with a biscuit/cookie cutter. These were filled with mozzarella, folded over and served in a pesto sauce.
We also made lamb chops. These were seasoned, coated in dijon mustard and then in bread crumbs, parmesan and parsley. Last they were "sprinkled" in olive oil and then baked. These were delicious, but had they been thicker the lamb flavor would have been more prominent. As an avid lamb lover, this would have been better. (However, who am I to criticize the Italian way??)
For dessert we made chocolate lava cakes. While these provide a spectacular presentation, every time I've eaten them the flavor is lacking. The same rang true here.
Tomorrow we go to market with the chef. I think this will be a fun trip!
My main problem here is I cannot eat this much food. Every meal I am not hungry, but have to taste and eat something. Skipping breakfast doesn't quite cut out enough food either. I'm tired of feeling stuffed.
We also made two types of gnocchi, each with two parts riced potato and one part flour. First was a traditional means in small dough balls cut from a line of dough and served in a tomato sauce. The second was more interesting and I thought more tasty. The same dough was rolled out like a pie crust and cut into small circles with a biscuit/cookie cutter. These were filled with mozzarella, folded over and served in a pesto sauce.
We also made lamb chops. These were seasoned, coated in dijon mustard and then in bread crumbs, parmesan and parsley. Last they were "sprinkled" in olive oil and then baked. These were delicious, but had they been thicker the lamb flavor would have been more prominent. As an avid lamb lover, this would have been better. (However, who am I to criticize the Italian way??)
For dessert we made chocolate lava cakes. While these provide a spectacular presentation, every time I've eaten them the flavor is lacking. The same rang true here.
Tomorrow we go to market with the chef. I think this will be a fun trip!
My main problem here is I cannot eat this much food. Every meal I am not hungry, but have to taste and eat something. Skipping breakfast doesn't quite cut out enough food either. I'm tired of feeling stuffed.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sorrento- Stop 1
Here's the first of several updates on my culinary trip to Italy. This is a school function, but I'd hardly call it that now. What was advertised as ten to fifteen students was booked with four students, a teacher and a tour guide. It's now three students and a tour guide. This is actually quite nice in that there are less people providing input (and complaints) and I don't find myself waiting around on people. It's also nice that everyone on the trip is above the age of 40 and no one is itching to get to the closest bar and check out the local dating scene. (I know, if you're single and/or young you are reading this thinking... BORING!)
After an average flight over, we arrived in Italy. In route to Sorrento, the group stopped at Pompeii. I'm not one typically into ruins and ancient artifacts. I find they all look the same. This was mildly interesting however. The entire city is from so long ago yet despite volcanoes and earthquakes remains largely intact and extremely modern for its time. I've seen current day disasters with modern engineering that didn't fare as well and modern communities not nearly as advanced as this one apparently was. (There was even an engraved sketch of a penis in the sidewalk pointing the direction to the town's bordello, which upon arrival still has drawings of the positions available for request. Customers could point and order.)
In Sorrento, where I've been for a few days, I'm taking some cooking classes. These are taught in English and cater more technically to the home cook. We had a woman from Vancover in our class yesterday, plus my group's three students. Of course we were required to bring and dress in our uniforms even though this is not a requirement of the kitchen here. I'm sure pictures taken during class will reveal certain gaps in my uniform that would forbid my entry in class back in Atlanta. I suppose, that's the result of an absent teacher. From my perspective, Italy in general is much more laid back than the States and I'm only blending into the culture by relaxing other aspects of my daily routine.
I find wearing the uniform in general labels me as overly enthusiastic and as having a superior attitude, particularly when we are wearing chef hats and no one else in the kitchen has anything on their hair. Wouldn't a self-selected cap work in this situation just as well? (I should note that there was a hair pulled from the ravioli we made that day. The chef stated it wasn't his because he has no hair. I blame it on the Vancover woman since she had no hat and the rest of us did.)
There are several culinary students here longer term and I've seen no uniforms to date, other than an extremely worn jacket the actual chef wears. A girl from Kentucky was the sous chef in our class. She literally had on four pieces of clothes as follows: a tank top, no undergarment-- leggings, no undergarment-- shoes and an apron. To the men in my life back at home, you would have really liked this girl! When she bent over to pick up things my classmate and I wondered if that's why she was selected by the chef for longer term placement. I certainly won't be selected for such a position in my chef's jacket! What a disadvantage! (I'm not sure that outfit on me would help me out however. That might be a greater disadvantage than the chef's jacket.)
