The weekend, and spring break, ended in a very chill way. Anna, Liane, and I played a particularly entertaining game of Scrabble – Jack’s travel set – drank wine, and ate bread and cheese. I’m not sure if we went out afterwards or not.
Monday my food styling class was cancelled due to the opening of Ganzo, the school’s new “cultural association.” This cold open would involve aperitivo and dinner at the actual location and smaller, separate, but related aperitivo and dinner at school. The video guy who was supposed to film class that day was busy at Ganzo, and our teacher needed to cook all day for the school event.
There was also the empty classroom. Jack had called me four minutes before class asking if it was cancelled because no one was there. He, I, and only one or two other people had shown up.
“You can stick around if you still want to be in the kitchen today,” our professor told us after dismissing us.
“Well, do you want any help or would we just get in the way?”
He somehow looked all of us in the eye and smiled. “I need you.”
And there it was. A few hours of kitchen prep. No crazy compounds. No flash-freezing. Just the pure cooking that I love to do.
Since I had to leave for my next class, I can’t tell you all what my ingredients turned into eventually. I just remember cleaning, slicing, and then sautéing or blanching artichokes. The sautéed ones were sautéed in olive oil with onions I had diced. The blanched ones were to be topped with slices of pecorino cheese, but I wasn’t around for that. There was also a immense pot of vegetable stock and an only slightly smaller pot of ragu that both needed from-scratch prep.
My computer design class was likewise canceled due to a lack of attendance. Really the teacher told us we could leave early, as early as we wanted. I hung around until the opening of Ganzo, which comedically is next door to The Girls’ Next Door apartment. It was the construction they’ve been complaining about for months.
The opening was very fun. There was a free aperitivo. I had I-don’t-know-how-many glasses of spumante and then wine. Hor d’ouvres of various crostini, spinach fritatta, artichoke quiche, calamari, and finger sandwiches made of either smoked salmon or mortadella.
Probably half the people I know from school were there including Cassie, a girl I’d met at the baggage claim in the airport and hadn’t seen again until then.
After aperitivo, a few of us went with Ross on his quest to find a place ot watch the Mets game. That sadly was to no avail. We walked around another hour or so waiting for the Nazionale girls to arrive at the train station from spring break. Really we were waiting to say our umpteenth (and actually final) goodbye to Prima. Due to a combination of tiredness, drunkenness, and medication, it was surprisingly and pleasantly low-key.
Tuesday I was so tired that I slept in until lunch, which I grabbed at doner kebap. I only stopped by school to check e-mail in the library and then went home to eat the pasta Giuseppe had made. I met up with Agata and Sergio at the bar to catch the end of aperitivo. It was sushi night, so I couldn’t resist. We went to the cultural association – our regular one, not the new one – to play foosball and pool. Cesare played his set and even opened with my request of “Sweat (a la la la long).” And I guess Agata and I are legitimate friends now because it was a really fun night.
Wednesday in food writing our professor asked why we didn't go to the opening. I replied that I had attended in full force. She answered, verbatim: "I know you were there. I saw you and your thousand glasses of champagne." Great. Italian went as usual. I was starving after, so I went straight to Swedish aperitivo at the bar. Apparently there are lots of Swedes here in Florence, and Swedish girls draw Italian guys. So that’s why. I don’t know what I ate, but everything was good. I did recognize the famous meatballs with lingonbery sauce. Then it was off to the cultural association with a bunch of people for a bit. Then... an episode way too awesome to publish online. You’ll have to ask me for details.
Thursday was a great Italian Food & Society class. It was the “cooking with wine” session. Try this wine, we’re making veal saltimbocca with it. Now pair the saltimbocca with this wine while you eat it. Try this wine, we’re making cenci for dessert with it. Now pair the cenci with this wine. The professor also said “bravissimo” and “perfect” to both of my dishes, which hasn’t happened in either of my cooking classes yet!
Food photography was decidedly less fun. We didn’t really do any work, just learned more life lessons from our teacher and planned the rest of the semester.
