{"id":6097,"date":"2019-01-13T10:22:45","date_gmt":"2019-01-13T17:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?p=6097"},"modified":"2019-07-05T11:57:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-05T17:57:06","slug":"calabria-dispatch-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/13\/calabria-dispatch-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Calabria Dispatch #2: Making it to the First Day of Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 13, 2019<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s close to 11:30 PM on Saturday, January 12th as I’m starting to write this post.\u00a0 I finished my first Calabria Dispatch a few hours ago.\u00a0 At the time, I planned to start Dispatch #2 after dinner with the goal of finishing and posting it on the 13th.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s still the plan but this evening has put a sharp turn in my planned story line about massive food consumption.\u00a0 Stick with me and you\u2019ll see why.<\/p>\n

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Men fishing in Pietragrande a small town on the beach just below the school<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last time<\/a> I stopped my tale at 2:00 PM on Thursday, January 10th.\u00a0 We had just gotten back from lunch and started in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

From 2:00 to 5:00 one cured meat product after another was inaugurated in the kitchen.\u00a0 These included three types of pancetta, proscuittino, cotechino (which I prepared and wrote about in my first blog<\/a> of the new year), zampone, duck prosciutto, rabbit and duck liver pat\u00e9, cured rabbit leg, bratwurst and kielbasa (yes, I know this is a course on Italian cuisine), and on and on.<\/p>\n

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Stuffing a pig trotter to make Zampone<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each of the ground meat products was subjected to testing, meaning a portion was cooked, divided up and passed around the room for all to taste.\u00a0 We discussed what adjustments needed to be made to the seasonings.\u00a0 Often a second round of testing ensued before the mixture was declared perfect and put in casings.<\/p>\n

Cotechino was among the most challenging to test because it contains about 30% pork skin.\u00a0 Pork skin requires hours of cooking, even when ground finely, to be palatable.\u00a0 The texture of the quickly-cooked cotechino resembled ground up hockey pucks.\u00a0 We knew this would be the case.\u00a0 The point was to taste for the perfect balance of seasonings, not the texture of the finished product.<\/p>\n

Half the cotechino mixture was made into a fat sausage (cotechino) and half was stuffed into a pig\u2019s trotter to make zampone.\u00a0 Zampone means trotter.\u00a0 Zampa means paw.\u00a0 Zampa also happens to be my mother-in-law\u2019s maiden name.<\/p>\n

At 5:00 we took a break and were served platter upon platter of cured meat products, such as head cheese, that had been made in the previous few days along with enough wine to wash it all down.\u00a0 For good measure, bowls of pasta carbonara were brought out.\u00a0 Round about this time, those folks who had succumbed to Mariana\u2019s encouragement to have two panini at the Panino Lab at lunchtime were regretting their decisions.<\/p>\n

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Meats hung to cure in the Institute’s curing room<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We resumed around 5:30, marching down to the curing room where meats were hung to cure.\u00a0 It was absolutely fascinating to me to see Chef Juan light olive branches to lightly smoke all the meat products.\u00a0 He said that in Calabria it is traditional to smoke all aged cured meat products for an hour twice a day for four days.\u00a0 Never in my life had I heard this.\u00a0 It certainly does not appear in any of the tomes on salumi that I have read!\u00a0 This is a topic that I need to explore further in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

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Chef Juan lighting olive branches to lightly smoke the meats<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition, though not strange to me, is that the Institute only uses salt to cure its meat products.\u00a0 In the States we would call these \u201cuncured\u201d because we use the term \u201ccured\u201d to mean that preservatives such as sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite have been added as well, ignoring the fact that salt is, itself, a \u201ccure.\u201d\u00a0 Curing with salt alone is generally believed to be too risky for the home cook.\u00a0 Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite are much more effective antibacterial agents than salt alone.\u00a0 They also help meat to maintain a more attractive reddish color.<\/p>\n

We went back to the kitchen and continued with meat production until shortly after 9:00 PM, at which time we were told to prepare for dinner!\u00a0 Mind you, we had already had a stupid amount of food for the day.\u00a0 Dinner consisted of pounds and pounds of fresh sausages that had been prepared over the previous days, salad and bread all lubricated with the ever-present wine.\u00a0 We ended with gelato and cake.<\/p>\n

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Part of the never-ending meal at Al Fondaco<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The previous night, Chef Juan had announced at the end of dinner that if we had brought any \u201cgastric protectant\u201d with us (i.e. some sort of antacid or acid blocker) we should start taking it that night in preparation for \u201cmassive eating\u201d the next day.\u00a0 He did not exaggerate.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read many articles about chefs who travel to experience local cuisine to develop new ideas for their restaurants.\u00a0 The stories always involve eating the same stupid amount of food, if not more.\u00a0 There\u2019s really no way to taste food without swallowing it and one bite is often not enough to fully appreciate the taste and texture.\u00a0 In the cooking profession, eating is research, and the more research one does, the better.\u00a0 Periodic over-indulging goes with the territory.<\/p>\n

