On the way to the school, I found a farmer’s market by the
train station. Unfortunately, I didn’t have so much time to see individual
booths, so I simply took some quick pictures and kept walking to school. They all
look yummy…..
Today’s instructor was supposed to be Chef Davide (who taught
me on Monday). But Chef Giampiero substituted today because Chef Davide hurt his
back. I have no problem with the arrangement because Chef Giampiero is such a
nice guy. Normally, morning class starts at 9:00am but today, we are going to a
market near the school to get ingredients for the day. I didn’t even know that
there is such a market (for the last 9 days of the stay). I’m glad the chef
brought us here.
Zucchini
The zucchini was pan fried with oil without too much browning.
Then, salt and pepper were sprinkled on (again, no salt and pepper before cooking).
Served with a slice of mortadella
(which is la ocal humongous sausage) and a mascarpone and parmesan mixture. A very
simple vegetable appetizer.
Orecchiette
We made pasta dishes every day. I’m glad that the chefs chose
a different style of pasta each day. The last pasta is orecchiette, which means ears. The ear-like
shape is made by pressing a small piece of dough by finger.
The sauce was roughly mashed broccoli and well-cooked
anchovies. The chef used a lot of anchovies but because he cooked them long enough
with olive oil, all the fishiness was gone. Fresh boiled pasta was tossed with
the sauce and served with grated parmesan cheese and roasted tomato.
Very very good! I really liked the roasted tomato. I wished I
had more…
Chicken leg
The chicken leg was cooked slowly with a small amount of liquid in
the oven. At the end, it tasted like rotisserie chicken.
Kind of California cuisine-like presentation
Yogurt mousse with peach jam
Peaches are in season in Italy and we made jam with the peaches
that we bought at the market in the morning. The yogurt mousse is yogurt, whipped
cream and sugar. Before mixing, I tasted the yogurt. Compared to US-made
yogurt, it was much thinner and had more sharp tanginess. It was served with chopped
lady fingers.
It was very summery dessert. I really liked the sweetness of
Italian desserts (Not too sweet).
That’s the end of the cooking class in Bologna. It was a
great experience. The best part was definitely the PASTA!! It was just 5 classes but I feel much more
comfortable in making pasta without measuring anything (now that I can tell the
right texture by touching it). And I was really happy with the instructor chefs
at the school. Both Chef Davide and Chef Giampiero were super nice. MY only issue
was with the school’s scheduling. I didn’t think they would change the class time
just before the first day…. But hey, this is Italy. When in Rome, do as the
Romans do! (I’m not in Rome, though…)
After the class, we headed to Torino. After a two hours train ride, we arrived at Torino…. Are we still in Italy?? It looked like
Switzerland or France. Torino is located northwest of Italy so this makes
sense. It was very clean and sophisticated. Unlike other cities in Italy, there was
much less graffiti. People follow traffic lights.. Wow, just a 2 hour ride
makes this much difference.
After checking into the hotel, we walked to a restaurant. We
enjoyed looking at lots of nice buildings on the way. I really wanted to have beef carpaccio, which
is a specialty of Piedmont region. Because the English menu that they provided
to us said raw veal, I assumed this was the carpaccio. But it was actually veal
tartar.
It was still very good. I thought I heard the server said
carpaccio. Maybe this is a different type of carpaccio??
The two pastas were filled pasta with braised beef and sage and
butter, and thinly-sliced tagliatelle with sausage tomato sauce.
The sausage pasta was very tasty! I saw many tables ordered the
same dish. So, it could be their specialty.
The server told us this beef stew is local dish to Torino.
It tasted a bit like beef bourguignon (without vegetables). Very tender.
This was the last meal in Italy since we will move to Lyon,
France tomorrow morning. Again, I would say the best food in Italy is PASTA! There is
no question about it.
Let’s see what France could offer!
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