Siena, Italia
This morning, once the sun got up, looking out the window of the apartment, my eyes were greeted by what appeared to be a cold, wet day. My phone said it was 0° C (32) and there was a good chance of rain in the late afternoon, but looking down on the street there are a lot of people with umbrellas and a few of them are in being used.
The first order of business was to get my homework done. Since this is the last full day here it is also a good day to make sure all of our laundry is done. A load of laundry went it, my homework got done, and my DuoLingo lesson for the day completed. A very productive morning.
We walked to class, and four hours later we were finished. The day being Giovedì means we have a cooking class tonight. So lunch should have been light. However, we decided to La Rose for Chinese food. A nice bowl of hot and sour soup for me, and a bowl of Won Ton soup for Mary. This was expanded into green beans with spicy pork, pineapple fried rice, pot stickers, and lemon chicken, although this time we ordered in not fried. It was particularly satisfying. The warmth of the meal and cold of the day just seemed to go along just right.
After lunch it was back to the apartment. Finishing up the washing, doing homework, a short pisolino, a game of cards, then it was time to head back to school. We stopped along the way and bought a couple bottles of Grappa. One traditional and one pear flavored. We had told Daniek and Felicity we would teach them about grappa.
Dinner was Sfoglia agli spinachi, Risotto alla zucca gialla, cotolette alla Milanese, fresh cut French fries and canticchi served with Vin Santo. Surprisingly, at least to me, the risotto was very good. Sergio said he was using Roman rise. It looked like a short grain rice, and was a little dark or a light brown in color. I looked for the package or box but couldn’t find it. Looking up types of rice on google, I couldn’t find “Roman” rice – other than a dish served in Roma. We normally use either Carnaroli (preferred) or Arborio.
The risotto may have been undercooked. The rice was still a little crunchy, which Sergio said was intentional. Mushy wouldn’t be good, but crunchy isn’t either. Other than that, the color and flavor were good. I think Maddie will like this dish.
The cotolette and sfoglia were served together. It was supposed to be the cotolette and risotto together, but I don’t think the sfoglia came out the way Sergio wanted. At first he thought it was undercooked. It didn’t seem to set properly. Not being a spinachi fan I really didn’t care all that much if it was even on the plate.
Now I tried the sfoglia. Mary thought it wasn’t very good and probably overcooked. I am going to agree with that. One bite and I was done. Hey, the French fries were good! The cotolette was made using thinly slice beef steak. Chicken, turkey or veal are ok, but regular beef not all that good. Sergio only used an egg wash and breadcrumbs. He said that in Sicily they didn’t use anything else. Normally, a cotolette alla Milanese is cooked in butter. Sergio used oil. Clarified butter would have been much better. Maybe a little Italian spice in the breadcrumbs, or at least a little parsley added just before being served.
None of this is a complaint about the cooking class. The cooking classes are more than just the food, although the food is one of the reasons for going. It is about meeting other students outside of class and having an opportunity to practice your Italian. It has been fun meeting EMI, John, Felicity, Flora, Daniek, and other students. You also get to meet people from other places. Flora from France, Felicity from Australia, EMI from Japan, John, as from Sacramento, Jacob from Switzerland, and Daniek from Amsterdam. It is fun.
We sat at the dinning table and talked about things, drank wine and ate food. The cantucci and Vin Santo were good. We made the cantucci without using anise. Normally I don’t like cantucci but if you leave out the anise it is very nice.
We did a little tasting of the grappa. Comparing the traditional with the pear. Felicity and Daniek weren’t very impressed with it. Daniek even asked how we knew about these things. It is an advantage of being old. You have experienced more things than they have in their short lives. They are both 23.
We left the bottles of grappa with Daniek, bid everyone a good night and headed back to the apartment. John and I exchanged email information. I am going to help him apply for Italian citizenship.
Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico e Maria.
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