Lectures today covered Piedmont and Emilia Romagna. (Piedmont is where I will be going for a week of class in October.) Piedmont has a continental climate with cool, humid weather. Turin is the capital city of Piedmont. Two of the other important cities in Piedmont are Alba-which is the white truffle capital of the world and Asti, where they produce Asti Spumante (Janell's favorite!). There are two major rivers in Piedmont, the Po and the Tamara Rivers. Therefore, fish is a part of their diet. One of the major dishes in Piedmont is Bagna Cauda, a garlicky anchovy dip for vegetables. Piedmont is also on of the most important rice growing regions of Italy. The quality of this rice was already appreciated in the 18th century when the American President Thomas Jefferson smuggled two bags out of Piedmont so he could plant it in his estate in Virginia. Most of the rice grown here is Arborio rice, which is used to make risotto. Meat and game are also important to this region as is cheese. Pasta is not so important in this region.
The biggest historical influence on Piedmont was the ancient ruling house of Savoy, who owned much of the land in the western portion of France as well as northern and southern Italy and whose seat of power started in France but thru marriage was moved to Turin in Piedmont. This accounts for the large French influence in this area. French cooking has improved the cuisine of this northern region of Italy. Here cooking is elegant and yet still tied to the land, thanks to the pride the locals have in their produce and products. As a result of the dichotomy, the local cooking is best described as cucina borghese (the cuisine of the bourgeoisie).
Emilia Romagna is in the middle of Italy and essentially separates northern and southern Italy. Lombardy lies to the north of Emilia Romagna with the Po River running between the two regions. The Adriatic Sea lies to the east, Liguria to the west and the Apennines Mountains to the south. The region embraces two different areas, Emilia, the western part and Romagna to the east. The cooking of these two subregions is different, yet many general characteristics are shared. It is always full-flavored cooking created by people, for people, who are deeply involved in what they eat. Emilia Romagna is essentially one big fertile plain and is considered Italy's "bread basket". This big fertile plain promotes agriculture, wheat being the main product, as well as pastures for cows and pigs. As you can imagine with all that wheat, pasta is a mainstay of this area. The local housewives are experts in making pasta. Shapes and stuffing's vary but the quality is always the best. The imaginative creativity in matching shapes with different sauces is unequaled. From the pork raised in this region comes prosciutto and many kinds of salami, coppa and pancetta. The city of Parma is here which produces outstanding Prosciutto di Parma and culatello. The city of Modena is famous for it's aceto balsamico (balsamic vinegar). Milk is a vital ingredient for the third most important product of this region-Parmesan cheese, grana padano and the more valuable Parmigiano-Reggeiano, a must for pasta sauces, baked pasta dishes and for some of the meat and vegetable dishes known as alla parmigiana. Romagna, thanks to its coastline, offers many fish dishes. From sole to eels there is a wide choice of fish and they are usually cooked more elaborately here than elsewhere. The most famous wine of Emila Romagna is Lambrusco although this is not a region famous for its wines.
The two major factors in the history of this region around the 6th century were the Romans, who brought irrigation, agricultural techniques and urban organization. The Romans also understood how to harvest salt from the sea water of the Adriatic. The Romans built the "Via Emilia", a 125 mile road, the first road to connect northern and southern Italy thereby promoting trade. Then came the Gauls, who warred with the Romans and split the area in two. One side was Emilia, the other Romagna. The Gauls brought pigs to this area.
Lunch today was very good. We had Bagna Cauda with Grissini (long breadsticks famous in Piedmont)and a variety of vegetables as well as Peperone Farcito (tuna stuffed roasted red peppers) made by the students in GardeMo. Hot Plate made Hazelnut Stuffed Quail with Barbera Fig Sauce and Polenta (sorry Jordan, no green vegetables on this plate!). We had an ice cream buffet for dessert (the ice cream from yesterday). There was Lavender-Cassis ice cream, Chocolate-Espresso ice cream, Chipotle Chocolate ice cream, Raspberry-Chocolate ice cream, Orange-Chocolate ice cream, Mango Coconut ice cream and Tropical Mango ice cream. Looking at this list, I'm thinking chocolate is a popular flavor in this class! There was also a raspberry coulis sauce as well as a chocolate sauce and Swiss meringue for anyone who wanted it. We also had the nougat and brownies left over from yesterday as a side. Yummy! We had a "chef for a day" potential student who asked if we ate like this every day. We said yes!
We have another test tomorrow (I got a 93 on last week's exam) so I better get studying! Tomorrow is also cooking without a net. Hot Plate has to make Chicken Roulade stuffed with chicken mousseline, Sauce Veloute as well as a squash/parsnip puree we had back in week 10. Originally we were suppose to make Sauteed Chicken with Sauce Robert, but they felt this was too easy for us!?! We'll see how we do.
Carl hired a new chef to replace Eric, who is still in school at The Art Institute. His name is Carlos. He has two semesters left of school but was unable to get funding for this semester and so was looking for work. I will still be doing the baking, but he will do the majority of breakfast prep. Seems like a nice guy!
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