February 11, 2019

“You look like a priest.”

I heard those exact words three times during my first week at the Italian Culinary Institute.  The first time was from Chef John.  The second time was from Chef Juan.  The third time was from another student.

Although the design of my chef’s coats is the standard shape, the collar of this particular coat has a slightly more relaxed and lower cut.  That means my undershirt shows through the notch in the collar of my chef’s coat.  The dark gray coat, coupled with a white undershirt, looks very much like the Roman collar worn by priests…that and the fact that I’m in a Catholic country.

Being the psychiatrist in the room, especially a psychiatrist who reminds people of priests, has its moments.  Mostly, I focus on cooking and don’t deal with the reality of my prior career.  It’s actually quite fascinating to be a student again, and turn my day-to-day experiences over to a crew of people who are consummate experts in their fields.  The content of what I did before is really not relevant.  In this context I am a student and my goal is to soak in as much information as I can.

The major task of this past week was to develop and execute a menu as part of a team.  Our class of 13 was divided into two groups.  My group of seven was assigned lunch and the group of six was assigned dinner.  Since the lunch group had slightly less time than the dinner group (at least theoretically) the extra person in our group made sense.

Menu planning started on Saturday, February 2, 2019.  After being randomly assigned to groups by pulling numbers out of a metaphoric hat, we went off to develop a menu concept.

The parameters were basic.  The menu had to include a trio of antipasti, an Antipasto Tris.  This was to be followed by a first course, or Primo Piatto, in Italian.  In an Italian meal a primo is either pasta, risotto or a soup.  The next course was another Primo, which is not part of the typical sequence of an Italian meal though could happen for a special occasion.  After our second Primo we were to make a Secondo Tris.  A Secondo in an Italian meal is the “protein,” either meat, fish or poultry.  To complicate it, once again, it was to be a Secondo Tris with three different dishes on the plate, accompanied by a Contorno.  A Contorno is a “side dish.”  The meal was to end with a Dessert Tris…you got it, three different desserts on the same plate.  We had to present four different breads, one with the Antipasto, one with the Secondo, and two on the table.  Luckily the wine pairings were handled (this time) by the chefs at the Institute.

Our team was instructed to cook Northern Italian food.  The other team got Southern Italian.  We spent Saturday afternoon working out a proposed menu.  Our initial menu was this:

Antipasto Tris
Bruschetta con Zucchine Sott’Aceto
Fiori di Zucca Fritti
Rotolino di Zucchine con Ricotta

Primo Piatto #1
Risotto alla Parmigiana con Frico e Aceto Balsamico

Primo Piatto #2
Farfalle ai Funghi e Gnepita

Secondo Piatto Tris e Contorno
Tartare di Manzo
Bistecca alla Griglia
Manzo in Umido con Olive Nere
Cannellini alla Toscana
Paninetti con Rosmarino

Dolce Tris
Pera Affogata nel Vino Rosso con Crumble di Castagne
Torta di Mele e Castagne
Pannacotta di Castagne

Sul Tavolo
Grissini
Ciabatta

Sunday was a free day.  I had work to do so I stayed at the school but everybody else went on day trips.  I had the washing machine to myself!!  We all share a washing machine so this was a big advantage.  The other interesting twist was that Chef John insisted that they would make lunch for me even though I repeatedly said I’d be happy to cook for myself.  I am in a large suite with a kitchen.

Cooking for myself was a non-starter with Chef John so I enjoyed a relaxing day of work and laundry punctuated by lunch.  I was told we would all have lunch in the kitchen.  The crew, including Chef John, Chef Juan, Chef Chris, Ryan and Erlyn (the kitchen assistants), Mariana (Chef Juan’s wife and the overall coordinator of the program), and at least one of the dishwashers, if not others, works every day.  That means they cook every day.  It didn’t seem strange that I would join them in the Kitchen for a meal.

At 1 PM, I walked from my suite to the school.   Upon entering the front room which is set up as a bar (both espresso and alcohol) with a counter and two bistro tables, I noticed that one of the bistro tables was set for two.  I was not eating in the kitchen.  The chefs had prepared a meal for me and I was dining with Mariana.