I went over to Liane’s, where she, Cassie, and Anna were well into a few bottles of white wine. We went out to a really cool bar that I plan on going back to, where we all get separated but I made new friends: Sarah, Laura, and Emily. They all go to FUA and live in an apartment surprisingly near mine. And we realized while talking we have a few mutual friends and have crossed paths a few times but had never been introduced.
Friday Henk and I went to the sushi place for lunch, and then I went with a group from school on the gelato lab walking tour. We went to Grom, where the owner showed us exactly how to make a batch of stracciatella (cream with chocolate shavings). Fresh out of the machine, it was like soft-serve ice cream. Then it had to go into the freezer to be prepared for actual service. The fresh stuff was so incredible though. We also got free cups of two flavors of our choice. I asked him for his two recommendations, and he gave me toroncino, a nougat one, and café, an unsweetened but creamy coffee one that pairs well with it.
Wasted away the afternoon then Henk and I hit Trattoria Tirovino for dinner and decidedly too much wine. We ordered a bottle for our meal, but since they’re so kind to their regular customers (like me) they gave us prosecco aperitifs and grappa digestifs. I usually say grappa is Italian for “rubbing alcohol,” but theirs was surprisingly good.
After that we met up with one of Henk’s friends at Piazza Signoria then chilled out the night at Eby’s Bar, “the sangria place.”
Saturday I don’t know what I did all day. Sitting. Reading. Napping. Around eight o’clock I went downstairs to Anna’s for a dinner party with her, Liane, and Cassie. Anna made that cheese, chicken, mayo, onion, and potato casserole of hers. It was even better this time. Cassie had brought bread, bell peppers, and asparagus. We sliced the bread and bell peppers and put out some balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping. I sautéed the asparagus in butter, olive oil, salt and pepper and then sliced some cheese over them. The wine got drank along with Anna’s Absolut (Soviet, Russian, obviously). We took a walk to Cassie’s dorm of an apartment, and she gave us a tour of it. After a quick stop to the train station pharmacy and the nearby McDonalds, we split up. I’m not really sure why we went to McDonalds because we ate so much at dinner. But hey, it happens. The three girls went home, and I went to go meet up with John, Helen, et al at a bar near my house.
Monday my food styling class was cancelled due to the opening of Ganzo, the school’s new “cultural association.” This cold open would involve aperitivo and dinner at the actual location and smaller, separate, but related aperitivo and dinner at school. The video guy who was supposed to film class that day was busy at Ganzo, and our teacher needed to cook all day for the school event.
There was also the empty classroom. Jack had called me four minutes before class asking if it was cancelled because no one was there. He, I, and only one or two other people had shown up.
“You can stick around if you still want to be in the kitchen today,” our professor told us after dismissing us.
“Well, do you want any help or would we just get in the way?”
He somehow looked all of us in the eye and smiled. “I need you.”
And there it was. A few hours of kitchen prep. No crazy compounds. No flash-freezing. Just the pure cooking that I love to do.
Since I had to leave for my next class, I can’t tell you all what my ingredients turned into eventually. I just remember cleaning, slicing, and then sautéing or blanching artichokes. The sautéed ones were sautéed in olive oil with onions I had diced. The blanched ones were to be topped with slices of pecorino cheese, but I wasn’t around for that. There was also a immense pot of vegetable stock and an only slightly smaller pot of ragu that both needed from-scratch prep.
My computer design class was likewise canceled due to a lack of attendance. Really the teacher told us we could leave early, as early as we wanted. I hung around until the opening of Ganzo, which comedically is next door to The Girls’ Next Door apartment. It was the construction they’ve been complaining about for months.
The opening was very fun. There was a free aperitivo. I had I-don’t-know-how-many glasses of spumante and then wine. Hor d’ouvres of various crostini, spinach fritatta, artichoke quiche, calamari, and finger sandwiches made of either smoked salmon or mortadella.
Probably half the people I know from school were there including Cassie, a girl I’d met at the baggage claim in the airport and hadn’t seen again until then.
