Back to It

After six weeks away getting back into the kitchen went just as expected, exactly the same as before. I arrived a few minutes early and helped Antonio clean out the gas heads on the stove. With so much use they get clogged up every few months and it slows down the gas flow, (maybe that's why the 4th burner on the stove in my apartment won't light?).

After that I was sent downstairs for the tomatoes and basil. Now it may sound like a small accomplishment but I picked, washed, and cut the tomatoes and sorted through and washed all the basil leaves before lunch at 11:30. It's small, but a goal I had been working toward, gotta start somewhere. Watching everyone else fly through simple things like that it felt good to at least feel like I was gaining ground.

While I was sorting the basil Giuseppe was across from me preparing the fiori di zucca (stuffed squash flower) and I picked up a few helpful things. I tried to make these while I was home to moderate success, the taste was there but they did not look particularly appetizing. To start Giuseppe took a dozen or so large anchovies, the much bigger version of what we have in the States, and removed the spines. After that he cut three large mozzarella balls into cubes. He then combined the anchovies with the mozz cubes and proceeded to dice them finely together, leaving a sort of mash of oily fish and cheese. He took a small handful, more a palmful I guess, of this mash and gently pressed it into the bottom of the squash blossoms. The key difference in his preparation and mine was that the blossoms he used were considerably larger than the ones I had so there was much more space to fill with fish and cheese.

After that was done we sat down for lunch, a rigatoni with tomato sauce made by Antonio and fried scamorza (smoked cheese) with prosciutto and a side of potatoes with red onions and pancetta made by Giovanni.

After lunch I helped Giuseppe peel the shrimp, I think I've caught up to about 1.5 for each 1 he does. His three motion method (remove the head, grab the legs and rotate so the middle shell comes off and then pull the tail) is working a little better for me, but sometimes a bit of the tail comes of as well, not just the shell.

When the shrimp were done I turned to Antonio and he handed me a bin of mushrooms to finely slice. My knife skills are certainly getting better, although more through Lorenzo's help whenever he comes through the kitchen than Antonio's. Antonio showed me the easiest way to cut the mushrooms (in the half and the narrowest point so you get two wider, flatter pieces and then lay that flat side down on the cutting board and slice), but then left me to my own devices. Mushrooms are not the a very consistent size or shape so make all the slices similar shape was interesting and I guess I was chopping too much. Lorenzo came into the kitchen by chance and stopped me in the middle of what I was doing. First problem, I was cutting with the knife at an angle to the cutting board, rather than parallel to the sides. Second problem, while I was using my nails to hold the mushroom, so as not to cut my finger, they needed to be curled in more to really avoid slicing myself. Third, I was chopping too much, the tip/front part of the blade should never leave the cutting board and that forces you to cut in more of a sliding back and forth motion rather than up and down. Fourth, and final, I was hunching over the board to see what I was doing better, your back should always be straight. I never thought I could be so off just cutting up some veggies. For next time, I'm going to work on the form, hopefully speed will come with time.

When I made it through the mushrooms Giovanni had a tub of eggplant skins to by sliced very thin. These are served batter in flour and then deep fried, either by themselves or on top of some pasta dishes. Those finished and no other major projects, all the sauces were still holding up and didn't need remaking, I helped Antonio put together a few spaghetti alle vongole and then I was off. He actually let me do just about the whole thing this time, except for plating them. Pan with olive oil, a smashed garlic clove and a chili pepper, let the garlic soften, add the clams and chopped parlsey, a cup of wine, a cup of pasta water, cover, and you're set.