International Acadamy of Italian Cooking

Last Friday I went to cooking school. Arlene from New York arranged it and her friend David's future daughter-in-law, Brook, joined us. The school is right outside Lucca in an old villa and I was surprised to find that the kitchen was rather poky. It was also rather small once 15 people were crammed into it.

It turned out that the three of us were being slotted into one day of a four week course. Some of the students were local Italians training for restaurant careers. There were also five or six Japanese women who were taking the course and also studying Italian in the afternoons. They had an interpreter, who also spoke excellent English, but some of them and some of the Italians also spoke English. So,, with Arlene and my Italian, we were all able to communicate rather well.


In the above photo our instructor, Mariella, is giving instructions before we began to cook. Before this we all sat down and went over the menu and recipes for the day. The basic class structure is that the menus are prepared in common and then everyone sits down and enjoys the food for lunch. The day's selection included tortino di verdure (vegetable tart), tagliatelle paglia e fieno con ragu (tagliatelle with meat sauce), pappa con pomodoro classica (tomato bread soup), stufato di manzo con cardi (beef stew with cardi) and zuppa inglese ("English soup"--similar to trifle). Mariella would make her remarks in Italian and then I and the Japanese translator would relay the information to our groups.


After everyone moved into the kitchen it did not take long for the cooking to start. All the incredients were prepped except for being cut up. We divided into different groups, each one taking one item from the menu.



Everyone was required to have an apron and hair covering. Except for we Americans everyone had brought there own kit. As you can see above, some of the Italians were really into "the look."




Arlene, Brook and I and one of the Japanese women, Mika, were assigned the vegetable tart. We started by making the dought and slicing the vegetables. I started in on the leeks but as I was doing it wrong (!) Mariella showed me how to do it properly. We also had zucchini, zucchini flowers and porcini mushrooms for the tart. Each of the vegetables had to be sauteed separately. Here is Arlene working on the leeks.



In the tray in the foreground you can see the sauteed leeks and zucchini. The porcini are in the pan. I am not sure what Brook is talking about but it seems to amuse Mika.



Here Mariella is placing the bottom crust for the tart in the pan.



Here is the tart before the top layer of pastry is set in place. Each kind of vegetable was layered in the pan with the zucchini flowers on top. Mariella also tossed in a little parmesan cheese but that was optional.



Here is the finished tart before it was cut up. It smelled delicious!!



The finished tart plated artistically.



Throughout the morning everyone pitched in to help each other or stopped and watched as others made their dishes. Here two of the Italian women are making the pasta--half plain tagliatelle and half with spinach. They are mixing it the traditional Italian way without using a bowl.



Kneeding the pasta dough. They were doing this on a large piece of granite that could be moved around the kitchen depending on where it was needed or where it could be set out of the way.



Here is the spinach tagliatelle all cut up and resting before being boiled. The school has an extra large pasta rolling machine and then a small machine to cut it appropriately.



Here Mariella is starting the Zuppa Inglese. It is sponge cake soaked with liqueur topped with pastry cream and meringues. Several layers of each are put in the bowl and then it is refrigerated. This recipe used both plain and chocolate cream.



Here Mariella is placing the meringues on top of the chocolate cream.



One layer of everything. Three more were placed in the bowl before it was finished.



The meringues were made "in the French manner." Rather than baking them (the only way I have ever made them) they were cooked in a saucepan in a combination of milk and water. It was fascinating to watch. I even tried my hand at piping some of the meringue into the saucepan.



Here is the pot of pappa al pomodoro. We did not eat it for lunch but everyone got to taste it.



Here is a bowl of the soup drizzled with olive oil and decorated with a few sage leaves.



This lovely display of breads was on a sideboard in the dining room. Unfortunately we did not eat it. However, everything we did eat was DELICIOUS. The menu for the Monday class was going to be a variety of different types of game--wild boar, rabbit and pheasant. I REALLY wanted to go back and do that. Now my dream is to do an entire month of classes or at least a week or at least another one day session.

The school accepts students just for a day and the cost was E50 per person including a fabulous lunch. If you are in the Lucca area and have time, it is well worth arranging a visit.

A Day in Florence Shopping

A week ago yesterday Arlene from New York/Vermont and I left the guys at home and went into Florence to do a little shopping. The weather did not look terrific when we left but we were lucky. It stayed fairly warm, dry and partly sunny while we were there.


We parked to the east of the Centro Storico (historic center) and walked to the Sant'Ambrosio market. I remembered it differently and am still not sure I was in the right spot. However, Arlene found a lovely reversable fur and leather coat for E65! It was used but in perfect condition and just her size. The stall had lots of other coats but I did not see anything to suit me. I am still not sure fur is quite my thing but I really covet something soft and warm. I did find some unusual purses and delicious truffle salami.


After exploring the market we began meandering through the town heading for Piazza della Signoria. Our route took us by the church of Santa Croce, one of the most interesting in Florence. One of the nicest things about wandering Florence in November is the marked lack of tourists. This was the least populated I have ever seen Piazza Santa Croce.



This building in the piazza is one of my favorites. It is very distinctive with its frescoed facade. Years ago I read a book by a university professor who spent a year long sabbatical living in one of the apartments atop the building. If you enlarge the photo you can probably tell that the frescoes are damaged up as high as the second tier of arched windows. This is how deep the water was during the great flood of 1966!

We eventually made our way over to the San Lorenzo market and had lunch at Trattoria Za Za behind the grand Mercato Centrale. Afterwards, Arlene wanted to go to the Santa Maria Novella farmacia.



The church of Santa Maria Novella is another beautiful church. It has the common multi-colored marble facade of many churches in Tuscany.



