Toscana and Liguria, finding the real Italy.

This past September I was fortunate to travel once again to Italy.  This year was a new experience, which is always what I try to do when I travel.  Last year, it was traveling abroad, solo.  This year, it was traveling with a companion and staying in agriturismo's and guest houses.  And I have to tell you, it was an amazing experience that I will continue to do as long as I can.

We spent our first few days in Firenze.  Firenze is a beautiful city, like the rest of Italy, full of history and art around every corner.  Did I visit the statue of David?  Nope, I didn't.  Why?  Because I can see similar statues anywhere there is an art museum, even outside of where the original statue stands.  I did, what I always do when I travel, plan everything around eating, while experiencing life as an Italian.  Could we have gone on the hop on/hop off bus and toured the city?  Yeah, but I wanted to eat what the people of Florence ate.  But on the first day, we kept it light, a little Wild Boar Salami and Pecorino, and that hit the spot!

On the second day, we started the day with a cappuccino and corneto, as should be.  Italians are not known for having a large breakfast, so something light.  We had big plans for lunch, a food tour of Florence!  So, after our light breakfast, we made our way to the butcher shop where we would meet our group.  As we arrived to the shop, gazing in you could see the salami's and other cured meats hanging, and if you listened close enough, you could here them call your name.  But they were not whispering, "come on, you know you want to".  No, they were screaming!!! Venite a ora, mi mangiare! Mangiare!!  Alas, we had to wait for our group to arrive before we started because we didn't want to fill up on delicious cured meats.  Well, ok, I lied, of course we did!

So it began, outside of La Norcineria dei F.lli Bucchi and we wandered right back inside.  This is where we learned about La proscuitto di Parma and Toscana.  La Di Parma his texture and bite.  It's flavors are evident and sharp.  Toscana is buttery and almost melts in your mouth, with a less in your face flavor.  Cotto, well, it's similar to ham.  It's not out of this world, but it's approachable and an easy way to ease into the world of proscuitto.  It was a great little visit and our guide presented us with our plan of attack for the next few hours.

Departing La Norcineria, we walked 5 feet to Il Cantuccio Di San Lorenzo.  Here, they make Cantucci, which are amazing little biscuits.  Baked once, unlike Biscotti which are baked twice, they are made to dip into a delicious little wine called Vin Santo.  People have a love/hate relationship with Vin Santo.  But good Vin Santo, everyone loves.  This is also an appropriate way to begin your mornings in Firenze!

From Il Cantuccio, we were off to Antica Pasticceria Sieni.  This is one of the oldest in Firenze!  It's very cramped and crowded and if you don't know what you want by the time you are called to order, you will be trampled.  It's similar to the Soup Nazi, but I believe this is much more worth the time and effort!  We had a few things here, Coccoli, which is a fried dough, stuffed with tomato and cheese and is simple and delicious!  We also had the Schiacciata, stuffed with proscuitto, arugula, and cheese.  Now, I would've been happy stopping now.  The flavors that these little nuggets of flavor provided was awesome!

Coccoli

Antica Pasticceria Sieni

Schiacciata

But we were not finished.  Hell, we'd barely started.  Next stop, the San Lorenzo Market!!  And in the Mercato Centrale, the first place we hit was Nerbone!  Nerbone has been feeding the people of Firenze since 1872!  It is the oldest restaurant in the market.  And they do snout to tail cooking.  However we took the easy way out and sampled the Panino Con Bolito.  Which is a boiled beef sandwich served with it's juices.  So think Italian beef, but a ton better.  And never,ever forget the salsa verde for a little kick!  The Bolito is considered a Saturday sandwich.  Google it, and you'll find out why.

Panino Con Bolito!!

Even if you have to use google translate, check it out.  Great advertising!!

In the market there were many stops to be had.  We walked by a shop, dedicated to Offal or the unusual parts of the animal.  Our guide kept mentioning lampredotto, but said we should never eat it.  That just made me want to eat it even more!!  But never had the chance.  Lampredotto is the 4th stomach of the cow.  Cow's stomachs have 4 sections and this is the 4th and it looks like a lamprey eel.  Sounds delicious, I know, but, well, maybe next time!  Onward to eat some cheese!!!

The cheese was amazing, I know, I use amazing way too much, but what else can I say!!  We snacked on some great cheese, topped with mostarda and fig jam.  Mostarda is an Italian condiment, made of candied fruit and mustard syrup.  It was a great compliment to some of the cheese, where the fig jam was also a compliment.  But I love cheese and if there is a chance to elevate the flavor, I'm in!  We did finish off the sampling with a beautiful soft cheese topped with fresh Black Truffle!  If you've never had black truffle, try it, if you have the chance.  The intense flavors are astounding!  Truly something you have to experience to appreciate.    

That little sliver of Tartuffo(Black Truffle), is a $12 piece of truffle.  I enjoyed every bit of flavor of it.  Thanks to my group for allowing me to have this piece!

Our platter of cheese!

