Pamela was not an exception to her pride in her all natural ingredients. Maybe my biggest takeaway from her lessons, cooking starts with the ingredients, and more and more we must stay aware of what's available in an everyday supermarket. Pamela Johns, and her husband Johnny, own a working olive farm with a bed and breakfast where Pamela teaches cooking classes from her kitchen. Their farm is certified organic and also includes a vineyard of sangiovese grapes. This was a very special experience and unique to the trip. A much needed change of pace from our time in Florence and Rome, our time in Montepulciano was incredibly relaxing, but also full of new experiences from our time in the city.
Pamela was one to tell it like it is, but her heart for her profession was evident in every word. Her husband Johnny also welcomed us with open arms, and quickly became the group's favorite driver/manager/handy man/translator of all the trip. From Pamela, we learned about customs of Italian wine and beer, appreciating the taste of foods and drinks (and how they can compliment one another), pasta, and pizza! Johnny was our official piti pasta making instructor, about which we were all very excited. Pamela allowed us to be very hands on in cooking class, even leaving us with just a recipe on the day we made pizza dough. Because of this I feel as though I took away valuable cooking techniques which I can use still today. Of this included her very specific methods for making pasta dough, down to how many figure we are allowed to use to stir and how to clean our hands after. Leaving Pamela and Johnny's was a reiteration of the necessity to slow down and appreciate the life around us. Especially within Italian food culture, yes the food we ate was developed for a means to survive in the region which people lived, but it also became an art form, which has an incredible power of bringing people together.
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Our many wine tastings throughout the Tuscan Hills is a source of envy for whoever I tell about my adventures abroad. Many times drinking wine made from Sangiovese grapes, we tasted incredible wines special to Montepulciano and its surrounding region. We tried many roses and red wines, the special red being Vino Nobile de Montepulciano. All bottles served had the label of DOCG, which is basically just a guarantee of the wine's organic ingredients and the authentic process of making it. It's wine o'clock somewhere!
In Montepulciano, we visited a goat farm called Podere il Casale, which prided itself on organic and fresh cultivation. For our first visit, we ate a dinner which was a part of the Slow Food Movement, so all of the food served contain ingredients grown directly on the farm. This movement strives to hold onto the Italian traditions of slow cooking and eating in a world which is constantly moving faster.
The next day, half of our group returned to the goat farm and had a tour. We learned about the process of adding enzymes to the cheese and allowing it to age in order to create Pecorino. The aging of Pecorino is classified into three categories: 30, 60, or 90 days, with the cheese getting harder as it ages. I must say that despite my knowledge of the cheese making process, I was still alarmed by the amount of mold on the cheeses. This unfortunately carried with me into the cheese tasting, though it all was still an experience I could never replace. For our off days to travel, I ventured to Rome, where we stayed a 20 minute metro ride from city center. Staying in an outside neighborhood was interesting because we were not surrounded by tourists, but families going about their daily lives in Rome. Our first meal was lunch upon arrival, and we immediately felt the cafe's surprise to have customers they didn't recognize. I appreciated the slower pace, even at a counter service restaurant, which is typically fast paced and can even be overwhelming. Once in the city center, restaurant's were very similar to Florence, as they cater to tourists often. For dinner our first night, we ate a few blocks off the beaten path from the Trevi Fountain, where we presented with a menu with at least 50 different kinds of spaghetti.
Our second day in Rome, we started early and beat the crowds entering into the Colosseum. We took our time taking in the breath taking arena, then walked through the Roman Forum and up the Palentine Hill. Lunch was memorable at the Hard Rock Café, if not for the excitement of burgers and ice in our drinks, but the cost that could put you back a few. After a stop at the Spanish Steps, we headed back to our quaint neighborhood for a quiet evening. On our final day, we met first for lunch at Bonci, a pizzeria where you order at the counter and there is standing room only outside. It was amazing pizza, and quite more fast paced than our over the counter lunch place on our first day in Rome. Next, we headed over to the Vatican and again were mesmerized by the beautiful views and the historical significance of St. Peter's Basilica. We then navigated public transportation, hoping on the metro then a street car, to get to Trastevere, a beautiful neighborhood to have happy hour and enjoy each others company. We then headed back home and ate at another pizzeria, which was cool to experience as everyone clearly knew each other. Service was friendly and we had a great last meal in Rome, but have I ever said otherwise? Our travel day started about 10 hours earlier than expected due to the train strike happening. We left our great apartment at 5AM to make it on our six o'clock train to head to Montepulciano. We definitely had to problem solve, as the metro did not start running until 5:30, which wouldn't give us enough time to get to our train. We ended up ordering a driver, as we were worried about cab availability at that time as well. Looking back on the trip, I definitely left feeling more confident in my ability to travel abroad on my own. Arrivederci Roma! There's no denying it, I ate a lot of gelato this month abroad and I have no shame. It's maybe something I miss the most now that I'm back in the States: a stroll through Florence with biscotti gelato in hand. Basically found on any street corner, gelato is a very popular dessert/snack/breakfast. Just kidding; buying a gelato before noon is one guaranteed way to label yourself a tourist (not that my incredible inability to speak Italian helped keep a low profile). With every purchase of the perfect summer sweet, I was faced with two very important decisions: cup or cone, and gelato or sorbetto. While biscotti remained my favorite gelato flavor, nothing could beat strawberry and lemon sorbetto. The key difference between gelato and sorbetto is that gelato contains milk, while sorbetto does not- although I learned that not all lemon sorbetto is treated equally. Some would have a creamier texture, causing one to question into which category it fell. At the end of the day, the abundance of gelato made the trip, and even served as a bonding tool between group members- I've learned its really easy to bond with anyone over good food.
