Corso Del Vino 3 Today we studied our wine lesson with Mauricio for the first time. He was full of gimmicks to keep us excited. It was the Chianti Classico day. So we learned about them in general. If you see a bottle of Chianti Classico Reserva, that means the bottles has been kept for aging at least 2 years in the Oak barrel and 3 months in the bottle. However, for the Chianti Classico, the wine needs only 1 year aging time in the barrels. The tastes and characters of the Chianti Classico and the Chianti Classico reserva are absolutely different. You will be able to spot the different […]
Corso Del Vino 2 Today has been another lovely day at Piazza del Vino for our 2nd Wine lesson. Our new instructor today was Michele who could explain the lesson and answered the questions professionally. We tried a few bottles of White wine today. I couldn’t remember how many bottles because after the 2nd glass I was already tipsy. Today we learned the differences of wine from each mountainous area. For example, the Firriato , “ Le Sebbie dell’Etna” , produced with Carricante grapes is dryer than wine from the North. We tried wine from Mount Vesuvius which used Falanghina grapes. Even though Tuscany is well-known for the Chianti classico, […]
CUCINA PER GIORNO SPECIALE LASAGNA When talking about Italian food, Lasagna is for sure one of the favorite dish. In Napoli, you can find Lasagna with meatballs or even with sausages. The recipes for Lasagna is varied. There is Vegetarian Lasagna , Seafood, or Pesto that you can find them all over Italy. CANNELLONI Cannelloni is another dish which has different recipes. It has creamy Bechamel sauce as one of the ingredients. Once you cook Lasagna, you can at the same time prepare another tray of Cannelloni. Cannelloni all florentina is more white than other recipe. But today we cooked the classic Cannelloni which contains the tomato sauce. The red, […]
TABLE SETTING AND PASTA MAKING MACHINE Today Professor Francesco has been kind again. He bought some truffles to show us how they taste and look like. Just a bit of it can make the sauce so aromatic. No wonder they are costly. After the Pasta machine lecture, we made a quick and simple lunch. Oh well…perhaps it’s simple for the chefs. Our lunch today was Ricotta Tortellini with Truffles cream sauce and some other dry pasta with Arrabiata sauce. In a restaurant , it’s easier to use the pasta making machine to make pasta for 50- 100 people or more. Hand made pasta can be time consuming. The cost of […]
CUCINA CASALINGA LAGANE CON SUGO D’AGNELLO E CIMA DI RAPA Lagane pasta today was made of “Intergrale” flour or wholewheat flour. Lagane looks almost like Pappadelle. Even though they were made of wholewheat flour but they were soft enough and cling to the sauce very well. We have learned many kinds of pasta sauce already i.e. duck , wile boar , beef ragu , seafood. So today Professor Francesco let us learn to cook sauce from lamb and cabbage. MINESTRA DI PASTA E FAGIOLI Tuscan beans soup with pasta is a comfort soup the Mama Italiana can cook at home. It’s easy to make and yet delicious. It’s one of […]
CUCINA CON RISO ARANCINI DI RISO ARANCINI RICE Arancini is an interesting dish from the South of Italy. You can tell this dish is influenced by the Middle East food as it has Saffron in the ingredients. The combination of Bolognese sauce and rice make it an interesting one. Carnaroli rice which is the big grain rice is the best to cook Arancini. RISOTTO ALLA PESCATORA BIANCO THE FISHERMEN’S RISOTTO (FOR 10 person) This seafood risotto is one of the best dish I had in the class. It’s rich with a great selections of seafood. Arborio is a very thin grain type of rice which is good for cooking risotto. […]
Il carpaccio The name of the dish comes from the painter Vittorio Carpaccio, who lived between 1400 and 1500. It was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani in the last century. He was a Venetian business man and the owner of Harry’s bar in Venice. Cipriani created it for his client, the Countess Mocenigo who could not eat cooked meat. The recipe intended to spice up a slice of raw meat with Olive oil ,lemon and Parmesan. The plate was renamed “Carpaccio” because at that time an exhibition of the painter was being held in Venice. The dish has become famous and be in the restaurants’s menu all over Italy. Today we […]
MENU PER FESTE SPECIALI TORTELLINI DI MAGRO IN BRODO DI CAPPONE Professor Francesco showed us the difference between “Cappelletti” and “Tortellini” today. Just a little twist can make your pasta a different kind. How interesting it is. Apart from leaving the soup on the stove for almost 5 hours to get the delicious taste , you also need small hands and fingers to make a beautiful Tortellini. PICI SENESI CON SUGO D’ANATRA Pici is a type of pasta that my Japanese friends like a lot as it’s quite similar to Udon. It’s just a bit more crispy. Making Pici pasta can take a long time. You need to plan well […]
MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE 2 SCIALATIELLI AL BASILICO CON VONGOLE E BOTTARGA This pasta dish is really enjoyable. You get a delicious blend of creamy Bottarga and clams. The Scialatielli pasta is green and full of the aroma from Basil leaves. The chef needs to pay special attention when cleaning the calms as they have so much sands inside. We actually cleaned them at least 3 times and left them in salty water to keep them fresh. When you blend the Basil leaves, if you add few ice cubes , the color will remain brightly green. The Scialatielli looks really appealing when we spread the dough on table. CALAMARO IN 2 COTTURE […]
CORSO DI VINO 1 -IT’S ALL ABOUT WINE- Today we had our first wine lesson at the “Piazza del vino” restaurant. The place is basically heaven for wine lovers. Simone who is the owner as well as our teacher offers the wine lessons in a reasonable price. The decoration is chic and welcoming. There are wine bottles in every corners , on the wall or on the tables. Simone also offers them in a lower price than purchasing in a restaurant. Today we tasted 3 bottles of 3 different wines. There is one from the North, a Chianti Classico one and the one from Sicily. They are all totally different […]
