In our last week here in Colorno!! Crazy how fast it has gone by. I know some of you must be wondering where i am headed next week......
ROMA!!!!
I will be doing my internship portion of school at this great restaurant in Rome. The restaurant is called Giuda Ballerino and the head chef is Andrea Fusco. I actually already got to meet him back in June because he was our guest chef when we did the region of Lazio which is the region Rome is in. I am very excited to go there and start working. Living in the "Eternal City" and being around all the history that surrounds Rome will be amazing. Hopefully i will do a better job of updating everyone when i am there.
The last 4 weeks have been a blur. First a couple of friends and myself went to the beautiful island of Elba (Isola d'Elba). The island is located off the coast of Tuscany heading towards Sardegna and Corsica. This little island is quite famous because it is where Napolean was exiled and he was king of the island for a little over a year. Beside that, it is also a major snorkling and scuba diving area, so if you love to dive this is one great place to come. It was also a great place to run, they have dirt trails that zig-zag all over the island, you could also hike and mountain bike. My only advice is that be prepared for some sketchy driving, some of the roads are pretty narrow and can be very steep but it makes for some fun driving experiences. I have pictures up of the trip in the slide show on my blog here and also on my facebook page.
The following weekend we had a class fieldtrip to Tuscany. We visited three different wineries, a butcher shop, and the best goat cheese farm on this planet. I kid you not, there is no where else that compares. The farm is called Santa Margarita (not to be confused with the wine) and is a great little place and must be checked out if you are a cheese head. We spent the night in Siena and then continued are journey around Tuscany. One of the wineries we visited, Il Boro, is owned by Salvatore Farragammo, of the fashion fame and we actually got to meet him which was pretty interesting and cool. From there a couple of us got dropped off in Florence saturday night. We spend saturday night and sunday exploring the great city. Definitely a must see for art and architecture fans. Also a shoppers paradise with all the famous european brands but also the unofficial italian leather capital with little leather carts every block. Myself, i picked up some nice italian leather shoes, so starting to blend in a little bit with these italians, although my red hair does tend to stand out.
This past week was my birthday and we had a great time celebrating italian style. Definitely one of the best birthday's to date. This past friday we had another field trip, this time we went to Piemonte, in the foothills of the alps. We visited another cheese farm and then went to a farm that was devoted entirely to bio-dynamic production. It was a beautiful day and it reminded me of being back home in colorado. Finally, on saturday and sunday i went with a couple of friends to the east coast of italy, the Adriatic Sea. We went to Pesaro and Ancona, two little cities on the coast. Both were very beautiful and the italians call it the california of italy.
In the last two weeks i have also had some very good eating experiences. When we came back from Florence we stopped in Parma and ate at a 1 star michelin rated restaurant that was excellent. I had this black angus ratetouille that was amazing and the desserts were excellent. We ended up being the last people in the restaurant, so the chef invited us to come see the kitchen and walk around. Excellenct dinning experience #1.
The second place was near Pesaro this past weekend. It was another 1 star michelin rated restaurant that sat on the cliffs overlooking the adriatic sea. Being by the sea everything was seafood and was some of the freshest seafood i have ever had. We had shrimp, scampi, swordfish, crab, flounder, all with fresh herbs, vegetables, fresh homemade pasta and breads....all with a couple bottles of wine = greatness!!
Again we spent almost 4 hours at the restaurant (so beware, if you come to italy and want a good meal, make sure you have some time, we sat at 8:30 and didn't leave until midnight) and again we were almost the last ones in the restaurant. There were two couples who were still there when we left. We didn't get to see the kitchen this time but spent some time talking to the chef and staff at the restaurant.
It is still hard to believe that i have been here for two and half months now but i am loving every moment of it and can't wait to move to Rome and spend another two and half months there. My only concern is my italian but i know after spending two and half months in a kitchen where only italian is going to be spoken, i imagine i might be pretty good at it by the end. Hopefully i will have another update for everyone next week sometime and let you know how Rome is.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Luglio in Italia
Already july.....
Can't believe how fast this is going by. It has been about a month since my last post so i thought i should update. The last month has been nothing short of amazing. Each week we have two to three days in the kitchen and the other two days we usually have guest chefs coming from all over the country to tell us about their region and cuisine. It is so refreshing to see different chefs each week and watch and learn from them. Each one has their own style and take on food. All have been good but definitely a few have stood out above the others. We have gone through about half of the regions in Italy so far and as much as i love the mountains of the north i am being drawn towards the cooking of southern Italy. The use of fresh ingredients, spices, pastas, meats, and fish.....they are used so simply but in an elegant way and you can taste each ingredient and when you put all of them together.....well its amazing. As far as my own cooking skills those continue to improve each day as well. I countinue to learn numerous things from our head chef Bruno who is an unbelievable chef with so much knowledge. So, for everyone back home, when i return you will have a good meal made for you.
