Holy Cannoli! The Adventures of the Sweet Couple

At the end of the block, we had to prepare a lunch for outside guests to enjoy at the Castello. This was an excellent opportunity to show what we have learned since being in Italy. Some dishes were influenced by dishes we prepared in class, while others were inspired by dishes enjoyed at restaurants in the area.  For this lunch, we had to prepare a four-course meal for 12 guests that we, as a class, invited. My group chose dessert (which I was very excited about), while other groups prepared an appetizer, pasta, and entree course. We also had to come up with a theme and we chose " Cibo da Favola Al Castello,"   which was basically a meal inspired by folktales. This means that each course had a folktale/fairytale to go along with it. From wine pairings to table decoration, this was a great lunch that as a class, we executed pretty well. First Course (Appetizer)  Camberi al rosmarino con fagioli e arancia  Bean puree with shrimp & orange Second...

Lombardia is located in northern Italy, between Venice and Piemonte. This region has high mountains in the North, but it also has a huge part of the Po Valley running through it, meaning there are a lot of flat lands as well. Excellent wines are produced in the Pavia area, located in the southwest area of the region, in the hills. The most important population of this region is the Camuni people, which is an ancient population located in Cal Camonica during the Iron Age. I decided to dig a little deeper into the population and here is what I found: This population was referred to as the ancient Camuni to distinguish them from the people who were already living in the area. This population was some of the greatest rock art producers in all of Europe, so much so that their name is linked to the famous rock engravings of Valcamonica. The area of Cal Camonica in which they inhabited was already being populated since the Neolithic period. This population of people was dominated by the Ro...

A lot of people are familar with this region because of the famous wine that they produce. We will talk about wine a little later, but I think it is important to understand the history behind each region and the reasons they eat the things that they do. Piemonte is made up of very high mountains, but also very low lands where the Po Valley begins. There are very few hills except for in the Langhe region, where they produce a lot of excellent wine. The Liguri people went to Piemonte from Ligiuria and they stated autonomous for many centuries, even after being dominated by the Romans. After the barbarians cam though, they began to be divided into smaller counties, seperating the region. It was not until the Savoia family, who started to unify Piemonte, which took many years due to wars and other factors. Eventually, the Savoia family were the ones who began speaking about unitying all of Italy with the aristocracy, which happened in 1861. The Savoia family is as important to Italy as...

First, let's figure out where this region even is! I am not going to lie, before this lecture I had no idea that this was even a region here in Italy. This region is located in North East Italy, the furthest east region. It is also the fifth smallest region of Italy but is extremely important. During the Roman empire, this made the region very important because of the location in relation to the sea and the geographical closeness to other nations. Traces of the Romans are still visible in this region today, especially in the Roman-founded city of Aquileia, along the Natiso River. The area served as a strategic frontier fortress and was put in place to protect the Veneti. There are many fish scenery mosaics showing the importance of fishing in this area. The name Friuli Venezia Giulia  comes from the encompassing historical areas of Fruili and a small portion of Venezia Giulia. Until 2001, the name was written as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, until a modification in the It...

Trentino Alto Adige is located in northeast Italy, composed of many mountains. The Dolomiti  is a specific group of Appalachian mountains that run through this region, which affects the climate and food eaten by its people. I looked further into the history of this very interesting, German-influenced region and here is what I found: In 15 BC, Trentino Alto Adige was conquered by the Romans and when this empire eventually fell, it was divided between the invasion of the Germans, the Alamannic Vinschgau, and the Bavarians. This region was then actually 3 very different areas. After the Kingdom of Italy was created by Charlemagne, the Marquisate of Verona received the "leftovers" of the land. This rich history explains the influence on the cuisine of this region because it is very different from most other Italian dishes. For many years after this, the region was passed around many times through different invasions and conquerings. Fast forwarding to World War I, ther...

Venice is the land of mountains and rivers, creating an enviornment a perfect for rich foods . The Venetians inhabited this land many years ago, coming from Eastern Europe. They are known for very strong traditions, mainly due to their ability to keep their independence for a long time. Since the VI century BC, the Venetian people held a very strong political, ethnical, and cultural identity. Unlike many other regions throughout Italy, the cuisine of Venice is very unified, where in other regions, each city has a different twist. Their cusine is built around trading on the sea; things like spices, techniques, and other foods were brought to Venice from other nations. The 4 main stables of their cuisine is built upon polenta, beans, stock fish, and rice. These 4 stables were shown throughout the dishes we made today, with each containing one of these ingredients. Fun Fact of the Day  List the DOP and IGP products of Venice.  Due to their rich cultural history, it is to no...