As each course came out, Chef John appeared to describe it.  The first course was Fusilloni (large fusilli) with a sauce of ‘nduja and tomato.  The ‘nduja was made that morning, specifically for lunch.  Chef said he knew I like ‘nduja.

The next course was a bright salad with orange.

Following that was braised pickled pork made in the style of corned beef.  This was something that had been started during the just-ended “Pig Week.” Small bread rolls rounded out the meal.

The rest of Sunday passed in bliss.  Monday morning was my scheduled appointment at the Questura to register my residence in Italy.  It was also the morning when my team was scheduled to present our proposed menu to Chef.  The appointment went well.  The fingerprinting part was actually fun.  The two guys doing the fingerprinting were surprised I was a student (I assume due to my age) but, once they heard what I was studying and where the school was located, the whole event became quite jocular.  One of the guys had gotten married at the hotel on the property shared with the school.  That became the focus of conversation.

I got back to the school half-an-hour into the scheduled meeting with Chef to discuss our proposed menu.  Much of the menu had gotten nixed by Chef, though a few dishes remained.  The rest of the day was spent in meetings with Chef, interspersed with team meetings where we tried to integrate Chef’s recommendations to refine our menu.

The menu we ended up with was:

Antipasto Tris
Fiore di Zucca Crudo con Insalata di Zucchine
Fiore di Zucca Fritti con Caviale
Fiore di Zucca al Forno con Ricotta, Bottarga e Zafferano
Paninetti con Olive

Primo Piatto #1
Risotto ai Funghi Porcini con Aceto Balsamico

Primo Piatto #2
Pappardelle con Ragu del Coniglio

Secondo Piatto Tris e Contorno Tris (Crudo, Cotto, Stracotto)
Tartare di Manzo con Broccoli Crudo
Bistecca alla Griglia
Rotolo di Manzo con Prosciutto, Lardo di Colonnata, e Funghi Selvatici
Broccoli Saltati
Broccoli Brasati
Paninetti con Rosmarino

Dolce Tris
Pera Affogagta nel Vino Rosso con Panna e Nocciole
Tiramisu alle Nocciole
Gianduja Caldo

Sul Tavolo
Focaccia al Parmigiano
Ciabatta

We started prepping for our meal on Tuesday morning.  We also had to prepare lunch for everyone that day.  The other group of students did the same on Tuesday afternoon and prepared dinner for everyone.

Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday.

Thursday was the big day.  We had to prepare and serve our meal to ten people, the other six students and four faculty.  I’ve never really had the experience of just cooking.  It’s always been cooking and trying to spend time with guests.  This was different.  As stressful as I thought it would be, since we had to get each course out on time and many of them had to be prepared at the last minute, it wasn’t.  Just being able to concentrate on preparing the food perfectly and on time was actually a Zen-like experience.

That evening, after the other group finished dinner service, limoncello shots came out.  Things went downhill from there.  I went to bed at a respectable hour but apparently the evening involved beer pong, blackouts, conga dancing, and passing out.  The whole party got shut down when Mariana discovered four people in the school dancing in the conga line who were not from the school.

Friday was very subdued and consisted of our usual market visit followed by a tour of the fourth largest coffee roaster in Italy (Guglielmo) then a free afternoon before dinner.  After weeks of attempts, the barber finally made it.  Three of us got haircuts.  Things are different in Italy.  The little white paper “collar” is made of a crepe-paper-like substance rather than the thin tissue paper used in the States.  It also has an adhesive and therefore sticks to itself.  The stretchy quality of the paper coupled with the adhesive means it produces a pretty good seal around one’s neck.  After the cape was put on, the crepe paper was turned over it creating a neat edge.

My cut used a combination of an electric clipper on the sides and scissors on the top.  A straight razor, with a disposable blade, was used to trim the periphery: sideburns, neck, temples as well as removing some little fuzzy hairs on my forehead.  I’ve never had THAT done before.  I think he did a great job and the whole thing, including the house call, cost just €15!

After the haircuts, a few of us worked with Chef Juan on dinner of grilled burgers (pork, not beef–this is Italy after all and Pig Week had just ended!) and various side dishes.  Everyone went to bed early.  The next phase of our education was scheduled to begin the following morning:  Dead Vegetable Week.