Cooking in the Tuscan Hills

Florence Day 2 ~ Cooking class day!

I'm not quite sure how to adequately describe one of the best days I've ever had! If I had to sum it up with one word I guess it would be beautiful!

We left our apartment at 8:45 this morning and headed to central Florence to meet up with our tour guides who would be helping to conduct our cooking class. It was about a 20 minute walk to the meet

up location at Ponte Vecchio Square from the train station. Once we were all assembled we began what I thought was a walk to the Mercato Centrale to buy our ingredients, and eventually it was. But it started with a brief historical tour which pleasantly surprised and fascinated me. We were taken down many, many small alleyways and roads and told extraordinary tales by tour guides ~ they had great English-speaking skills but retained just enough of their accent to make it very postcard perfect for the tourist crowd. We saw some interesting building facades and were told many stories about the plague, wars with other small towns (namely Pisa), the purpose of certain buildings and some of their repurposed uses. We did buy our ingredients at multiple markets, including our cheeses and meats. I learned interesting stories about offal, just enough to remind me why most Americans can't stomach them! (Why yes, that was a play on words). I learned that tripe panini are a local specialty and though it

was offered, I just couldn't go there! We tasted some of the best cheese I have ever eaten and tasted truffle oil on chewy, thick-crusted bread. It was wonderful!! Then headed to a coffee bar to caffeinate before our long afternoon of cooking and I enjoyed the best cappuccino I've ever had. We rounded ourselves up and boarded the bus for our short trip to the a hillside, Tuscan farm house.

The bus made its way out of the city and in a matter of 10 minutes we were in a small forest, thick with trees but every few seconds we got a peek of Florence below. Once we stopped, I was stunned at how beautiful the location was and we got to spend the entire day there!

We descended several flights of very steep stairs that opened to a breathtaking view. At this point I would have been content to sit in the olive orchard and sip wine all day! We entered a renovated farmhouse that had a professional kitchen and two very large, wooden work tables. Everyone washed their hands, tied their aprons on, got some wine and thus began our cooking lessons. There were about 20 of us, and oh mercy, it was a very mixed bag of people so I was very curious how it was going to shake down. Turns out, quite well actually. The classes were conducted by a woman named Carmella, who was probably in her 50s and was non-English

speaking (the two guides translated for us but I'm 100% sure Carmella understood far more than she let on) and for her very diminutive size was a forceful presence in the kitchen. No one was left out of the process (including an adorable 8 or 9 year old girl from Australia) and Carmella made you feel eager to please her!

First up, bruschetta (we were very adamantly told that it is pronounced Brusketta...no "cha" sound.) We all chopped tomatoes, tore basil, crushed garlic and got heavy handed with the salt and olive oil. So delicious! Truly, I could have sat with a loaf of bread and a bowl of the bruschetta mixture and been quite content. Well, maybe some wine too.

Second, we prepared the meat sauce, which if I'm being honest was pretty basic. Once it began to simmer, we got our lesson in pasta making. It was easier than I thought to make, and so much fun. Then

on to pizza. We did not get to make the dough since we were making Neapolitan pizza and the dough has to sit for 24 hours....but there were small batches pre-made for us. All we had to do was roll it out and top it with fresh ingredients of our choice, the ones that were purchased by us! And of course we got to throw it up in the air just like in the movies. It was then baked in an outdoor, wood fire oven at 700 degrees! It took all of 90 seconds to cook and it was by far and away the best pizza I have ever eaten. Totally made up for the terrible pizza from our first day!

After pizza and wine (of course) it was on to preparing a pork loin roast with rosemary roasted potatoes. Devine! It was actually quite simple to make but I did learn a couple tricks that I can use to take my own to the next level. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Then dessert...I learned how to make a very basic gelato that we dressed up to make almond-flavored and it was so wonderful that I'll be making it at home A LOT when I get back. This was followed by tiramisu that was so light and airy I couldn't believe it was tiramisu!

Our meal was served to us Italian-style, which of course means in

courses. We had pasta with meat sauce, then the pork loin with potatoes followed by gelato and tiramisu and the wine flowed! (Our bruschetta was a snack earlier and our pizza was our lunch). So we went from feeling absolutely starved on one day to completely stuffed the next day. Fantastico!

We boarded the bus and made our way back to the city and I was truly sad that I had to leave but eternally grateful for being able to spend a day like this; to always have this special time to remember ....I don't think I'll ever forget Carmella and her farm house!