In class we chopped veggies for an antipasta plate. This included julienned red peppers cooked with capers (rinsed), olives and bread crumbs. I think the dish would have been better without the crumbs, but some others seemed to like them. There was also a zucchini dish, disks fried in sunflower oil, salted and dusted with white wine vinegar and chopped mint leaves. I liked this combo, but think less vinegar would have been better. This was one of Miss Kentucky's favorites dishes. There were carrots cooked the same as the zucchini. There was blanched cauliflower which was then sauteed in garlic butter. This surprisingly was one of my favorites.
We also made ravioli. This was interesting because it was made from only flour and water, no egg. The filling was ricotta, parmesan, smoked and nonsmoked mozzarella, plus oregano. It was tasty, but not as tasty as my lunch ravioli with ricotta and lemon.
Last there was a grilled swordfish. We made the topping, a tomato salsa, but class was over for grilling. Good thing because I couldn't be blamed for the overcooked dry fish.
After an average flight over, we arrived in Italy. In route to Sorrento, the group stopped at Pompeii. I'm not one typically into ruins and ancient artifacts. I find they all look the same. This was mildly interesting however. The entire city is from so long ago yet despite volcanoes and earthquakes remains largely intact and extremely modern for its time. I've seen current day disasters with modern engineering that didn't fare as well and modern communities not nearly as advanced as this one apparently was. (There was even an engraved sketch of a penis in the sidewalk pointing the direction to the town's bordello, which upon arrival still has drawings of the positions available for request. Customers could point and order.)
In Sorrento, where I've been for a few days, I'm taking some cooking classes. These are taught in English and cater more technically to the home cook. We had a woman from Vancover in our class yesterday, plus my group's three students. Of course we were required to bring and dress in our uniforms even though this is not a requirement of the kitchen here. I'm sure pictures taken during class will reveal certain gaps in my uniform that would forbid my entry in class back in Atlanta. I suppose, that's the result of an absent teacher. From my perspective, Italy in general is much more laid back than the States and I'm only blending into the culture by relaxing other aspects of my daily routine.
I find wearing the uniform in general labels me as overly enthusiastic and as having a superior attitude, particularly when we are wearing chef hats and no one else in the kitchen has anything on their hair. Wouldn't a self-selected cap work in this situation just as well? (I should note that there was a hair pulled from the ravioli we made that day. The chef stated it wasn't his because he has no hair. I blame it on the Vancover woman since she had no hat and the rest of us did.)
There are several culinary students here longer term and I've seen no uniforms to date, other than an extremely worn jacket the actual chef wears. A girl from Kentucky was the sous chef in our class. She literally had on four pieces of clothes as follows: a tank top, no undergarment-- leggings, no undergarment-- shoes and an apron. To the men in my life back at home, you would have really liked this girl! When she bent over to pick up things my classmate and I wondered if that's why she was selected by the chef for longer term placement. I certainly won't be selected for such a position in my chef's jacket! What a disadvantage! (I'm not sure that outfit on me would help me out however. That might be a greater disadvantage than the chef's jacket.)
In class we chopped veggies for an antipasta plate. This included julienned red peppers cooked with capers (rinsed), olives and bread crumbs. I think the dish would have been better without the crumbs, but some others seemed to like them. There was also a zucchini dish, disks fried in sunflower oil, salted and dusted with white wine vinegar and chopped mint leaves. I liked this combo, but think less vinegar would have been better. This was one of Miss Kentucky's favorites dishes. There were carrots cooked the same as the zucchini. There was blanched cauliflower which was then sauteed in garlic butter. This surprisingly was one of my favorites.
We also made ravioli. This was interesting because it was made from only flour and water, no egg. The filling was ricotta, parmesan, smoked and nonsmoked mozzarella, plus oregano. It was tasty, but not as tasty as my lunch ravioli with ricotta and lemon.
Last there was a grilled swordfish. We made the topping, a tomato salsa, but class was over for grilling. Good thing because I couldn't be blamed for the overcooked dry fish.
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