I Primi Giorni a Winery Tormaresca

The First Few Days at Winery Tormaresca

If you have been following our journey so far, you know that Logan and I began a mini "externship" last Wednesday. We chose to study at Winery Tormaresca located in Minervino Puglia. We are about three and a half hours from Ugento, where we studied for twelve weeks. Since being here, we have had one day of work, a snow day, and a weekend. Here is what we have experienced thus far: 

On our first day, we worked in the kitchen on the estate for a banquet, hosting eight people. The chef, Laura, had us do a lot of different things from making focaccia to slicing potatoes. I started the day with making a focaccia that uses "burnt" flour; this is a flour turned to "ash" by baking it at a high temperature. It contributes a unique flavor to the focaccia unlike any other. I was very excited to make this as when we visited with our class about a month ago, we had this delicious focaccia. It is pretty simple to make and Laura told me it came out great.

I made a few other things, but my favorite was the ricotta cake that Laura made. It was a regular cake that incorporated ricotta as well. It baked like a regular cake (not a cheesecake), and the end result was probably the best Italian torta I have ever had. It has a creamy, soft texture and a very flavorful taste coming from the ricotta. I was able to find the recipe in one of Laura's cookbooks and I hope I can make it this week!

We were also able to plate everything for the banquet which was nice. We were not sure how it was going to be here since we are just here for about three weeks and they did not know us. Luckily, Laura is a great teacher and allows us to help out a lot!

On Friday, we woke up and got ready for work when they came up and told us there was no work because it had snowed. I looked outside and saw a very light dusting, but you must remember, it never snows here! This meant we had a three day weekend and the winery is sort of in the middle of nowhere. We spent the weekend working on some school work, blogs, and watching a lot of Netflix. We are very lucky as the winery provides us breakfast, lunch, and dinner so we go in early for meals to help or watch Laura prepare it.
I also have done a few loads of laundry... in the sink. They do not have a washer and dryer here so in the sink went the clothes! By the end of three weeks, we will be very grateful for washers and dryers! 

Chef Martin and his wife came to visit for a couple hours on Saturday and they took us into town. This town is about a twenty-minute drive away and it does not have much. We thought there was not a lot to do in Ugento, but there is not much here either! We were able to pick up a few snacks for the rest of the time here as we don't have a car and do not want to be a burden!

Laura and Alessandro brought us back to the town today to a pastry shop and to have an Aperol Spritz, Logan and I's first. It was very good! 

I hope to post at least once a week, but the WiFi is a little hit or miss here. Feel free to reach out and say hi as if I am not working, I am hanging out!

With love,
Baylee