School

Sorry that the last post was put up so late--I've been having internet problems which got in the way. I hope that I've figured out a workaround, at least temporarily, and hopefully it will change into something more permanent.

On to the subject of the day, how is school? The terrific news is that its all in Italian, and as such I am picking up a whole slew of vocab, from things about pots, pans, spices, and utensils, to being able to answer questions like "what did you do yesterday afternoon?" I really hope my language progress continues at the same rate-- if it does, I'm going to be great in Italian by the end!

As for the cooking part, I am enjoying it. The way the class works is that every day we make our lunch, always based on a traditional Italian-style menu: an antipasti (app.), a primo (pasta, usually--today we made three different kinds of sauce), a secondo (usually some kind of meat or fish dish), a few contorini (side dishes), an insalata (salad), and a dolce or posto (dessert). We work all morning to create our feast, and then finish off the day with eating. We only make small servings of each dish, which means a few bites of each--just a perfect portion. Having these kinds of menus allows us to see a lot of different dishes every day, and is a great way to learn about the food. However since we make such small portions, not everyone participates in the making of every dish, so there is a bit of watching as well.

The people in the class are diverse and international. There is only one other native English speaker, and she speaks terrific Italian. The only person with weaker language skills is from Israel, and the only person with stronger cooking skills is a native Italian. Four of us have worked professionally before (I'm the only girl in that group), and there are four guys in the class, leaving five girls. I'm bonding best with the other American--she went to Penn and is interested in some of the same food philosophies I am-- and with Patrizia, a Costa Rican mother who decided to pack everything up and go to Italy for a new experience. I like talking with her, because she understands me even when I speak half in Spanish. How healthy that is for my Italian is a whole other story.....

As promised, I'm going to share some recipes. This first recipe is the dish I was responsible for in class today: Spaghetti all'Arancia (Spaghetti with oranges). I picked the recipe because it sounded so strange and excited me--I was hoping to learn about some new flavors, and this sounded like a step in the right direction.

Ingredients: spaghetti, 4 oranges, 4 anchovies, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs, olive oil, 4 tablespoons of white wine, parsley to garnish, salt to taste.

Apparently this is some kind of traditional Tuscan dish, and it sounded so interesting to me! The recipe followed a classic flavor profile combination: sweet and salty, one that works very well in many other dishes (think about pretzels dipped in chocolate, or a carrot soup). I also have to admit I was craving to do some good knifework...it pains me to be in a kitchen and just watch. I much prefer to cut things. The recipe called for the oranges to be cut into supremes, a technique which involves cutting the thin skin off of each slice so that you only have the inner pulp. When I started to attack the oranges today, someone whispered to a classmate that it was clear I had learned the technique elsewhere. I smiled to myself. I'll be the first to admit my pride :D

Put the pasta on to boil. Put a large amount of oil in a hot pan, along with some garlic that has just been lightly mashed with the side of a knife but still left mostly whole. Let the garlic sweat for a moment, then add the anchovies and stir it around until they disintegrate. Add the breadcrumbs and toast them, then add the wine and orange slices and let some of the liquid evaporate. Cook for a few minutes under a high flame, being careful not to let anything burn. Add the pasta and parsley, mix well, and enjoy. If done right, the texture of the sauce should be a little pasty and gummy, helping the pasta stick together well.

It was about as good as it sounded. I was mightily disappointed by this, as I had the hopes that I had found a new and wonderful flavor combination. there was just something about warm orange slices that didn't work. I want to say it was partially because of the flavor combination with the wine, and partially because of the fishiness. It was just too much in a plate, and while it wasn't disgusting, I didn't finish my portion.

Don't worry, I promise to put up a delicious recipe tomorrow to make up for this one. I just want to share recipes with stories, and this recipe definitely did! I'm so glad that school is going well and that I'm settling in to life here, and glad to be learning, even if it isn't always about learning how to cook good food.