Just another update from Florence! Things are going well here. I have plans to visit Siena tomorrow and a vineyard in Chianti this Saturday with folks from our school and I am very excited about it. Other than that, I’m in class from morning till evening Monday through Wednesday.
Oh, our power has gone out twice now. apparently using the oven and anything else causes us to blow the fuse. This also causes us to loose hot water. After 5 days, we finally got our hot water back. nothing like showering with freezing cold water.
Classes are going well. I’m slowly beginning to understand the Italian language. It’s difficult though, and it doesn’t help that my brain has suddenly decided to remember how to speak French! Yes, between English, Farsi, and the little French I know, speaking in Italian has had its entertaining moments. Maybe if I decide to learn German in a few years I’ll suddenly be able to speak Italian correctly. My teacher is very patient though, and I’m appreciative of that.
Cooking class is, well it’s been an adventure all by itself. Tuesday, the day after the whole Mackerel ordeal, someone at the school thought we needed to learn even more about fish! So we made FISH SOUP! What goes into fish soup you ask? Well, let me tell you (warning, you may want to vomit after reading this): squids, calamari, shellfish, mussels, dogfish (??), and small fish. After they cook for a little while, they go through a food mill to separate the bones and stuff. Doesn’t that just sound YUMMY?? Yeah, moving on…
We also made Polpette Di Baccala, or Balls of Salted Cod fish. Now, this was one of the better foods we had made. They were basically like crab cakes with cod in them with a delicious tomato sauce to accompany it. Take a look for yourself (yes, I did decorate this plate)
Fried Cod Balls
And finally, for dessert, we made Buccellato, which was a sort of bread topped with strawberries set in red wine for an hour.
Strawberries soaking in red wine
Delicious! As with many of the other recipes, there are a few things I would change, but still, it was a great starting point! This was my main project for the day. I avoided both other dishes due to the presence of fish again. I even resorted to cleaning dishes so I could avoid the fish.
Well, I think that’s all for now. Gonna continue enjoying my thursday. I call it my thursday, cuz i get to spend it however i want. Oh, and I promise, the next post will have nothing to do with fish. Even better, maybe it will be about wine!!
Ciao,
Sheila
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