The fella that fried the fish, he was not just some guy that tosses food into the fryolater.  No, he treated his fried items with respect.  He did not drown them in batter and oversalt them.  No, a light dusting of flour and a simple dash of salt and pepper and you had yourself a hearty, heavy meal of head on prawns, calamari, white fish, and anchovies!  And let me tell you, you have no had anchovies until you've had fresh anchovies.  Not what we find here in the US, packed in oil and salt, and bleh.  No, the fresh anchovies are mild flavored and very meaty.  The head on prawns were sweet and crunchy.  No one was will to eat the head, so, I couldn't back down.  After all, I would be starting Culinary school, so I needed to know, what do these little guys taste like.  The head, it was crunchy, not much flavor, but the texture was great!  I wanted more@!@

Sadly, we were coming to the end of our tour.  So, with a little sightseeing, crossing the river and walking into this little wine shop, I knew we would finish with a bang!  We were lead down into the cellar of this little shop where there were bottle and bottle of various wines and spirits!  We were lead to a table, where our tasting adventure was going to wrap up, but with a bang!  But the idea of being surrounded by bottles, so dated back to the 1700's, was pretty great!  We were only the second group to be able to enjoy the cellar, hopefully there will be more, because it's a great experience.  Here we sampled Olive oils, and balsamic's, including a Vanilla Balsamic vinegar, which goes great with Chocolate Cake and is not sold in the US!  We also sampled some great Italian wines.  

As our tour ended, we decided to go back to the guest house and relax a bit.  We wanted to take in Florence during the night, and maybe grab a bite, as if we didn't have enough to eat already!  But I also had one other mission, to find some Italian Craft Beer!!!

After a brief nap and refreshing shower, we wandered out, took in the views of the Duomo and everything going on around there, and attempt to locate a decent snack for dinner.  Which we did come across a great little pizzeria, La Bussola.  The fine folks at La Bussola were very accommodating, especially since we did not have reservations.  When we walked in, they asked if we'd like to be seated in front or back.  We chose back, in hopes it would be a bit more quiet.  Ha!!  We found out in a matter of being seated for 20 second that peace and tranquility were not going to be had while we sat back there.  A table full of young, American university students killed the quiet setting.  So, our host, graciously seated us in the front of the house.  That was fine with me, because I had a great view of the oven and could watch them make our pizzas.  Now, not to be boring, but I did go with a simple Pizza margherita.  I didn't want to be overly complicated and this is my test to see if a pizzeria knows what's up.  A great Neapolitan style pizza, chewy crust, and the flavors were crisp and clean!  And I located my craft beer!!!  Le Magnifiche Petrognola!!!!

I'd say it was a successful stay in Firenze or Florence, however you want to say it!  Now on to Cinque Terre!!

A new beginning.

Wow, my last submission was in March?  Well, I can tell you it's been a hell of a year.  A year full of adventure and change, for the better.  It's scary and unpredictable, but you only live once, so make the most of what you have.  Now, where to start?

This year, I chose to get the most out of living in Chicago as I could.  I was trying to train for a marathon, planning travel, dining at as many new places as possible, and cooking my heart out.  Most of these I was able to accomplish.  My marathon attempt was a miserable failure, being sick, with no time, and an overwhelming feeling of doom, I had to step back and bow out.  But, one promise I've made to myself, I will run it next year and it will be the experience that I want!

Outside of running, I had changed firehouses.  Went from the South East side to the West side, which really helped my mood.  Who would've thought that just changing which part of the city you worked in would make that much of a difference.  I do miss the guys at my old firehouse, but I needed this change.

Restaurants.  I can't even tell you the different number of restaurants I've had the opportunity to dine at. And more keep popping up.  I feel very fortunate to live here, where the restaurant industry is booming and easily accessible.  Too many to list, too many photos to play catch up, so I will be starting fresh.  I can tell you that not a bad meal was had, whether I was here in Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis, or any of the cities and villages I visited on my trip to Italy.

Cooking.  I've been trying to experiment.  I've done that most of my life, experiment, but what I have learned is that you need a base to learn from.  You need to know that if you want to make the best Mac and Cheese, you should know how to make a beschamel, as your base.  If you want to make the best chicken pot pie, you should know how to make a proper Veloute to fill that pie.  Hell, you should know that what you are filling your pot pie with, the sauce is called a veloute.  Then you get a feel for what you are really doing, then experiment from there.  Get the basics down, keep it simple, and go from there.  My outlook on cooking has changed dramatically, especially since I'm now a student at Le Cordon Bleu-Chicago.

I am just finishing up week 6 at Le Cordon Bleu.  There has been mostly observing, learning the Mother Sauces, because that's where it all begins.  Learning about Escoffier and Careme, learning about how and why to use a Chinois, what kind of material is best for sautee pans, roasting pans, and pots, and safety/sanitation.  It's been eye opening, but now I'm ready to put that knowledge to use.  I did whip up a roast chicken, with a glaze of creme fraiche, garlic, lemon, salt, and pepper, roasted on a loaf of Italian bread, with a layer of pepperoni.  Not bad, for my first roasted bird.  But I could go on and on about what I've learned, I'm not going to, because as I said, new beginning.  Tonight is the last night of class, taking our final in Foundations 1, and I'm ready to move on to the next stage.  I'm already thinking about externship.

The Fire Service.  I've worked with many, many great people in the past.  From my humble beginnings as a Volunteer in Pontiac, moving my way up as a Medic in Morris, Firefighter/Paramedic in Romeoville, East Joliet, and Channahon.  Working in Chicago, it's been an experience,but I'd give it all up to go back to what I didn't think I really wanted.  There is something to be said about working in a firehouse with 4 or 5 guys, where you can truly bond.  Where you know the guys that are coming in from surrounding departments to help you out on your fire.  Where you can fight that fire, then when it's all said and done, you sit down with each other, have a cup of coffee, and exchange stories.  I had many, many good years in the burbs and not a day goes by that I don't think about them.  I can rattle off the names of everyone that I worked with out there.  Here, it's like I meet someone new every shift, and I can't keep the names straight.

That is just a brief summary of my Summer.  There will be more to come, like the trip to Italy, but for now, I'm going to study up a bit more for tonight.

More later, Ciao!