Electrolux is a kitchen equipment provider who specialized in industrial kitchens. From ovens to blast chillers, they have many different types of equipment for everyone’s kitchen needs.  Today, we had a Chef from Electrolux come and show us all of the different things that the ovens can do. We learned how to cook veggies and keep them green and even how to sous vide without water! This is something I did not even know was possible but with their air-o-steam oven, just a high amount of steam allows one to sous vide. This would be good for doing large banquets or a busy night because you could do a lot at one time. When it comes to doing smaller amounts, I probably would not use a whole oven for this.  These ovens also have a proofing setting. This is great because a proof box is both expensive and takes up more valuable space. Now with one oven, it allows you to do two things at once. When on the proofing setting there is no light because light can cause extra heat, aff...

Salumi are Italian cold cuts often made from pork, but can also be made from beef and other animals. There are A LOT of different types of salumi from prosciutto to mortadella. Salami is a specific type of salumi that is actually a cured sausage made from either beef or pork. It is fermented and air-dried, like many other types of salumi. Now that we have those two differences set aside, lets see where salumi came from! The word salumi originates from the Latin word sale, or salt. As I spoke about in a previous blog, salumi came to be when pigs started to be farmed, not wild. When the pigs were wild, people would watch after them, but they did not need to feed them because there was plenty of food in the woods. When they became sheltered, farmers needed to feed the pigs and it got very expensive. If they were to slaughter the pigs and just sell the meat, they would be lucky to break even. This is when salumi began because the farmers discovered if they made the meat into salumi...

Centuries ago, Liguria was populated by Liguri people who were expert traders and had a lot of interaction with other regions on the Mediterranean Sea. In the 1500s, the Liguri population traveled to many different areas including Northern Africa, England, Asia, and Spain. You may know this, but Christopher Columbus was Genovese, but why did he start his trip around the world in Spain? Well, the Genovese people were great bankers who dealt with the wealth of Spain. At the time of his trip, he was in Spain for this reason. Due to their location and small size of only 26 km wide at the most, a lot of their food was influenced by other regions. The mountains stretch right through the region, therefore they have difficulty growing many things. For them, fish and wild herbs are very important in their cuisine. They do not have rice or cows, therefore their cuisine is different from many others. The had a lot of smaller animals like lamb and rabbit because the sloping hills would not be ...

Tuscany is known for some great wine and food, but let's look back on where Tuscany began.  Dating back to 1,000 BC, the Etruscan people inhabited Tuscany. They moved in many different directions around Italy, but more importantly, they began draining the swamps of the Padana. The Etruscan people were the first to do a lot of things and actually were the ones to teach the Romans. The Romans got a lot of the credit because they became faster and better at the skills. The population was very artistic with many paintings, drawings, and sculptures still around today. They were also good mariners, but focused more on traveling on the swamps and rivers of Italy, rather than the sea. For this population, food was very important. They held banquets in tombs and ate multiple times a day, while the Romans only ate once. On tombs today, the drawings reveal tools for pasta making and through other drawings, we can see their love for food. The Etruscan people ate a lot of beans, "yogur...

Emilia Romagna is a region made up of both Emilia and Romagna, located in Northern Italy. This region contains a lot of flat land and the spine of Italy runs straight through. In this region sits Bologna, which began to flourish around year 1,000. The first university to be created in all of Europe was in Bologna, which is why it is referred to as la dotta. Bologna is also referred to as la grassa and la rossa: La grassa:  so much food and fat! In this region, there are a lot of pigs, therefore they use a lot of pork fat and meat. La rossa: Because this city was built in Roman time, they built a huge oven to make the bricks to built the city. Another region within Emilia Romagna is Parma, which holds within its city borders the headquarter of slow foods because Emilia Romagna has so many different and unique ingredients, therefore a lot of slow food procedures. Parma is also known for producing Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma. Within this region, fish is very imp...

The region of Marche is located on the Adriatic sea (Eastern Italy) and is north of Abruzzo and east of Umbria and Rome. This region focuses on simple, but extremely flavorful food. From warm beaches of  Riviera del Conero  to the snow capped  Monti Sibillini, this region has weather of all kinds. Between the beaches and the mountains, there are flat lands that are famous world wide. They produce legumes, especially lentils, with no pesticides, all organic! The dishes we created today were all traditional dishes of the Marche region. Here is some of the dishes and notes I have about them: Vincisgrassi This is layered similar to a lasagna, but has a ton of layers, expanding up to 32! This dish is layered with a ragu sauce containing panchetta, chicken livers/hearts, ground beef, and ground pork. The flavor from this sauce is unlike any other because of the presence of the livers and hearts. They add a flavor to it that is sweet and salty. The layers are made up o...