This
past July I had the privilege of attending Cooking
School in Siena, Italy. I couldn’t have been more
excited just thinking about it, cooking and Italy,
what could be better! I had high hopes for this
experience and my expectations were met thanks to
Chef Luisa Neri and Direttore Sonia Di Centa at Arte
e Cucina at Society Dante Alighieri,
www.artandcooking.com
My
experience began on a Monday morning with a true
Italian espresso and the introduction of the
talented Chef Luisa. Chef Luisa had a lovely way
about her, knew how to handle the students as well
as the food and provided a most wonderful
environment in which to learn. One day’s discussion
about music resulted in Chef Luisa bringing in a
small CD player with the CD’s of the artists
discussed the day before in class. She didn’t miss a
trick and her food was outstanding! When the chef is
dancing around the kitchen, you know you are lucky
to be learning from her.
Her
excellent menus included such dishes as Ragu di
Carne over homemade Tagliatelle (we made homemade
pasta every single day), Osso Buco (my favorite),
Panzanella (bread & tomato salad), Spinaci alla
fiorentina, Pollo al Limone, Crostata ai frutta
fresca, and Torta ubriaca agli amaretti. The
Panzanella was not just chunks of tomato and huge
cubes of bread, it was crusty Italian bread soaked
and then torn into very small pieces, tossed with
perfectly ripe tomatoes, basil, celery, cucumbers,
and onion, then dressed with the finest olive oil
and red wine vinegar.
The
class cast of characters varied daily and I made
some wonderful new friends from our west coast all
the way to Japan. The international flavor added
even more seasoning to an already delicious mélange.
Chef Luisa taught the class mainly in Italian (and
why not?) but some participants needed a bit of
English thrown in, that is where I found a niche and
began to translate. After all, the language of food
is universal and it was a pleasure to lend a hand.
It turned out that Chef Luisa and I made a great
team.
There is
so much to tell but one thing that kept ringing true
to me is this. You know those delicious family
favorite recipes that your mother or grandmother
made and never wrote down because they didn’t have
exact measurements, well, in Italy cooking is still
an art, not an exact science. It is not over
complicated. The cucchiaio (teaspoon) is a teaspoon
not a measuring teaspoon. The ingredients, which are
of the highest quality, are the basis for the
dishes. Go to market, see what looks good, and go
home and cook. Plan the menu at the market based on
what is seasonal and looks good, don’t plan the menu
at home and then go to 100 stores until you find the
missing ingredient – that is already making cooking
way too complicated.
Cooking
is a way to express yourself and be creative. You
know what you like, put it in a pot with a little
love and try it! The recipes used in our classes
were guidelines with room for tasting and tweaking,
this was cooking the way it was intended to be, a
labor of love. Taste it, season it, relax, and then
enjoy it. It will be good because you made it. So
get mom or grandma to show you how she makes her
special dishes and make some notes. Each time you
prepare the dish, it might come out different but
the idea and the memories will still be there. Maybe
it’s the memories that really did make that dish so
special. And yes, I only like my mother’s meatballs.
