Our January class has started for 2016.
Students worked hard from the very first lesson, not at all showing fatigue from their long flights. They vigorously went through an orientation, a sightseeing tour in Florence, and a cooking practice by Professor Francesco.
The first cooking practice was “Tuscan Cuisine 1”.
Today’s menu:
- Tuscan fried artichoke flavored with extra virgin olive oil and thyme
- Pappardelle with wild boar
- Fresh pasta
- Cimalino (veal shank) redone with artichoke
- Florentine steak
Class started with Prof. Francesco’s speech and self-introduction followed by each student’s self-introduction
Prof. Francesco puts the greater focus on the traditional cooking methods, which have been passed on from predecessors, over new trendy methods, as it is impossible to learn new ways without having a solid foundation of the basic. One can always change or adopt new cooking methods afterwards, as long as your foundation for Italian cooking is solid, but not the other way around.
Prof. Francesco also teaches students the history of Italian cooking and knowledge, how to identify tasty vegetables, which brand of canned tomatoes are good, etc.
And students learns fresh pasta making the real Italian way, kneading a basic mixture of 2 kinds of flours, eggs, salt and oil for over half an hour, which for sure is a real hard work. Then the kneaded pasta dough is put through a pasta machine over and over to get smoother texture. Prof. Francesco shows how to do it, swiftly putting the pasta through the machine.
Now it’s students’ turn to try, but it doesn’t go well like Prof. Francesco did. It will take more practice and hard work before they can do it like a real professional.
At the end of the class, students and the Prof. Francesco seat at the same table to taste the dishes together. Students who looked a bit tense at the beginning seemed more relaxed, exchanging comments and enjoying conversation with a glass of wine Prof. Francesco selects for every tasting to match with each dish.
As you can see partly from the photos, Italian Cuisine Professional Chef Training course is full of excitement and fun, at the same as it is serious and fulfilling learning. We truly look forward to all these students to grow up as a true professional chef!
