Today we went to Italy! When Chef Pete said-"We're going to Italy." I asked "When are we leaving?" He laughed and said, "In ten minutes." Unfortunately, it was all figurative, we spent the morning learning about the history and food of Italy. Whenever we have a "history lesson" which the Chefs call the "big picture", it makes me think of my friend Ric, who knows all kinds of history. I think he would shake his head at the "big picture" history in this school, lol.
Italy is bordered by France, Switzerland, Austria and Yugoslavia. The surrounding bodies of water (in Italy you are never more than 150 miles from a coastline) are the Ligurian Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Etruscans occupied what is now Italy around 800 BC. It is from them, that Tuscany gets it's name. The Etruscans settled in the northern part of Italy (north of Tuscany) and were involved in pasta making, pig farming, and brought millet mush (an early form of polenta) to Italy.
The Greeks showed up about 700 BC and settled along the coastal areas, mostly in the southern portion of Italy. The Greeks brought olives, grapes and honey with them.
Then the Romans invaded and as the Roman presence increased, the Etruscan presence declined. Rome was the first city to have over one million people, even back then. Rome was known for its food stalls offering everything from grain patties which contained raisins and spices to roasted meats. The first gourmand (foodie) during the Roman times was Apricius, who was noted as the first recipe writer. The Romans brought salt and spices (they used a lot of spices to cover up spoiled food). If you were to buy pepper way back then, it would have cost you the equivilant of $5000 a pound in today's money!!
In the 8th century the Saracens (Arabs) invaded southern Italy. They brought preservation of fruit as well as ice cream. They also developed a method for making alcohol (distilling fruit) after learning to distill flowers to make perfume.
In the 11th century, the Normans (Scandinavians) drove out the Saracens from southern Italy. The Normans brought citrus foods and salt cod (guess they brought that old salt cod everywhere they went, as we heard about salt cod in Spain!).
From 1200 to 1600 BC, Venice was known as THE place to party. The spice trade route went thru Venice so people were always coming and going. The main spices traded at that time were nutmeg, ginger, cloves and white pepper (the ingredients for Quartre E'pice!) During this time period, Catherine de Medici married the King of France, expanding the Italian food scene into France. (Although I am sure there were more important liaisons being made, lol).
During the 1500s, New World imports starting showing up. Despite popular belief, tomatoes are not indigenous to Italy. They were brought to Italy from Mexico. There were also potatoes, chocolate and vanilla, peppers and corn (which was later used to make polenta).
In 1861, the unification of Italy took place, bringing the provinces into one country.
The first thing to remember about Italian cuisine is that it does not exist! First because the term cuisine is French but more importantly, the Italians have no uniform way of cooking. French cooking is structured, refined, formalized and scientific with use of formula for cooking. Italian cooking is chaotic, fun, passionate, diverse and they tend to "cook from the heart".
What sets the cooking of Italy apart from from that of any other country is the variety of ingredients and spontaneity of the preparation. In places you can find the Mediterranean diet at its purest in olive oil with pasta or bread, fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit, fish and cheese, and wine from the nearest hillside.
Chef Pete divided Italy into Northern and Southern (everything north of Tuscany is northern Italy, everything south of Tuscany is southern Italy). In northern Italy there is a heavier French influence. It is a more industrial area, there are better pastures therefore more cattle which gives them more beef to eat, more cheese and more butter to use in cooking. Pasta from the north is made with flour and eggs.
Southern Italy has a poorer population. There are lots of fish, olive oil, and more vegetables. They raise pigs so there are more pork products. Pasta in southern Italy is made of durum wheat, olive oil and water-no egg pasta.
In GardeMo today we made "La Carabaccia", which is a fresh pea soup made with peas, of course, onions, white wine, brodo (a meat broth), Parmigiano Reggiano salt, pepper and cinnamon for flavoring. The flavor was out of this world! We finished it off with a crostini (little toast), more Parmigiano and a little olive oil drizzle. Yum! It was my job to cube 22 (!!) pounds of pork and veal so we can grind it tomorrow to use in Bolognese sauce on Wednesday. I have a blister on my index finger from all that cutting!
Hot Plate made Seafood Risotto with Frico (fried cheese). Chef Dale gave us a risotto demonstration. First you cut the shallots the same size as the arborio rice. Etuvee the shallots in fat until they are soft. Add the rice to the pan and toast the rice. Add white wine and let it be absorbed by the rice. Gradually add hot stock, stirring constantly (a slow river, always stirring in the same direction) until the rice is cooked. Adjust the seasoning and add cheese at the end. The seafood consisted of mussels, shrimp and calamari. Mmmmmmm. They fried cheese in a non-stick pan, then shaped it over a glass while it was still warm using this to put the risotto in to keep it separate from the seafood. Very good!
Dessert was "Sgroppino", or as Chef Lexie calls it, an adult "milkshake". You start by pureeing strawberries and pouring them into a champagne flute. Then you blend lemon sorbet and prosecco in a blender and pour that over the strawberry puree. Very refreshing, slightly tart, but wonderful on a hot summer's day!
We learned about a website today called www.foodtimeline.org. "Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip...and why? Food history presents a fascinating buffet of popular lore and contradictory facts. Some people will tell you it's impossible to express this topic in exact timeline format. They are correct. Most foods we eat are not invented; they evolve."
I managed to get myself to and from school unscathed on my scooter. I hope my scooter driving skills continue to improve as well as my confidence level! One of the women I used to work for gave me a little book of sayings as a going away present. One of the phrases says, "Be where you are. Otherwise you will miss your life." -Budda. It reminds me I need to forget about worrying about the past I can't do anything about and not worry about the future. This thought keeps me focused on the rare opportunity I have to change careers and learn something new!
Bon Appetit, my friends!
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