FOOD FEST!

So today I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon cooking with an Italian chef and professor in the fall here in Roma. The goal was to experience a multi course Italian meal and understand the social atmosphere of the traditional Italian meal.

Here we go.

So we arrived and spend the first hour or so starting the cooking, Robert (the chef) knew a lot about the history of Italian cooking and what makes it so good. Just to get some of it out of the way...

Italy until the 1860's was divided into a series of city-states (Lazio, Tuscany, Lombadry...) When Vitorrio Emanuelle conquered them all they became one unified nation, the first time since Antiquity. However in the 1500 years in between these city-states developed as their own countries, they had their own form of Italian dialect, their own cultural aspects, and their own food. Which is why there is no "Italian food", its specific to the region. For example, the best pizza is found in Napoli where it evolved, or the best fish is from the Amalfi coast or Venezia. Unlike America (though its moving in that direction) Italy does not produce food for quantity, but instead for quality. In short, food here kicks American foods ass. Which to a large extent is why Italian food is better, because of the quality of the primary ingredients and the use of lots of fresh herbs and spices (previously only used for the upper class). With that said, lets begin the meal!

here are the herbs

The first course was a potato and goat cheese terrine served on a bed of greens mixed with a balsamic vinegar dressing (best part of the dinner!). This course was made by thinly slicing potatoes and baking them quickly, then they were folded into a Terrine (porcelain dish that is rectangular) with goat cheese added in every few layers.

first course!

The second course was a omlette which was more onion than egg. The onions were carmelized and the egg was cooked slowly with a lot of sage and parsley (mmmmm).

omlette!

The third course was a ravioli made from scratch (which we helped with). Stuffed inside the ravioli was ground up mushrooms and thyme. Served with a heavy cream sauce.

mmmmmm

The fourth course was guinea fowl (this chicken was described as chicken that was way better than chicken). This was cooked with sage, shallots, rosemary, thyme, and had a meat coating on top similar to bacon (but not smoked). It was served with oil cooked potatoes and a pear sauce.

fourth course!

The final course was a sort of cream cheese blended in with chocolate and rum, served with blueberries.

dessert!

Of course we drank about a bottle of wine each and finished with a shot of Rum or Limoncello.



And that is an Italian meal!

This is how we looked afterwards....

Home and Food

Just a brief description of where I live....


I live in a 10 person apartment in the historic center of Roma. It is on Via Montecatini just of Via del Corso (which is a major road connecting Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia. I live with 9 other guys all of whom are ISU architecture students. Its a pretty nice place, I dont have many pictures, but eventually I will get some and put them up. We have four seperate bedrooms and two very large living spaces. Probably the best thing we do is have our cooking rotation. So we dont have to cook every night we decided to break it up into rotating cookgroups of 2 people for every weekday.
Here is a link to some of the food that we have cooked so far! We are pretty classy!

http://flickr.com/photos/95654639@N00/sets/72157614117106818/

A long time in Coming

Allora.

So this is the pre-big entry message, claiming that I will have a big entry talking about my travels to Sardegna, and possibly even my academics and housing here as well.

Be prepared!

here is a tease picture for you.

Alaska

Ok everyone... Its time for a shameless plug.

So this summer ISU outdoor rec is sending a trip to go sea kayaking in Alaska for 9 days. Now I have been chosen to be a support leader on this trip (which is basically the coolest thing ever) however we still need people to sign up! The trip goes in late June and what you can expect is transportation to Alaska, all the gear (kayaks, wetsuits, food, tents), our extensive knowledge, and Jerrys wit and humor, all for around $1600. Now that may seem like a lot of money, but if you were to go with a guided group up there, or go alone this trip would be way more expensive. So please, tell your friends/family/assiciates/enemies, consider bribes/blackmail anything to get anyone interested in this trip. You dont need to be a student at ISU to go, or even live in the state (my Dad is going along). Its going to be a ridiculously amazing trip and this is quite an offer so think about it. If you havent ever canoed/kayaked, well you might want to practice before hand, but this would be a great learning experience. The first day we arrive we are getting lessons from a sea kayaking guide then shuttled out on a motorboat to some far away island and returning through the Prince William Sound. To get you even more interested than you already are, I will put many wonderful pictures below. If you sign up, you will be so happy you did, and everyone will love you (not just me, everyone). Plus we can make up some sweet stories about how you had to fight off a killer whale to save my life (serious badass points). And I will make you a batch of cookies (of your choice).

i dont know these people, but you could be here!

this is a sea otter!

this is the orca you can fight off!

this is a very sexy glacier

Protests and Markets

ciao tutti,


The Protest:

Romans love to protest things. In the time Ive spent here so far I have probably seen some sort of protest every other day. This need to protest likely comes from the extremely dynamic political history of Italy, going from a republic, to a empire, to getting invaded a lot, to becoming city states, to being feudal, to being a kingdom, to a monarchy, to a democracy... basically anything goes in Italy for politics so its all fair game. Add on top of this Italians passion for being loud and supporting ideas and you have a fun situation. Usually when there is a protest someone starts it and then anyone who wants to join up does with their respective flag or banner of choice, even if they are supporting different, or sometimes opposite causes. Then the Carabinieri (police) show up in their police buses to watch over and make sure it doesnt get to rowdy. Usually people blow whistles a lot and listen to loud (usually american) music.

