Via Carloni 8, Lake Como, Italy, 11:30 a.m., Sunday, March 12, 2006. The day is bright, chilly and windier than any day I have ever experienced on Kachemak Bay. I wear my new Italian silk scarf like a babushka.
Teri Robl savors the aromas during a cooking class at Lake Como, Italy, last month.
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Attending a cooking class in Italy has been something I have looked forward to for a very long time. My passion for cooking naturally led me to Italy, and I can’t believe I am actually here with four friends from Homer. I am so happy to be able to share this experience with them.
Our tour bus drops us off at the main piazza right off the square at the end of the bay of Lake Como. It looks very much like Kachemak Bay, only densely populated with many lovely, quaint homes on the hillsides above the bay, way more than those around Kachemak Bay. It is so Italian, so continental.
Our group of five dashes over to a line of small taxis and asks the drivers if they can wend their way to Via Carloni 8, where our cooking class is to be held, and how much it will cost. Yes, and it will cost $7 euro, we are told. Two taxis full of excited Alaska chefs pile into the little cars, and we are on our way to our last big adventure in Italy. I am so excited I cannot sit still.
Our taxi drivers drop us off at a gated area that has Via Carloni IV-XII on a metal plaque mounted on the front of a cement wall. We are close. Now, where do we find No. 8? Just as we are wondering exactly where to go, a pretty young blonde girl appears out of nowhere in front of us. We ask her if she knows where No. 8 is and she replies in broken English: “Yes, this is it, follow me.” I ask her if it is the cooking class we are looking for and she nods that, yes, we have found it. I am relieved, as I have four good friends to guide through an afternoon of cooking 5,000 miles away from home.
Our host, Chef Angelo Novati, a handsome, gray haired, tall man of about 60, arrives. After introducing himself and shaking hands, he informs the sweet, young girl in Italian that we will make a trip to the market before we begin our afternoon cooking lesson. We realize Chef Angelo speaks no English, and our new blonde friend is our interpreter. We instantly bond with her, as she is our link to our cooking class, as well as someone we would be happy to call daughter or sister. Her name is Linda and she is a student of languages in Lake Como.
We follow our chef up the wind-blown, cobblestone street to one of the few markets open on Sunday. Once inside, Chef Angelo speaks to us through Linda, showing us and describing to us all the different kinds of beautiful produce, delicious meats, creamy, flavorful and aged cheeses and fantastic wines Italy offers. Even though I can’t truly interpret his Italian, I understand what the chef is trying to say through the universal language of a passion for sharing good food.
One of my companions looks at me listening and watching the chef so intently and asks if I really understand him. Yes, I do, I reply. Even if I don’t understand Italian, his enthusiasm and expression let me know what he is trying to convey.
We come to a perfectly displayed case of seafood where I admire a perfect filleted salmon lying on a bed of ice. I look at Chef Angelo and explain to him that I am from Alaska, where salmon is the most incredible, beautiful, fresh and tasty fish one could ever hope to catch, prepare, serve and eat. His response indicates he understands everything I tell him about the Alaska salmon I am so proud of. The language of a common passion is a similar one, I am sure of it. The world truly is a small place.
I don’t quit smiling the whole day.
Once back at our cooking school we are given aprons, chef’s toques, programs and menus made especially for our class, and are treated to a very pretty red-orange aperitif cocktail of Campari, gin and blood orange juice accompanied by little pizza appetizers. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
There is a beautiful and perfectly set round table in the corner for us. A gorgeous fresh flower arrangement of sterling roses with complimentary foliage, linen napkins, china, water goblets, wine glasses and heavy flatware graces the table.
Once we take pictures and get settled, Chef Angelo decides it is time for us to make pasta. We each prepare our own ball of egg pasta. He and a young apprentice, who looks very much like my own son, help us turn flour, egg, oil and water into identifiable pasta.
Next, we go to the range-tops, where we are instructed on how to make Bolognese and Béchamel sauce. After we make lasagna with the sauces, our homemade noodles and pounds of Parmesan cheese, we begin making a beautiful yellow saffron risotto and a fragrant porcini mushroom risotto. Wine, broth, stirring, butter, cheese, stirring — the fragrances, the big pans of simmering Italian rice, the instruction in a foreign language — this is a dream come true for your little Homer-town chefette.
After our flavorful risottos are done, a young waiter-in-training pours us glasses of a soft, red Italian wine. It is the best wine I have had since arriving in Italy. We sip our wine and then begin cooking our next course — proscuitto and Edam cheese-stuffed veal chops sautéed in butter. While the veal cooks, we slice more porcini mushrooms and sautée them in butter, wine and parsley. I have never smelled a more flavorful and gloriously sensual mushroom medley.
Chef Angelo instructs us to sit down and feast on the dishes we helped prepare while he and his apprentice prepare tiramisu. We insist our interpreter, Linda, join us. What an array of epicurean delights we sample. The service is impeccable. I feel like I am dining in a five-star restaurant. The lasagna is rich, creamy, cheesy and flavorful. The risottos are sublime and melt in our mouth. The wine flows, and the veal with sautéed porcini mushrooms is tender, rich and so very special.