After aperitivo, a few of us went with Ross on his quest to find a place ot watch the Mets game. That sadly was to no avail. We walked around another hour or so waiting for the Nazionale girls to arrive at the train station from spring break. Really we were waiting to say our umpteenth (and actually final) goodbye to Prima. Due to a combination of tiredness, drunkenness, and medication, it was surprisingly and pleasantly low-key.
Tuesday I was so tired that I slept in until lunch, which I grabbed at doner kebap. I only stopped by school to check e-mail in the library and then went home to eat the pasta Giuseppe had made. I met up with Agata and Sergio at the bar to catch the end of aperitivo. It was sushi night, so I couldn’t resist. We went to the cultural association – our regular one, not the new one – to play foosball and pool. Cesare played his set and even opened with my request of “Sweat (a la la la long).” And I guess Agata and I are legitimate friends now because it was a really fun night.
Wednesday in food writing our professor asked why we didn't go to the opening. I replied that I had attended in full force. She answered, verbatim: "I know you were there. I saw you and your thousand glasses of champagne." Great. Italian went as usual. I was starving after, so I went straight to Swedish aperitivo at the bar. Apparently there are lots of Swedes here in Florence, and Swedish girls draw Italian guys. So that’s why. I don’t know what I ate, but everything was good. I did recognize the famous meatballs with lingonbery sauce. Then it was off to the cultural association with a bunch of people for a bit. Then... an episode way too awesome to publish online. You’ll have to ask me for details.
Thursday was a great Italian Food & Society class. It was the “cooking with wine” session. Try this wine, we’re making veal saltimbocca with it. Now pair the saltimbocca with this wine while you eat it. Try this wine, we’re making cenci for dessert with it. Now pair the cenci with this wine. The professor also said “bravissimo” and “perfect” to both of my dishes, which hasn’t happened in either of my cooking classes yet!
Food photography was decidedly less fun. We didn’t really do any work, just learned more life lessons from our teacher and planned the rest of the semester.
I went over to Liane’s, where she, Cassie, and Anna were well into a few bottles of white wine. We went out to a really cool bar that I plan on going back to, where we all get separated but I made new friends: Sarah, Laura, and Emily. They all go to FUA and live in an apartment surprisingly near mine. And we realized while talking we have a few mutual friends and have crossed paths a few times but had never been introduced.
Friday Henk and I went to the sushi place for lunch, and then I went with a group from school on the gelato lab walking tour. We went to Grom, where the owner showed us exactly how to make a batch of stracciatella (cream with chocolate shavings). Fresh out of the machine, it was like soft-serve ice cream. Then it had to go into the freezer to be prepared for actual service. The fresh stuff was so incredible though. We also got free cups of two flavors of our choice. I asked him for his two recommendations, and he gave me toroncino, a nougat one, and café, an unsweetened but creamy coffee one that pairs well with it.
Wasted away the afternoon then Henk and I hit Trattoria Tirovino for dinner and decidedly too much wine. We ordered a bottle for our meal, but since they’re so kind to their regular customers (like me) they gave us prosecco aperitifs and grappa digestifs. I usually say grappa is Italian for “rubbing alcohol,” but theirs was surprisingly good.
After that we met up with one of Henk’s friends at Piazza Signoria then chilled out the night at Eby’s Bar, “the sangria place.”
Saturday I don’t know what I did all day. Sitting. Reading. Napping. Around eight o’clock I went downstairs to Anna’s for a dinner party with her, Liane, and Cassie. Anna made that cheese, chicken, mayo, onion, and potato casserole of hers. It was even better this time. Cassie had brought bread, bell peppers, and asparagus. We sliced the bread and bell peppers and put out some balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping. I sautéed the asparagus in butter, olive oil, salt and pepper and then sliced some cheese over them. The wine got drank along with Anna’s Absolut (Soviet, Russian, obviously). We took a walk to Cassie’s dorm of an apartment, and she gave us a tour of it. After a quick stop to the train station pharmacy and the nearby McDonalds, we split up. I’m not really sure why we went to McDonalds because we ate so much at dinner. But hey, it happens. The three girls went home, and I went to go meet up with John, Helen, et al at a bar near my house.
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People should read this.
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