The biggest one I saw so far was a pretty unified protest about the Gaza Liberation, I would say there were over 3,000 people in it marching down Via Nazionale to the Coliseum. With trucks blaring music and people yelling over intercoms, it was a fun thing to see. They close down the roads when the protests get that big and take the opportunity to clean the streets!

The Market:

one of the best things about Rome is the food. Not necessarily how good it is (which it is very good) but how it is sold. The biggest place to by food is at the supermarket. However this is no Hyvee, its a pretty small store that has a variety of goods and they are all over the place, I can walk to 4 different supermarkets within 5-10 mins. So immediatly the goods are spread out across the city. And then there is the market. I wouldnt be able to even guess how many markets Roma has, but you can usually get to one of various size with a quick 15 min. walk. The Roman market is quite similar to a market you would find in places like Seattle. Its usually decent sized (40-120 vendors) and there you can find any sort of vegetable, fruit, fish, meat, cheese, bread, or cheap clothing you could ever want. Many of the Roman markets are very temporary structures which have a long history, though the city is trying relatively unsuccessfully to clean them up. Food is amazingly cheap, and definetly the best quality that you can find. The fish vendors get the fish fresh from the sea that morning, likewise the vegetable/fruit vendors get it from the country. The vendors are the nicest people I have talked to yet! they are all characters, and I have heard many stories about traveling to Australia and getting engaged to all the girls there..... Its a great place.

*picture of market to come*

The close this one off, Ill give a short sample conversation that I have when I try to buy food.

me trying to buy bread:

Me: buongiorno! vorrei pizza rosso e due etti (point to something that Im not sure what its called) hello, I would like a pizza rosso and two hundred grams of...
Them: (looks at me confused for a moment) due etti? (point to what I pointed at)
Me: si!
Them: (gets food) basta? enough?
Me: basta.
Them: (going to pizza, quick side note on pizza here, you either get a entire pizza which is usually at a resturant/pizzarie or you order by weight) tutta? whole?
Me: (looks confused) scusi?
Them: tutta pizza rossa?
Me: Si (when in doubt always say yes)
Them: (after weighting it) poi? then?
Me: Basta.
Them: tre cinquanta E3.50
Me: (after thinking for a moment about how much that is, gives them E3.70
Them: (gives me 20 cents back and looks at me like I dont know math) grazie
Me: ciao, grazie

oh yes, I am good at markets....

The Pedestrian vs. The City of Roma

ciao tutti,

Todays topic: The pedestrians 10 step guide to surviving Roma.
Rule I: Roma has reinvented the idea of sidewalks. For instance, if there happens to be a sidewalk (which is rare) and said sidewalk is not street level (which is almost unheard of) than you can safely assume that this sidewalk will not be a sidewalk, but instead a parking lot of thru-way for scooters. Hint: Avoid sidewalks



Rule II: Instead of walking on the sidewalks, instead take to the streets but make sure that you are not listening to music, a cellphone, or the voice in your head, because you may get run down without the aid of hearing. Hint: Roads good, ears better

Rule III: If you come to a street that has a constant stream of traffic and it is at a stoplight, press stoplight button and wait, it should only take 3-5 minutes. Hint: Stoplights are good, waiting at them is better

Rule IV: If you come to a street that has a constant stream of traffic and it has no stoplight, gather your friends together and slowly encroach on the road. Play the game of staring down the drivers to see who flinches and slows down, then walk very quickly to the other side before they can rethink their decision. Hint: Cross in groups, they can hit you all

Rule V: If you come to a street that has a constant stream of traffic and it has a stoplight, but you are in a hurry and want to use rule IV to cross. DONT! Romans feel that they only need to stop if there is no light, if a light is anywhere in sight and you are crossing they will play the game of 'how quickly can I make the tourists dive out from in front of my car/scooter/truck. Hint: NEVER attempt to cross a busy street near a light when the light is green

Rule VI: If you want to walk for an extended period in the middle of a street prehaps start a protest for any reason of your choice, within a matter of minutes many others will join you with their flags/banners of choice and soon the polizia will barracade the street of for your personal use (more on this later) Hint: Protest=Good street walking



Rule VII: Dont feel bad when you trip on the uneven/slippery cobblestone, you will probably get assistant from a helping hand. Hint: Fall over is a good way to make friends

Rule VIII: It usually a good idea to carry an umbrella if the weather at all threatens rain, not for the sake of staying dry. Instead so that you are not attacked by 20 umbrella sellers within a block trying to get a sale. Hint: Umbrellas may finally have a purpose

Rule IX: The best walking is found on tiny raised curbes usually in the middle of busy streets, just make sure they dont end leaving your stranded. Hint: tiny curbs both fun and good

Rule X: If all else fails and you cant find your way (haha... jokes) just follow the crowd, its a great city to be lost in! Hint: lost=excellent