From Ripon to Florence : When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

No, I'm not in Rome, not yet at least. That will be in the middle of November which is coming up really quickly actually. I have around 63 some days left here in Italy which is hard to believe! I still have so much to do (school work) so much to see (Verona, Pompeii, Rome, Cinque Terre,) that I'm not ready to face that number! But at the same time, I can't help but see that number and think that I am that much closer to getting back in the swimming pool to train, and that much closer to seeing my friends and family back home. Its quiet a catch 22.
Back to the title of the post. I may not be in Rome, but I am in Italy and when one is in Italy they must eat as the Italians do. And I do. Carmen makes sure of that. But one must also learn to cook as the Italians do. AND that my friends is what I am currently doing with a number of my Fridays this trip.
One of the other host mom's runs cooking classes for American students (she studied here when she was in college, met and artist named Fabio (I kid you not) and just never left. Fabio's mom only had sons so Mrs. Finocchiaro (Mrs. F for short) learned all the family recipes)
Yesterday was our first lesson. We made Marinated Sweet Peppers, Florentine Tomato Soup, Frittata with Green Tomatoes, Stewed Green Beans and, Tarte (with homemade jam). While Mrs. F did most of the work (it was more of a demo than acutal hands on) I learned quiet a lot.
First-she had a really awesome tool called a mezza luna for chopping things up. Its a half circle blade and I don't know if I've seen them in the states but they are apparently cheaper here in Italy than in the states so I will be purchasing one to smuggle home in my checked luggage. (something tells me TSA would take that from me going through security...) She used the mezzaa luna to mince garlic and basil and chop up other things. The blade is curved so it rocks back and forth to chop up what ever it is you are chopping up.

Second: wooden cutting boards are the way to go (in Mrs. F's opinion) Wooden cutting boards over time reflect the usages of thing (ie there was a little dip in her's where she uses her mezza luna making it easier to use (and allowing her more control. Kind of like a flatter version of a mortal and pestle.) She also pointed out that wood is natural so i something was going to get in the food, she would rather it be wood than plastic. Finally she said that wood cleans just about as well as plastic does. Will I be rushing our and getting wooden cutting boards? Probably not (and I will probably always use plastic cutting boards for meats and fish).

Third: flipping eggs? Use a flat lid that goes with your pan? Flip it onto the lid (which has a handle which makes it easy to hold) then just flip your eggs. I'm wondering if that will solve my omelet problems...

third: courses in Italy (clarified really). First course is called 'antipasto' and that is like hor d'oeuvres (for our meal we had the marinated peppers). Second is their actual first course which consists of starch. Pasta, rice, a light vegtable soup-that sort of thing (we had the Florentine tomato soup for our meal). Third (their second course) is a meat and vegetable (or some sort of protein and vegetable. Yesterday's meal was the firttata and the stewed green beans). The final course is the fruit/desert course. Generally at my house we have fruit for desert (which I love-getting my 5 a day in like none other!) for our class we had the tarte with homemade jam. Mrs. F demmoed how to make the crust (which is just a general pastery crust with flower sugar and butter. Super simple) and then we got to make the top crust in what ever we wanted to desgine as a sort of "contest". Christian, Kevin, Jori, and Marit went creative and did fall leaves and a tree and a bird for their fig jam tarte while Katie and I just went with a simple latus for our pear jam tarte.

Four: bread. Italian's do not put their bread on their plate, rather straight up on the table (sometimes not even in a basket either) bread is communal and its never wasted so the bread that doesn't get eaten at supper will get saved and old bread is used for other dishes (such as the Florentine tomato soup we had which is the tomato based dish with bread chunks in it which is total comfort food and one of my favorite Carmen dishes) Also you tear your bread apart so even if you don't finish your piece it can still be saved and used again for something else.

Five: don't put sugar in your tomato sauces even if they say to. Just shred some carrots in there and they will naturally sweeten it!

It was an interesting and inspiring day. I'm not much of a cook myself because I don't particularly like to do it but this class made me excited to maybe try cooking more. Mrs. F is all about teaching us the basics that can be used over and over and over again with different combinations of things to make a whole new dish. The other thing that makes me really excited is all the fresh food here in Italy and learning to work with the fresh things. Fresh things taste better so they are more fun and inspiring to work with I think.

It was a fun an interesting class and I can't wait for after break to see what else we will do!