The piazza in front of Santa Maria Novella has all been redone. It is now a grand pedestrian area with grass and benches. A number of people (mostly locals) were enjoying the late fall sunshine.

Around the corner from Piazza Santa Maria Novella is the entrance to the farmacia. In spite of its name, meaning pharmacy, it sells a variety of soaps, lotions, colognes, potpourris and similar products. They are all natural products and use recipes that were originally developed by the monks at Santa Maria Novella.

The products were interesting but I was particularly taken with the building and furnishings. This carved wooden bench is in a little antechamber as one approaches the main part of the store.

The store encompasses a number of grand chambers filled with interesting paintings and displays.

Even the ceilings were highly decorated.

Here is one of the display cases with a number of maiolica jars, some of which are available for purchase.

A closer look at what is inside the case.

There is a museum associated with the store. It shows many of the historic vessels and machines used in the preparation of the products. These maiolica jars held different ingredients.

This room holds different machines formerly used--presses, grinders and mixers.

There is a small reference library that has glorious frescoes on the walls. These are some of the most beautiful I have seen with bold colors and excellent composition.

This is a closer view of the previous photo. The panels are various vignettes from the life of Christ.

This panel is a lovely version of the Last Supper.

From the farmacia Arlene and I made our way back to the car. We managed to make our way down several streets that seemed new to me. They were definitely less touristy that most of the Centro which is always nice. As always, it was fun to have a "girls' day out." It was great that Arlene and I could both introduce to each other new places. I look forward to future shopping expeditions with Arlene.

The Errant Blogger - Mi Dispiace!

My apologies for not being a better blogger this fall. However, I have just posted three entries. Life in Italy has been very good of late. We just had about ten days of beautiful weather. The olives got picked and we managed to prune some of the trees and vines. Lunch was eaten on the patio most of the last week. The nights have been quite cold so the fireplace is in use every evening we are home. The cats are still showing up regularly although the kittens are rarely in evidence. No doubt mom has finally said, "Enough! This is MY territory."


Here is a shot of two of the kittens asleep in the grass one morning.



Every nice morning the mamma gatto basks in the sunshine, usually near the old olive tree closest to the house.


Yesterday and today the weather has been miserable. Today Dom and I went to Montecatine Terme to see an exhibit of paintings from the Tuscan Naturalists school. It was well worth the trip as there was not a single picture I would not have happily taken home. The pictures were mostly life like scenes of rural life in the 1800's. More information on the exhibit can be found at www.macchia-montecatini.com.

On our way home we decided to stop for a nice lunch. About the time we parked the skies opened up again. It seemed to be like that every time we went to get out of the car! Above you can see the rain pounding on the windshield.



Eventually we made a dash for the restaurant doors and discovered a lovely, warm, dry dining room. The food was fabulous and Ristorante Anfiteatro deserves a second visit.

Tutti Santi - All Saints Day

Last Sunday, November 1, was All Saints Day. It is a national holiday in Italy so there was a lot going on.

We started the day by going to a marcia podistica (organized walk) at Colognora di Compito, a little southeast of Lucca. It was a walk we had not participated in before so we looked forward to seeing new countryside.


The day started out cold and misty. We had to scrape ice off our windshield before we could leave Partigliano! That was a little tricky as we have no ice scraper. However, I managed to scrounge an old plastic discount card out of my wallet that worked just fine.



The walk started off through the fields. I have to admit I really didn't feel all that great to start with. The evening before we had dinner with friends and probably had too much wine and limoncello. The footing was uneven, a little muddy and there were a lot of people. We planned to do the 7 km. route but I thought seriously about bailing at the turn for the 3 km. route.



The path meandered through the frosty fields, past some lovely houses.



Then our way went up a hill past a lovely villa at the top.



A good deal of the 7 km route was through a park that crowned an even bigger nearby hill. We kept trudging along through lovely woods. The falling leaves, mostly copper and yellow, make it feel very autumnal. There are few maples in this area but the ones that are around now look like bright flames.



When we got to the ristoro (refreshment stop) they even had treats for the many dogs that are always part of a marcia.



The ristoro was nearly at the top of Monte Tristo so after that (with a little hot sweet tea and buccelato--raisin anise bread--to help us long) the route was all down hill.



Just before we got to the bottom of the hill the trees opened up and there was this lovely vista across the plain to the hills north of Lucca. This farmhouse really caught our attention. It looks like the perfect restoration project. If our current house would sell we might even consider taking it on.



The marcia began and ended at the San Ginese milk processing plant. So, of course there was a man dressed up as a cow when we reached the end.

After we got home at about 10:30 am I hurriedly showered and changed and went to mass. Afterwards there was a procession to the cimiterio (cemetary) where the priest blessed the graves.

When we entered the cemetary most of the people went to stand near their loved ones graves. In the days leading up to All Saints Day most of the local people go and clean up the graves and leave fresh flowers. This year I learned that chrysanthemums are the traditional flower to take and most Italians would not consider using them anywhere else. Thus, when we passed a garden today that was full of planted mums I had to wonder if the owners were Italian.

After the priest left many of the local people stayed behind for a brief visit. Almost all the graves had flowers on them. Even if none of the family was present for the procession, someone had been by recently to decorate leave some.

The misty morning had cleared off and it was a lovely day. In the afternoon we ate lunch and then watched the last Formula 1 race of the season. Afterwards, we went to an auction preview at a villa outside Lucca. There were many lovely items to be sold off next weekend but nothing we cannot live without.

On our way back from the auction preview we stopped and visited with Arlene and Dave from Vermont. We met them a couple of years ago when they stayed nearby. They are back for another visit and it is wonderful reconnecting.