January 22, 2019

Friday was market day.  The mercatino (little market) in Soverato, about 15 minutes from the school, is truly compact but the quality and variety of the products on offer are amazing.  We bought lots of produce and fish for the school.  Many of us also bought things for ourselves.  Outings to the markedt are planned for almost every Friday.

I bought ricotta infornata, little cylinders of fresh sheep’s milk ricotta that had been baked.  The ricotta was made by the vendor using milk from her own sheep.  She also baked the cheese herself.

After the market we went to a restaurant/kitchen supply store.  A number of students needed chef coats so it was a logical stop.  I looked at the other items on offer and made mental notes about the prices of items that I need…ok “want” not “need!”  Some of the items are not available in the States, like a deep sauté pan with a wicked curve, perfect for finishing pasta in a sauce.  I see two of these in my future.  Other items can be had in the States on the web, like silicone molds and a chitarra for pasta, but being able to see and touch them makes a big difference.  I suspect I’ll be visiting this store most Fridays when we go to the market.

We got back about 1:30 and had lunch.  The first course was a trifecta of braised mackerel, crisped sous vide octopus with cannellini bean puree, and shrimp crudo (made with gamberi rossi) accompanied by a hazelnut puree.  This was followed by a Panzanella (bread and tomato salad) that was made the previous day.

After lunch we went to the Pastry Lab to roll out dough for Pizza Fritta.  Pizza Fritta is deep-fried pizza dough (very thin at the school though sometimes overly thick in restaurants) with an array of toppings that usually includes tomato sauce, fior di latte, and extra-virgin olive oil among others.

Chef made a Nutella knock-off that was way better than the real thing.  It was just a mixture of about 40% melted milk chocolate and 60% roasted pureed hazelnuts with a pinch of salt.  This was used to make a sweet Pizza Fritta along with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar.  Tasting everything is a necessity!

We had a few free hours before we had to show up in the room with the wood-burning pizza oven to try our hands at making pizza.  I opted for topping mine with ‘nduja, buffalo mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil and oregano in addition to a bit of tomato sauce and “pizza cheese.”  It was quite the hit, with Chef Juan and two of the other staff reaching for pieces as soon as I cut it.

After everyone had made at least one pizza each, I suggested that we have a pizza play-off pitting Chef Juan against Mariana (his wife) and Ryan against Erlyn.  Ryan and Erlyn are two of the kitchen assistants.  The winner of each round was to be pitted against the other.  Folks started to go to bed early and although we had the first two rounds, we never got to the finals.  This was probably a good thing given that the judging was quite variable.

During pizza making and eating, Ryan was our DJ, playing current international songs but then veering into Italian ones.  L’Italiano is one of my favorites but I couldn’t explain it enough for Ryan to recognize it.  I played it for him the next day.  It has since been added to his playlist which makes me quite happy.

Saturday morning was very busy with prep: chopping, slicing, dicing, gutting and cleaning.  I think I am now an expert at cleaning anchovies having done many dozen (twist off the head and pull carefully to remove the guts while still attached to the head; use a finger to open the fish along the belly; peel out the spine; separate the filets; remove the dorsal fin from one of the filets; remove any remaining pectoral and ventral fins; rinse in 3.5% salt water; line up in a tray; repeat.)

We also had to lollipop frogs’ legs which is kind of like making drumettes from chicken wings.  We also had to tunnel-bone quail which entails removing all bones except the furthest bones in the wings and legs without cutting the skin or making any incisions.  One goes through the neck and body cavity openings that are already present in the butchered quail.  The same technique can be applied to any bird.  I think it’s a great skill to have but I can’t imagine when I’ll tunnel-bone any fowl unless I decide to get into the Turducken business!

All this took 4 ½ hours in the kitchen before our first break.

In the afternoon we were shown the preparation of and tasted (*)

1. *Pasta alla Vongole made with Pasta alla Chitarra con Scorza di Arancia (Pasta with Clams made with Orange Zest Pasta cut on the Chitarra
2. Rana Pescatrice (monkfish cooked in fumetino—a fragrant stock) [we ate this a day later]
3. *Orecchiette con Rapa e Salsiccia (Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage)
4. Ossobuco (we ate this another day)
5. *Gnocchi Sardi con Salsa alla Erbe (Saffron gnocchi with a bacon, tomato and herb sauce)

Sometime during the afternoon Chef made pistachio gelato for everyone.  We have an entire week coming up where we learn to make gelato!!

For dinner five of us made sandwiches and salad for the group.  The sandwiches were focaccia with cooked ham, salami, buffalo mozzarella, tomato, basil, salt, and olive oil.  Dessert was puff pastry stuffed with pastry cream and topped with white chocolate ganache.

Sunday was another busy day.  We observed chef prepare three types of risotto, each of which we ate prior to 10:30 AM(!):

1. Risotto alla Milanese (saffron risotto)
2. Risotto alla Parmigiana con Porri e Aceto Balsamico (Parmesan cheese risotto with sautéed leeks and balsamic vinegar)
3. Risotto Nero al Mare (cuttlefish ink risotto with seafood)

Chef’s technique is a little different from mine and I will need to try it his way.  He does not stir when the wine is added, preferring to let it evaporate undisturbed.  He keeps more liquid in the rice during cooking than I do.  At the end, he adds cheese and butter, as I do, but his butter is frozen and he uses a classic French technique to “fluff up” the risotto.  I don’t fluff my risotto but I guess I’ll learn!

The Ossobuco from the previous day was finished and served with the Risotto alla Milanese, sprinkled with Gremolata (finely minced garlic, parsley, and lemon zest).

Chef started to marinate the dozens and dozens of anchovies that we had cleaned the previous day.  We also tested a portion of baccala (salted cod) that had been soaking for a few days to see if it was ready to cook but it was still too salty so it went back in the fridge under water.

Chef pan-roasted broccoli florets that had been briefly blanched.  They were later turned into a simple sauce for mafalde pasta that we had for lunch.

The afternoon saw the preparation of:

1. Italian meringue (which is different from both French meringue and Swiss meringue)
2. Caramel sauce
3. Pâte à Bombe (a beaten egg yolk and hot syrup base for many desserts)
4. Glassa Nera (glassy candy coating)
5. Tiramisu (both in a large dish and in a martini glass, which was very cool)

In the afternoon we got to be hands-on again, pulling mozzarella this time.  The mozzarella is aging under fresh water as I write this and will ultimately be put in salt water for a day or so before being used.

All day Monday was spent in the Pastry Lab watching Chef Juan demonstrate the preparation of a number of fundamental pastry-making components (like a fruit coulis and tempered chocolate) followed by the creation of Spumone (not like the American spumoni) and a different variation on Tiramisu.  On Monday evening we had our third pizza session since Friday!  This one involved the use of the electric pizza oven.

It pretty much followed the format of the wood-oven pizza session with each of us making one pizza and sharing, followed by a few additional ones.

I chose to make pizza with ‘nduja, a fried egg, fresh pepperoncino and pepperoncino oil in addition to a little tomato sauce and pizza cheese (as it is called here).  The pizza sat on the table too long as the oven needed to be cleaned so it stuck when getting it on the peel.  Rather than pitch it, Chef Chris made it into a large dumpling-shaped calzone.  It was a big hit.  One of my classmates named it Il Mostro, The Monster.  Chef Juan thought it was the perfect breakfast!

I made another one that did not stick to the peel and came out of the oven flat.  It was equally good but, interestingly, somewhat different in taste and texture having been baked flat as opposed to closed.

In my next post, I’ll describe what we did in the Pastry Lab before the Pizza session as well as talk about our trip to Sicily.

Ciao a tutti!