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Monday, February 16th, 2009

Sitting at my table, reflecting upon my week...I find that I have forgotten to tell you readers about my new plan. No, it's not a new plan for world domination - I've already tried and failed miserably and my ego is still mending - it's my plan for this here blog of mine. I've decided that, rather than write a post for every single day that passes, I will only post if I feel that I have done something worthy of posting or if I have seen something I'd like to share. As I wrote to my grandmother today in an email, "...I'm only going to write posts every couple days and only about the most important happenings. I figure it's better to write really well about really amazing things than to write semi-well about only half-interesting things. Who cares what we ate for lunch, anyway?" Of course, I went on to tell my grandmother that there is to be an exception made for a certain Pizzeria that I ate at in Roma, where the pizza crust melts in your mouth, and a Gelateria here in Firenze, where the gelato is so good that you wish it wouldn't melt in your mouth, both of which I plan on bringing both my grandmother and my mother to.

I digress.

This past week I attended class, as always, on lunedi, martedi, and mercoledi, completed my homework and reading assignments, and did all things related to my schooling. I'm not on vacation, after all (something that I don't think everyone who says 'I'm so jealousss' realizes). I am finding that I love all of my classes. This is really quite a statement as a semester full of good classes rarely happens to a person. Lunedi ho Italiano at 9am and I really do love it. The likenesses between espanol ed italiano are strikingly abundant and thus I find it very easy to understand my teacher while she rattles off different terms and rules in italiano. I really do feel sorry for the other girls in my class who stare dumbfoundedly at the teacher for most of the lessons, muttering to each other about how they have no idea what is going on. But, at the same time, one would think that those same girls would raise their hands and ask questions if they didn't understand...apparently not. I have gotten many a sideways glance when I speak up and answer the teachers domandi (questions). Nobody else will!

My list of great classes continues on lunedi at 6pm with Web Design. I may have posted this before, but I love listening to accents. Aside from my teacher's accent being enjoyable, though, I like this class because of the fun that I have in it. Manipulating a real-life-image feels so powerful in so many ways. I can take a portrait and make the subject of it look completely opposite. I can take that same subject and then put them in front of a whole new background. Amazing!

Martedi ho Cibo Italiano, Food of Italy, at 9am. This class, if my life depended on it, I would probably say is my favorite. Last week was my first lesson during which we, as a class, cooked a full dinner...and ate it for breakfast! 

The Antipasto that one group of studenti prepared, pictured below, was Canederli Tirolesi, or Tyrolean Dumplings. This dish is a favorite in the northern state of Trentino - Alto Adige, Italy. Trentino, an Italian-speaking town, is located just south of Alto Adige, where the main dialect is German and where these dumplings are called Knodel. This dish is quite simply german, consisting of various herbs and spices, bread, eggs, and Speck - a type of salt-cured ham similar to the Italian prosciutto. After all of the ingredients are mixed together and rolled into egg-sized balls, they are boiled in stock for 20 minutes and then plated and covered with a layer of fresh Parmesan.

The next dish, and the one that absolutely nobody wanted to be in charge of cooking - or eating, for that matter - was Fegato alla veneziana, Liver, Venetian Style. I was the only one who actually wanted to cook this dish, but was joined by another girl in the class and, later, the only guy in the class. The girl and I first had to clean up the liver by slicing off any fatty excess or grizzle, and then cutting the liver into small strips. We then chopped up some onion and parsley. After sautéing the onions in some olive oil and buttter we added the liver, browned it, added the parsley and some salt and pepper, and finally some sweet white wine to complement the sweetness of the liver and onions. The outcome of this dish was delicious. I love to try new foods, and don't have any food aversions to speak of, so this dish was the cherry on top for me in this lesson. Too bad only the teacher, myself, and the only guy in the class actually liked it. The majority of the dish was thrown out. What a waste.

The dessert of the day, and the dish that absolutely everyone wanted to make, was Tiramisu. Tiramisu is actually a fairly young dessert, most popularly served in Veneto (Venice). Simply made it calls for marscapone cheese, eggs, espresso powder, sponge finger cookies, and sometimes liquor, among other ingredients. A well-made Tiramisu dessert is usually allowed to sit in the refrigerator for a good six hours before being served. 

We also prepared a frittata as an appetizer, which was the first thing to be inhaled by the class - thus the lack of photo. I've decided that I don't need to eat dinner the night before or breakfast the day of this class. We make so much food!

This weekend it was instilled further in my mind that delights of the gastronomic kind are most certainly highlighted here in Italy. Saturday, upon arriving in Veneza the group with which I was traveling was given a tour of the islands Murano and Burano, one famous for its array of beautifully colored houses, and one for its specialty in glass production. This past weekend on my trip to Venice I was lucky enough to have a complete Venetian Carnivale Dinner: Antipasti, 3 Primi, and Tiramisu to die for. Along with a bottle of Venetian Red Wine, 2007, and several bottles of Aqua Naturale, the meal was definitely a perfect way to end the busy day.

Apologies for the belated post --- many more posts (with much better quality) to come - and soon - my dear readers.