{"id":6345,"date":"2019-02-11T09:40:07","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T16:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?p=6345"},"modified":"2019-02-16T00:03:14","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T07:03:14","slug":"calabria-dispatch-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/11\/calabria-dispatch-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Calabria Dispatch #9: The Barber Makes House Calls"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 11, 2019<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou look like a priest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
My chef’s coat vaguely looks like it has a Roman collar.<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I heard those exact words three times during my first week at the Italian Culinary Institute.\u00a0 The first time was from Chef John.\u00a0 The second time was from Chef Juan.\u00a0 The third time was from another student.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 That means my undershirt shows through the notch in the collar of my chef\u2019s coat.\u00a0 The dark gray coat, coupled with a white undershirt, looks very much like the Roman collar worn by priests\u2026that and the fact that I\u2019m in a Catholic country.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A torta di frutta made by Chef Juan for one of our lunches<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being the psychiatrist in the room, especially a psychiatrist who reminds people of priests, has its moments.\u00a0 Mostly, I focus on cooking and don\u2019t deal with the reality of my prior career.\u00a0 It\u2019s 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.\u00a0 The content of what I did before is really not relevant.\u00a0 In this context I am a student and my goal is to soak in as much information as I can.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lasagna with shrimp served by my group for lunch for the whole school<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The major task of this past week was to develop and execute a menu as part of a team.\u00a0 Our class of 13 was divided into two groups.\u00a0 My group of seven was assigned lunch and the group of six was assigned dinner.\u00a0 Since the lunch group had slightly less time than the dinner group (at least theoretically) the extra person in our group made sense.<\/p>\n

Menu planning started on Saturday, February 2, 2019.\u00a0 After being randomly assigned to groups by pulling numbers out of a metaphoric hat, we went off to develop a menu concept.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Semifreddo sandwiched between two thin layers of sponge cake glazed in chocolate and sprinkled with hazelnuts and white chocolate<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The parameters were basic.\u00a0 The menu had to include a trio of antipasti, an Antipasto Tris.\u00a0 This was to be followed by a first course, or Primo Piatto, in Italian.\u00a0 In an Italian meal a primo is either pasta, risotto or a soup.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 After our second Primo we were to make a Secondo Tris.\u00a0 A Secondo in an Italian meal is the \u201cprotein,\u201d either meat, fish or poultry.\u00a0 To complicate it, once again, it was to be a Secondo Tris with three different dishes on the plate, accompanied by a Contorno.\u00a0 A Contorno is a \u201cside dish.\u201d\u00a0 The meal was to end with a Dessert Tris\u2026you got it, three different desserts on the same plate.\u00a0 We had to present four different breads, one with the Antipasto, one with the Secondo, and two on the table.\u00a0 Luckily the wine pairings were handled (this time) by the chefs at the Institute.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Our antipasto of zucchini flowers done three ways<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our team was instructed to cook Northern Italian food.\u00a0 The other team got Southern Italian.\u00a0 We spent Saturday afternoon working out a proposed menu.\u00a0 Our initial menu was this:<\/p>\n

Antipasto Tris<\/strong>
\nBruschetta con Zucchine Sott\u2019Aceto
\nFiori di Zucca Fritti
\nRotolino di Zucchine con Ricotta<\/p>\n

Primo Piatto #1<\/strong>
\nRisotto alla Parmigiana con Frico e Aceto Balsamico<\/p>\n

Primo Piatto #2<\/strong>
\nFarfalle ai Funghi e Gnepita<\/p>\n

Secondo Piatto Tris e Contorno<\/strong>
\nTartare di Manzo
\nBistecca alla Griglia
\nManzo in Umido con Olive Nere
\nCannellini alla Toscana
\nPaninetti con Rosmarino<\/p>\n

Dolce Tris<\/strong>
\nPera Affogata nel Vino Rosso con Crumble di Castagne
\nTorta di Mele e Castagne
\nPannacotta di Castagne<\/p>\n

Sul Tavolo<\/strong>
\nGrissini
\nCiabatta<\/p>\n

Sunday was a free day.\u00a0 I had work to do so I stayed at the school but everybody else went on day trips.\u00a0 I had the washing machine to myself!!\u00a0 We all share a washing machine so this was a big advantage.\u00a0 The other interesting twist was that Chef John insisted that they would make lunch for me even though I repeatedly said I\u2019d be happy to cook for myself.\u00a0 I am in a large suite with a kitchen.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Truffle pappardelle with rabbit ragu and shaved truffles<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cooking for myself was a non-starter with Chef John so I enjoyed a relaxing day of work and laundry punctuated by lunch.\u00a0 I was told we would all have lunch in the kitchen.\u00a0 The crew, including Chef John, Chef Juan, Chef Chris, Ryan and Erlyn (the kitchen assistants), Mariana (Chef Juan\u2019s wife and the overall coordinator of the program), and at least one of the dishwashers, if not others, works every day.\u00a0 That means they cook every day.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem strange that I would join them in the Kitchen for a meal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pasta alla Norma<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 1 PM, I walked from my suite to the school.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I was not eating in the kitchen.\u00a0 The chefs had prepared a meal for me and I was dining with Mariana.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A computerized control console used by Guglielmo Coffee in the 1960s<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As each course came out, Chef John appeared to describe it.\u00a0 The first course was Fusilloni (large fusilli) with a sauce of \u2018nduja and tomato.\u00a0 The \u2018nduja was made that morning, specifically for lunch.\u00a0 Chef said he knew I like \u2018nduja.<\/p>\n

