Last night we had a cooking competition! If you know me you know this is the stuff I live for. I've spent the last two weeks falling head over heels with Southern Italian cuisine, and actually purchased a couple cookbooks for myself. Anyway our last class was dedicated to Italian food, and to supplement our morning lesson, each of the three classes met in a different kitchen that afternoon with a Top Chef style spread of ingredients to cook the same three dishes. Mind you we had to follow recipes completely in Italian and speak only Italian in the kitchen, but add a little wine and music and we had ourselves a party.
There is such a different attitude towards food here compared to that in the States, a subject we discussed at length in class yesterday and this morning. The Italians love food, yes. That's a universal stereotype for a reason. But rather than gorge themselves on pasta and pizza and gelato, the majority of their diet consists of fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, and olive oil. Yes there is cheese and sugar around but there's not much meat at all.
Our first recipe was Cianfotta, which is basically an Italian version of Ratatouille. We made our with eggplant, onions, red and yellow bell peppers, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic. According to my rough translation of the recipe, you sauté the peppers in garlic infused olive oil and then set off the to the side. Then you cook the onions and potatoes with more garlic and oil in a large pot, adding the rest of the vegetables to that. When the potatoes are cooked through (about 30 mins), you mix in the peppers, season with salt and pepper, top with fresh basil, and serve the dish either hot or cold.
Our next dish was Orecchiette alla crudaiola, a cold pasta dish that is simple, delicious, and very easy to make. All you need to do is half a bunch of tomatoes, scooping out the seeds, and tear up some fresh basil leaves. Then you cook the orecchiette pasta al dente, mix in the tomatoes and basil with some olive oil, and top with salty grated cacio ricotta cheese. Yum.
Dance break
Finally we made the hard one- Orecchiette con cime di rapa, which is basically pasta with a sauce of broccoli rabe, artichokes, and garlic. Yeah sounds disgusting but it ended up being everyone's favorite. To make it you boil the rabe in salt water, drain it and then use the same water (now green) to cook the pasta. While all that is happening you sauté finely minced garlic and anchovies in olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Add the cooked rabe to that, finish the pasta, and mix. It's incredibly good.
After everything was done- the last 10 mins are always the most stressful! We made plates for the judges.
We carried our dishes upstairs to the courtyard, where the other classes had already assembled. Our dishes were numbered and we were made to wait off to the side for a solid 20 mins while the 5 judges tasted and ranked our food! It was so nerve-wracking. Paolo calmed down by making friends with one of the kittens that lives here. When the judges were done we... didn't get to find out our scores because it was time to eat. Everyone rushed to grab a plate and see what the others had made.
When we were all seated with a big plate of food, our director Nella made the announcement. WE WON!!! Alle! Our prize is a free breakfast at the cafe next door (and my grocery budget is wearing thin so I'm so into that), but everyone's prize was a big gelato cake. Pistachio and hazelnut. Yum.
Great night!
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