Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Siena, Italia

Yesterday was cold, but this morning it is even colder. Hard to believe. Can’t wait to get back to Torino and pull the winter clothes out of the suitcase. Mind you, Torino will be even colder. On Saturday, when we arrive, they will have a low of -7° C and a high of 7° C.  Just in case you don’t read C, that is a low of 19° F and a high of 44°. This is predicted to come with a severe wind warning.

The order of the day is like any other day in the life of a student. Get up, get dressed, walk out into the cold to school, go to the freezing classroom, listen to your lesson, take a break for coffee, the Italians are a little more civilized in this respect. They don’t expect anyone to sit for more than 90 minutes in the morning without stopping for a coffee break.

School ended at one. The temperature was or at least felt a little warmer. It was certainly warmer outside of the classroom than in. An advantage in the summer, a disadvantage in the winter.

We walked to Conad and got some things for lunch. I got chicken brodo and tortellini with prosciutto for my lunch. Nice warm soup! Again, we went back to the apartment, had lunch and did our homework.

Then we played cards. Mary won! I maybe on a losing streak? At 17:00 we left for school to attend the cooking lesson. Tonight we are making Sformato di zucchine filanti al forno, Lasagna al pesto di Beatrice, Bocconcini di pollo al limone, Carciofi fritti, and Zuppa inglese. The literal translation is: Baked Stringy Zucchini Flan, Beatrice's Pesto Lasagna, Lemon Chicken Bites, Fried Artichokes, and Zuppa Inglese.

Sformato di zucchine filanti al forno is basically a gluten-free lasagna. Excellent flavor and texture. It was served as an anti-pasto but it is really more of a side dish. Lasagna al pesto is just that. Lasagna without meat. We made a Béchamel sauce, butter, flour, milk and a little nutmeg. The béchamel was then mixed with the pesto and spread between the pasta sheets.

Bocconcini di pollo al limone is a poor rendition of Chef Cho’s lemon chicken. Some idea, fired pieces of chicken covered in a lemony sauce. Tasty but not much on the presentation. The lemon chicken was served with the Carciofi fritti (fried artichoke pieces).

Now in California, and probably throughout the United States, we are used to eating the large globe or Jerusalem artichokes. In Italy them have more common sense than to do that. There are a variety of artichokes. Unfortunately, they go by different name depending on where you are buying them. We are in Siena, so of course, they are called Siena. The Siena artichoke is about four inches in diameter. It was born of a breeding program here in central Italy. It has a small choke and a wine red color. It is slow growing and not grown in large quantities, it usually weighs less than 500 grams, and has a heart tender enough to be eaten raw. This similar to but not the same as the Romanesco artichoke used in making Carciofi alla Romana, which is served often in Roma.

Now the main difference between artichokes we eat in the US and those in Italy, is how you eat them. In the US we eat varieties that require you to suck the meat off the petals because the leaves are tough and have prickly points. Here you can eat the whole damn thing. Ok, you do cut the top off thus eliminating the throne points on some varieties. But no matter which variety you choose here Siena, Anzio, Romanesco, Chianti, etc, you can eat the choke.

Now Zuppa Ingelese has nothing to with England. It is actually a very Italian dessert, born between Emilia and Tuscany. It is so called because it originally contained rum, the drink of Her Majesty's sailors. Simple dish, milk, sugar, flour, little lemon, biscotti some liquor, of your choice, and coco powder. We used a red liquor, Alchermes, mostly because of the color. It was wonderful.

After dinner we headed home and to bed. It was after 21:00 when we got home.

Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico e Maria