The next course was a bright salad with orange.<\/p>\n

Following that was braised pickled pork made in the style of corned beef.\u00a0 This was something that had been started during the just-ended \u201cPig Week.\u201d Small bread rolls rounded out the meal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The factory floor at Guglielmo, the fourth largest coffee roaster in Italy<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rest of Sunday passed in bliss.\u00a0 Monday morning was my scheduled appointment at the Questura to register my residence in Italy.\u00a0 It was also the morning when my team was scheduled to present our proposed menu to Chef.\u00a0 The appointment went well.\u00a0 The fingerprinting part was actually fun.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 One of the guys had gotten married at the hotel on the property shared with the school.\u00a0 That became the focus of conversation.<\/p>\n

\"\"
We had a hail storm on Monday. Not far away, the hail was larger than golf balls. It created some major damage at Guglielmo Coffee<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got back to the school half-an-hour into the scheduled meeting with Chef to discuss our proposed menu.\u00a0 Much of the menu had gotten nixed by Chef, though a few dishes remained.\u00a0 The rest of the day was spent in meetings with Chef, interspersed with team meetings where we tried to integrate Chef\u2019s recommendations to refine our menu.<\/p>\n

The menu we ended up with was:<\/p>\n

Antipasto Tris<\/strong>
\nFiore di Zucca Crudo con Insalata di Zucchine
\nFiore di Zucca Fritti con Caviale
\nFiore di Zucca al Forno con Ricotta, Bottarga e Zafferano
\nPaninetti con Olive<\/p>\n

Primo Piatto #1<\/strong>
\nRisotto ai Funghi Porcini con Aceto Balsamico<\/p>\n

Primo Piatto #2<\/strong>
\nPappardelle con Ragu del Coniglio<\/p>\n

Secondo Piatto Tris e Contorno Tris (Crudo, Cotto, Stracotto)<\/strong>
\nTartare di Manzo con Broccoli Crudo
\nBistecca alla Griglia
\nRotolo di Manzo con Prosciutto, Lardo di Colonnata, e Funghi Selvatici
\nBroccoli Saltati
\nBroccoli Brasati
\nPaninetti con Rosmarino<\/p>\n

Dolce Tris<\/strong>
\nPera Affogagta nel Vino Rosso con Panna e Nocciole
\nTiramisu alle Nocciole
\nGianduja Caldo<\/p>\n

Sul Tavolo<\/strong>
\nFocaccia al Parmigiano
\nCiabatta<\/p>\n

We started prepping for our meal on Tuesday morning.\u00a0 We also had to prepare lunch for everyone that day.\u00a0 The other group of students did the same on Tuesday afternoon and prepared dinner for everyone.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The menu for the luncheon prepared by the group I was part of<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Thursday was the big day.\u00a0 We had to prepare and serve our meal to ten people, the other six students and four faculty.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never really had the experience of just cooking.\u00a0 It\u2019s always been cooking and trying to spend time with guests.\u00a0 This was different.\u00a0 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\u2019t.\u00a0 Just being able to concentrate on preparing the food perfectly and on time was actually a Zen-like experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Me just about to roll up and cook thinly sliced beef layered with Lardo di Colonnata and Prosciutto<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That evening, after the other group finished dinner service, limoncello shots came out.\u00a0 Things went downhill from there.\u00a0 I went to bed at a respectable hour but apparently the evening involved beer pong, blackouts, conga dancing, and passing out.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Truffle pappardelle set out to dry<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.\u00a0 After weeks of attempts, the barber finally made it.\u00a0 Three of us got haircuts.\u00a0 Things are different in Italy.\u00a0 The little white paper \u201ccollar\u201d is made of a crepe-paper-like substance rather than the thin tissue paper used in the States.\u00a0 It also has an adhesive and therefore sticks to itself.\u00a0 The stretchy quality of the paper coupled with the adhesive means it produces a pretty good seal around one\u2019s neck.\u00a0 After the cape was put on, the crepe paper was turned over it creating a neat edge.<\/p>\n

My cut used a combination of an electric clipper on the sides and scissors on the top.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never had THAT done before.\u00a0 I think he did a great job and the whole thing, including the house call, cost just \u20ac15!<\/p>\n

\"\"
An American-style buffet for dinner the day after our big menu execution<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.\u00a0 Everyone went to bed early.\u00a0 The next phase of our education was scheduled to begin the following morning:\u00a0 Dead Vegetable Week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 11, 2019 \u201cYou look like a priest.\u201d I heard those exact words three times during my first week at the Italian Culinary Institute.\u00a0 The first time was from Chef John.\u00a0 The second time was from Chef Juan.\u00a0 The third time was from another student. Although the design of my chef’s coats is the standard … Continue reading Calabria Dispatch #9: The Barber Makes House Calls<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6349,"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-6345","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\/6345","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=6345"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6421,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345\/revisions\/6421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}