You never know what you will learn in the kitchen

Day two of cooking class was much more relaxed. On the menu for the evening is a bread and tomato soup (papamodore), chicken catcitorri, and chocolate flour-less torte. I basically chopped leeks, tomatoes and spices while mama talked and prepared the meal.

She told me about her grandparents, how her parents met and her hopes of moving her cooking classes out to her country home which was her grandparents house. She and her husband are living in her parents house now which she has lived in for 44 years. While her brother lives in the country house but there is rim for more and her brother wants her to come. They had shared this house until he moved out to the farm.

There florence home is much bigger than I expected. With hallways, strange rooms and built-in cabinets everywhere. It is in an apartment building but there are some strange courtyards. My bedroom window looks out over the kitchen balcony and main inner courtyard while the window in the bathroom looks to a tiny courtyard that is just a little open space with no obvious purpose.

My room is a good size, quite a bit bigger than my master bedroom at home. The other two rooms for rent look pretty big too. They share a bathroom and I have one that opens to my room, of course with the traditional European bathtub. I don’t know how they wash their hair without getting the entire bathroom wet. I wouldn’t mind (at least not terribly) holding the shower head if there was a curtain to help me keep the water in the tub. The bathroom is all decked out in yellow tiles. I would say the color has a seventies look but I think it has a more vintage feel. Check out the toilet not only is it yellow it is also round, it really sets off the room.

As I said the kitchen is tiny but the living room which also holds the table is good size and has a very lived in look. The furniture doesn’t match, the art is all different and books and sheet music are everywhere. But somehow it all works. I don’t think she is old (maybe early 60s) but her house reminds me of my grandmother’s.

She told me of how her grandfather offered his wife either a diamond necklace or a house in Tuscany after the birth of twins. She chose the house and he bought a farm with a vineyard and olive grove. A country farm 20 minutes from florence was a good choice. I know it is just 20 minutes not only because she told me but because she sent her husband to get some beans from the garden when she made changes to tomorrow’s menu. He was back before we put the cake in the oven.

While cutting the tomatoes she was quick to inform me that fresh tomato leaves are an aphrodisiac. She doesn’t know why but she swears that they work. For her she said they are magic. You need to take them fresh from the vine so it only works if you have a garden and grow them yourself. So just in case you have some tomato plants you might want to try out the leaves. However she also questioned why no one made a perfume that smelled like basil so her taste my be slightly different.

Everything was delicious. The bread soup was one of the best things I have tried in a while. I can’t say that it looked fancy but it allowed you to eat bread and tomato-basil soup without having to constantly dip your bread in the bowl. The chicken was also really good nothing fancy just simple. The chocolate torte was very similar to what I usually make but somehow eating it in florence made it seem better. I do have to say the italian cooking chocolate was delicious. I can’t wait till the chocolate festival.

Dinner was again slightly awkward. The two Colombian girls had their italian lesson while I sat quietly drinking my wine.

All in all a great day.