Friday the 11th was a relatively mellow day.\u00a0 The few remaining outgoing students and the few incoming students who had arrived were invited to lunch at La Tavernetta, the restaurant at Baia dell\u2019Est, the hotel at which we\u2019re staying.\u00a0 Lunch started with two gorgeous crustaceans, langoustine tails, I think, but also possibly a species that doesn\u2019t get exported.\u00a0 They were wrapped with cooked angel hair pasta and flash fried to crisp the pasta and cook the seafood.\u00a0 It was a brilliant preparation.\u00a0 There was also a portion of monkfish wrapped in seaweed and cooked.\u00a0 Next was seafood ravioli in a light tomato sauce.\u00a0 The meal ended with deconstructed cannoli and Amaro del Capo, one of scores (probably really hundreds) of amari made throughout Italy.<\/p>\n

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Seafood ravioli at La Tavernetta<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For dinner, the ever-growing group of incoming students went to the pizzeria from my first night (the one with the automatic defibrillator).\u00a0 I had Pizza Diavola.\u00a0 Sliced fresh hot peppers were strewn on the pizza before baking.\u00a0 I confirmed that the fat in cheese is a perfect vehicle for capsaicin.\u00a0 Every bite of pizza was searing in spiciness, even if that particular bite didn\u2019t contain an actual slice of hot pepper.<\/p>\n

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Deconstructed cannoli at La Tavernetta restaurant<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saturday the 12th was another easygoing day.\u00a0 Lunch again was at La Tavernetta.\u00a0 We started with an exquisite stew of miniscule octopus and tomato served with simple grilled bread.\u00a0 It reminded me of the way my family prepares baccala, only more refined in taste.\u00a0 The next course was a fish fillet rolled around and in seasoned breadcrumbs and saut\u00e9ed.\u00a0 It was served on a puddle of golden sauce made from pureed potatoes.<\/p>\n

We were hypothesizing about the source of the yellow; turmeric or saffron, perhaps.\u00a0 (When you\u2019re with a bunch of food-obsessed people, every dish gets dissected and analyzed.)\u00a0 We were assured by Orlando (our waiter\u2026and the morning barista) that the sauce contained neither and that the yellow color came from the potatoes and bread.\u00a0 To be truthful, the bread on the table had a golden hue but none of us could comprehend how the sauce could be so rich in color without some ingredient with a substantial depth of color.\u00a0 The mystery remains to be solved.<\/p>\n

Dessert was gelato or at least I think it was.\u00a0 My brain was starting to shut down at this point.\u00a0 We finished the meal with another local amaro, Amaro Silano.<\/p>\n

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One of many amari produced in Italy<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I went for a long walk after lunch.\u00a0 That, coupled with not having eaten the last two bites of my fish, made me feel virtuous and ready for the official welcome dinner at Al Fondaco.\u00a0 It is a rustic restaurant but one of the most perfectly maintained facilities I\u2019ve seen in Italy.\u00a0 The same attention to detail was lavished on the food which was beyond compare\u2026and all of it local.\u00a0 But if Thursday was a day of stupidly \u201cmassive eating,\u201d I have no words to describe this meal.<\/p>\n

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A truly superlative restaurant serving traditional Calabrese food<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We toasted with an Italian sparkling wine then each of us got a plate of cured meats, cheeses and pickled eggplant, all made in house, accompanied by an onion jam and fruit conserve.\u00a0 Jugs of local red wine were put out and then the tables were littered with antipasti; so many that I can\u2019t remember them all.\u00a0 They included stuffed eggplant, stuffed zucchini, suppli, savory fried dough, meatballs with large amounts of pecorino cheese in them, stuffed tomatoes, braised individual artichoke leaves with a meat topping and cheese gratin, meat croquettes and pork saltimbocca to, quite literally, name just a few.\u00a0 There was still silverware left on the table so we knew more was coming.<\/p>\n

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The beginning of the antipasto course at Al Fondaco. Platters and platters of antipasti were put on the table till there was no place left to put anything<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two pasta courses followed.\u00a0 One that I would call strozzapreti but that\u2019s not the Calabrese name, served in a veal ragu.\u00a0 The other was zucchini and pecorino ravioli in a light tomato sauce.\u00a0 Next came porchetta with a salad to lighten things up!\u00a0 Dessert consisted of a fresh cheese with a sweet syrup, tiramisu, sliced fresh fruit, walnuts, local mandarin oranges and, interestingly enough, lupini.\u00a0 I\u2019ve only ever had lupini served as an antipasto or as part of a casual lunch.\u00a0 These were not as salty as I am accustomed to and went quite well with the remainder of the dessert course.\u00a0 We ended with limoncello, Amaro del Capo and espresso.<\/p>\n

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Strozzapreti with Veal Ragu<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were all subdued on the drive back to the hotel.\u00a0 Nearly comatose is probably a better description. \u00a0Luckily, I continued to take my Pepcid after Chef Juan\u2019s injunction a few nights earlier.<\/p>\n

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Zucchini and Cheese Ravioli in Tomato Sauce<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wish I could say that I would be able to forego food for a few days but I know that won\u2019t be possible.\u00a0 We report to the kitchen at 9:00 on Sunday in chef\u2019s attire.<\/p>\n

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Porchetta and a “light” Salad<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so it begins\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 13, 2019 It\u2019s close to 11:30 PM on Saturday, January 12th as I’m starting to write this post.\u00a0 I finished my first Calabria Dispatch a few hours ago.\u00a0 At the time, I planned to start Dispatch #2 after dinner with the goal of finishing and posting it on the 13th. That\u2019s still the plan … Continue reading Calabria Dispatch #2: Making it to the First Day of Class<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":["default"],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-and-places"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6097"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6947,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097\/revisions\/6947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}