Our time at Antica Macelleria Cecchini in Chianti was one of my favorite days on the trip. Dario, the head butcher and owner of the restaurant grew up there and had an inspiring story behind his profession. Basically, his family has been butchers for generations and have prided themselves on the way they respect their cows both in their lives and after. How a butcher can truly honor a cow's sacrifice is by putting every available cut to good use. Growing up, Dario would not get to eat the best cuts, as those were saved to be sold, but he explained that his grandmother had such wonderful recipes that the lesser cuts made no difference. He told a story about how on his 18th birthday he was finally given a prime cut, and T-Bone steak, all for himself. Despite dreaming of this day his whole life, he explained that halfway through this meal he had an "ah-ha" moment that the meals his grandmother prepared were just as delicious. All of Dario's talk was centered around how the cut that could be cooked the fastest or make him the most money shouldn't be what he prioritizes for his business, but at the end of the day, respecting his cows is what will provide for his family and be rewarded. This is a lesson which can translate beyond butchery, as we can all use the reminder to slow down every now and then in order to appreciate life.
We started our experience, with wine and apertivo, one of which being bread and what one would think was garlic spread (but was actually lard). But, just as Dario's tales eluded, and what I'm queasy to admit, it tasted great. We then travelled down to where they keep their cows, a breed of which has a tougher meat and not typically used to provide food. Next, we went back to the restaurant and ate an eight course beef meal. Truly to embody Dario's catch phrase: "To beef, or not to beef?"
Touring Mercato Centrale in the peak of its business hours was to experience how restaurants and citizens alike purchase the fresh, organic ingredients they value so much to prepare their meals with. There are dozens of produce stands filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, watermelon, and more. Then the abundance of seafood, where one knows that the fish with white meat are fresh from the Mediterranean region. Finally, the butcher stands who are preparing the cuts right before your eyes. The significance of the Mercato Centrale to the local economy sunk in for me when we saw one of our cooking assistants picking up ingredients for the meal we were about to prepare. It is a historic center to a city where Florentine and Tuscan cuisine is such a uniting force between people.
In any cooking class, learning dinner, or wine tasting, our instructors always stressed the organic ingredients which went into making their cuisine. Great food starts with great ingredients, and as Pamela Johns stressed through her cooking classes, the best ingredients are the ones produced naturally, free of any chemicals, hormones, or dyes. In a world where it is harder and harder to find all natural produce and meat, the chefs whom which we interacted with prided themselves on their resistance to inorganic. In the wine world, organic grapes were always advertised, and could be guaranteed with a DOC or DOCG label on the bottle.
From our very first meal at Zaza Trattoria in Florence, I noticed the differences between the Italian and American dining experiences. When one goes to a public restaurant in the United States, there are commonplace expectations of what the experiences will be. Common expectations include an attentive waiter, free water (and ice, for that matter), and a pace to the meal which allows both the party to get to their next destination and the restaurant to turn over the table for their next customers. The outcome of which all effects the tip amount left for the hardworking waiter. These strong held expectations are maybe what made the key differences to the Italian dining experience all the more apparent, even from just one meal.
In Florence, I first noticed that it is not common for a waiter to immediately greet a new party as they sit at their table. Then, after taking our order, and bringing us our meal, they would not continuously stop back by the table and check if we needed anything. Where this may seem to be subpar waiting in an American restaurant, I believe this practice embodied the Italian food culture as a time to relax and enjoy the company one is with, making it rude for the waiter to constantly interrupt. Especially in Florence, where the daily life of its citizens is moving faster and faster, Italians are nostalgic for the "simpler times" of a slower paced living, and can hold on to this cultural practice through meal times. Not only is it apparent through the slow pace of a dinner out, but also the unpopularity of take away coffee. Even if for only five minutes, a break or two (or three) throughout ones day, where all one can simply pause for a moment and enjoy some of the best coffee in the world is valued. Also different to the American dining experience is that Italian restaurants do not necessarily expect one to tip their waiter. Even when I inquired about the service charge, it was not described as added gratuity, but what covers the cost of bread or sometimes water. Maybe this all points back to the fact that the Italian dining experience, yes is centered around amazing food and wine, but also is so much about the people it brings together to sit and enjoy each others company. With this perspective, little things like the pace of the meal, or the attentiveness of the waiter, doesn't seem nearly as important as it does in the United States. Which, I believe, is something we can all learn from, and is a reminder of what is truly important. |