Just when we think we cannot eat any more, the tiramisu is served. Tender layers of lady finger cookies soaked in Italian coffee and then layered with a creamy, rich and smooth mixture of mascarpone cheese, sugar and brandy, then dusted with cocoa.
Oh, if I die now, I will die a happy lady!
And, if this is not enough, we are served an after-dinner coffee in perfect clear glass cups that consists of amaretto liqueur, Italian coffee and frothed cream. After our coffee, we ask Linda to call taxis for us. While we are waiting, they want to serve us espresso. Such hospitality they extend. I will never forget this afternoon.
I think back: I was worried about so many things at the beginning of the day. Would my friends think that the money they paid for the class would be money well spent? Would I be able to find the class? Would we enjoy it? Would we understand it? What unfounded worries they were.
I will never forget the wonderful day I spent in Lake Como, Italy, with Suzanne Alvarez, Nancy Lander, Lynne Sinnhuber and Beth Ann Van Sandt.
Thank you for joining me, ladies; it was the most enjoyable Sunday afternoon I have ever experienced. The class was one of the highlights of my trip to Italy, and I hope you enjoy reliving it with me.
Here are some of the great Italian recipes we learned to prepare on that windy, spring Italian day in the cooking school kitchen with Chef Angelo, his apprentice chef, our interpreter Linda and my fellow foodies from Homer.
Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms |
Risotto is a labor of love. Constant stirring while incorporating the liquid breaks down the starches in the rice and makes the dish creamy. Keep your saucepan of hot liquid next to your saut pan and use a ladle to add the liquid to the rice.
This process takes about 25 minutes, so pour yourself a glass wine, pull up a kitchen stool and dream of Italy while stirring the risotto.
Any market purchased mushroom or combination of wild mushrooms is wonderful to use in this dish. Chef Angelo used porcini so flavorful and perfect for this recipe.
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| Ingredients |
Preparation |
7 ounces of dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated or fresh (if you can find them)
H mild, sweet white onion diced
8 oz. Arborio rice (risotto rice)
Dry white wine about 1 cup
4G cups mushroom stock, or chicken stock hot
G cup (approx.) butter
G cup freshly chopped parsley
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If using dried mushrooms, cover them with warm water and let soak for
30 minutes.
Squeeze them gently and roughly chop. Reserve the liquid.
If using fresh mushrooms, just dice in H-inch pieces.
Coat the base of a shallow, large saucepan with about 2 tbsp. olive oil and fry the onion until translucent. Add the rice. As soon as the rice has absorbed the oil, add the wine continuing to stir. Once this has been absorbed, begin adding the hot stock, adding just enough to cover the rice, a ladle-full at a time.
When the rice is half cooked, add the mushrooms and reserved mushroom liquid. When the rice has absorbed the majority of the liquid, this is your cue to add a little more. Continue stirring and adding liquid until the liquid is absorbed. This labor of love is worth every bite!
After about 25 minutes, you will notice the rice changing texture and becoming creamy. The risotto is ready when the rice is just cooked to the tooth and is neither too dry nor too liquid. Stir in the butter and the parsley. Allow the butter to melt before serving. Grate fresh parmesan cheese onto risotto if desired. Enjoy!
This is an incredible side dish with beef, moose, or on its own as a vegetarian dish. Serves 6. |
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?Tiramisu |
| Ingredients |
Preparation |
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
1G cups fine bakers sugar
2H cups mascarpone cheese
3 tablespoons brandy
Lady finger sponge cookies package
1 cup strongly brewed black coffee
G cup cocoa
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Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until thick and creamy and a light pale yellow.
Add the mascarpone and brandy and continue whisking until well mixed. Whisk the egg whites until they form peaks and gently fold them into the egg yolk mixture.
In a shallow serving dish, layer the creamy mixture with the sponge fingers that have been quickly dipped in coffee, finishing with a layer of creamy mixture. Chill in the refrigerator until cold, several hours. Dust with a thick layer of cocoa powder from a sifter. Serves 10-12.
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Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4-1/2 cups whole milk warmed
1/2 tsp. salt
Nutmeg
Preparation:
Melt the butter together with the flour; slowly pour in the warm milk stirring constantly. Add the H tsp. salt, and J tsp. freshly grated nutmeg. Cook and stir until bchamel is thickened and bubbling.
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Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients:
1 mild, sweet onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
Oil
1 pound lean minced (ground) beef
1 cup white wine
1 vegetable soup cube
64 ounces peeled canned diced tomatoes
Preparation:
Chop onion, celery, carrot and add to a decent sized
pot with a little olive oil. Cook vegetables until tender. Add beef and cook until done. Continue to cook over low heat until all moisture has evaporated from the pan. This seems to concentrate the flavors more. Add the white wine and soup cube dissolved in about H cup hot water, stirring and cooking. Add tomatoes and simmer with the cover of the pan askew for at least 30 minutes. Make sure the sauce doesnt get too dry. Add water if necessary.
This sauce can be used for all sorts of pasta dishes. So easy and so good.
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Italian Cooking School Lasagna
Preparation:
Make a sauce of half béchamel and half Bolognese sauces, layer the sauce mixture with pre-cooked lasagna noodles, layers of grated granna padano parmesan cheese and bake in a hot oven uncovered until bubbly and brown. Sublime! Makes a very large lasagna pan. Servies 10-12.
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