Boo! Did I
scare you? Give you a fright? I bet I did seeing as it’s been radio silence on
the blogyssey front recently. For this I do apologise! But naturally I would
be busy one week and a storm would blow out the Wifi the following one. But to make it up to you all I will not only
share with you my amazing full day Toscana cuisine cooking course experience,
but also one of the delicious recipes.
A little
over a month ago I had my 19th birthday. It was my first away from
home and the family so I was not what it would be like and I have to say I was
a little… apprehensive. But my amazing
Italian family made it an incredible day, filled with goodies and surprises,
the first of which was a voucher to attend the above mentioned full day cooking
course. From the moment I managed to semi-translate what exactly the voucher
said I could hardly wait to go, and finally the day came. I have to admit, when
I first walked into that large room with its two, bog, food covered tables, the
two chefs in their pristine white uniforms and the few other course
participants (all at least 10 years my senior) I was feeling slightly daunted.
I still struggle to understand the language unless spoken to me as if I was old
and deaf and was unsure how I would fit in. Turns out these were all silly and
totally unnecessary concerns as by the end of the day I had almost everyone
speaking together in English, applause and perhaps admiration for bravely
tasting EVERY dish created (including Lampredotto – which is the LAST stomach
of a cow and uncut looks like a deflated brain) and even a sneaky little
selfie. But I am getting ahead of myself. Back to the tables full of food…
On the larger,
long, rectangular table lay an assortment of rolling pins, flour, eggs, water
and oil. The pasta table. The smaller, round table contained vegetables and a
selection of meat, though most of the items I had never seen, let alone even
thought about eating before. There was your usual mince meats (beef and pork) and
chicken but then there was also liver, tripe, abomasum, and heart. Having
chosen to take the meat course I couldn’t wait to see what these interesting looking
animal body parts would create, and how on earth they could ever taste good,
but of course where there is the will of an Italian (and a good splash of red
wine!) there is ALWAYS a way.
Over the
course of the day these packages were opened and magic was made in the creation
of a ragu/bolognese style sauce, chicken and pineapple plate, fried liver, lampredotto
and a thick tomato tripe sauce. However, not only did I learn how to make this
magic happen, but also a huge amount of little tips and tricks, knife skills
and simple cooking do’s and don’ts that are so versatile that I will be able to
use them in almost any cooking endeavour. While myself and the two other ladies
worked with the meat, all the others were busy getting their fingers
flour-and-egg sticky and rolling out their pasta dough to make all kinds of delicious
goodies. Fresh tagliatelle, ravioli and gnocchi as well as a whole bunch of
others I do not know the name of.
Impeccably
timed, we finished our sauces just as the fresh pasta was bubbling away in
salted water and it was not long before we were all seated for a late lunch of
our morning’s creations and a well-deserved glass of their Chianti red wine. Though
the majority of the cooking had been done before lunch, we did continue on
after with the smaller dishes (liver, pineapple and chicken) which we somehow
managed to find space for in our already filled stoamchs. By the time the clock
hit 4pm with the tables now bare we were all very satisfied and ready to call
it a day and say our goodbyes feeling very happy indeed.
*recipe and photos to come tomorrow! :)
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