A Magical First Time

I don’t know if it is because I have romanticized the experience over the years, but I  remember my first cooking class in Europe as a magical day.  It was my first time to Europe actually.  Little sister and I were on a food tour organized through Marlin Travel which included a host from Food Network Canada.  We were lucky to be accompanied by David Adjey, famous from the show Restaurant Makeover, who brought a lot of passion, knowledge and insight on Italian food from his own time spent in the country.

The experience began with a walk uphill, through the cooking school’s own olive orchard, to a villa with breathtaking views.  Outside, we found bushes of rosemary and sage, which we later used in the pasta sauce we made. Both herbs adding an earthiness to the sauce. A sauce which was made with ground beef and veal and vegetables that were chopped finely with the herbs in a food processor before being added to the pot.  They used olive oil pressed from their own olives and the fat was not drained off of the meat after browning.  This allowed the sauce to coat the pasta and helped to create a silky mouth feel to the dish.

The pasta making portion of the class was interesting as the instructor at the head of the table didn’t speak any English but we followed along fairly well as we all spoke the language of food.

We didn’t use any measurements and the pasta was mixed, kneaded, rolled and cut by hand.  We never even saw a pasta roller in the rustic villa’s kitchen.  This created lovely, fat ribbons of pasta with a more tender bite compared to pasta that is put through a roller.

 

The pasta was accompanied by a steak, perfectly seared rare in a cast iron skillet.  What was unique about this steak was that as they let the steak rest on a plate before slicing, they warmed olive oil and rosemary in the pan which they drizzled over the sliced steak.  This added additional richness and a beautiful herbal perfume to the meat.

My favourite part of the experience was enjoying the meal with the group and washing it down with a local Chianti.  Enjoying the view while making more food memories to share with you.