Outside of the kitchen i have been trying to see as much of this beautiful country as possible. I guess about three weeks ago i went to Cinque Terre with three of my friends. Cinque Terre is in the Italian Riviera and is composed of 5 little towns on the sea with dramatic cliffs, mountains and pristine beaches. If you get a chance to come to Italy in the summertime you must make it a point to visit this beautiful place.
The week after we had a class fieldtrip to see where parmigiano regiano is made and also proscuito di parma. On the next day we drove to regio-emilia to see where balsamic vinegar is made. Seeing barrel upon barrel of balsamic, some that was aged for over 30 years! We also had a tasting with cheese, bread, little cakes and chocolates....again it was amazing. This was just the start of a great day to come. After we left for a little town that was near the Adriatic coast. Here we met a man and his wife who cooked us one of the best meals i have ever had. The man is a master cheese maker and showed us where he ages and makes his most delectable creations. There house sits on top of a hill where you can see San Marino to the north, the adriatic to the east and the mountains of central italy to the south and west. It is one of the best days i have had here in Italy.
Last weekend the same four of us who went to Cinque Terre went to Bologna for the weekend. The home of Bolognese cuisine, mortadella, and one of the oldest universities in the world. The city was a little smaller than i thought it was going to be but made it easy to walk all around and see all the sights. Unfortunately we watched the U.S. lose to Ghana but otherwise had a great weekend.
As for this week it has been pretty good. The only real mishap was on monday when i sliced my finger open when i was deboning some guinea hen. So, i will probably have a nice scar on my middle finger on my left hand but all is well and that is just apart of being a chef. Besides my finger the cooking was very good this week and i got great remarks on all my dishes. We also had to fill out a form about our expectations for where we want to do our internship this week. I am leaning towards Rome but we do not get to choose exactly where we want to go so either way i will be very excited for wherever i end up. This makes me a little nervous but I am sure wherever i end up it will be a great experience. The other part i am worried about is my Italian which is coming along but is still not very good. I practice everyday but more is needed.
Thats is for now. I wish everyone back in the states a happy fourth of July, i hope it is safe and fun! For those of you in Colorado going to the white trash bash i will be there in spirit.
Can't believe how fast this is going by. It has been about a month since my last post so i thought i should update. The last month has been nothing short of amazing. Each week we have two to three days in the kitchen and the other two days we usually have guest chefs coming from all over the country to tell us about their region and cuisine. It is so refreshing to see different chefs each week and watch and learn from them. Each one has their own style and take on food. All have been good but definitely a few have stood out above the others. We have gone through about half of the regions in Italy so far and as much as i love the mountains of the north i am being drawn towards the cooking of southern Italy. The use of fresh ingredients, spices, pastas, meats, and fish.....they are used so simply but in an elegant way and you can taste each ingredient and when you put all of them together.....well its amazing. As far as my own cooking skills those continue to improve each day as well. I countinue to learn numerous things from our head chef Bruno who is an unbelievable chef with so much knowledge. So, for everyone back home, when i return you will have a good meal made for you.
Outside of the kitchen i have been trying to see as much of this beautiful country as possible. I guess about three weeks ago i went to Cinque Terre with three of my friends. Cinque Terre is in the Italian Riviera and is composed of 5 little towns on the sea with dramatic cliffs, mountains and pristine beaches. If you get a chance to come to Italy in the summertime you must make it a point to visit this beautiful place.
The week after we had a class fieldtrip to see where parmigiano regiano is made and also proscuito di parma. On the next day we drove to regio-emilia to see where balsamic vinegar is made. Seeing barrel upon barrel of balsamic, some that was aged for over 30 years! We also had a tasting with cheese, bread, little cakes and chocolates....again it was amazing. This was just the start of a great day to come. After we left for a little town that was near the Adriatic coast. Here we met a man and his wife who cooked us one of the best meals i have ever had. The man is a master cheese maker and showed us where he ages and makes his most delectable creations. There house sits on top of a hill where you can see San Marino to the north, the adriatic to the east and the mountains of central italy to the south and west. It is one of the best days i have had here in Italy.
Last weekend the same four of us who went to Cinque Terre went to Bologna for the weekend. The home of Bolognese cuisine, mortadella, and one of the oldest universities in the world. The city was a little smaller than i thought it was going to be but made it easy to walk all around and see all the sights. Unfortunately we watched the U.S. lose to Ghana but otherwise had a great weekend.
As for this week it has been pretty good. The only real mishap was on monday when i sliced my finger open when i was deboning some guinea hen. So, i will probably have a nice scar on my middle finger on my left hand but all is well and that is just apart of being a chef. Besides my finger the cooking was very good this week and i got great remarks on all my dishes. We also had to fill out a form about our expectations for where we want to do our internship this week. I am leaning towards Rome but we do not get to choose exactly where we want to go so either way i will be very excited for wherever i end up. This makes me a little nervous but I am sure wherever i end up it will be a great experience. The other part i am worried about is my Italian which is coming along but is still not very good. I practice everyday but more is needed.
Thats is for now. I wish everyone back in the states a happy fourth of July, i hope it is safe and fun! For those of you in Colorado going to the white trash bash i will be there in spirit.
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