Today was the last day of this class. Each team of students cooked one of the menus they studied during this course. Professor Francesco tasted all dishes students cooked, and the team that got the highest evaluation was supposed to win the competition. He, however, could not decide the winner by himself because the result was so close. So he had the students vote as well, and Elisa and Ms. Yoshida’s team became the winner just by a hair. Looking at their really happy faces, their classmates congratulated them with warm applause. It happened to be one of the classmates’ birthday today, so they surprised the birthday girl with a […]

Today, students took a table coordinate lesson by a professional waiter at a hotel to learn about table coordinate and serving customers. Having experiences of enjoying their aperitivo (happy hour) in the past, I can say that this hotel is excellent. In addition to the table coordinate tips, the instructor taught students a lot about serving customers and about food business. Because foreign customers from various countries visit restaurants in and around tourist spots, this hotel offers services considering each customer’s cultural background. It is important especially when serving wines, as there is a big difference in the ways European people and American people enjoy wines. I knew the shapes […]

Today, the class had a cooking practice on bread making. Students shaped the fermented dough they prepared the day before. The temperature of the working hands affects the dough condition, so students need to look closely at the gluten condition in order to decide the appropriate cooking time. The amount of bread consumption in Italy is much larger compared to other countries; no surprise that there are many kinds of breads in Italy such as crispy ones, focaccia that is said to be the origination of pizza, and so on. Professor Francesco taught students how to make various kinds of breads in just one cooking practice. By learning all such […]

Today, the class made fresh sausages called salsiccia. In Italy, people buy a large amount of meat to make their own salsiccia at home at a very low cost. Even if you purchase salsiccia at markets in Italy, it only costs 1 – 2 Euros for 1 person. Students learned to make various kinds of salsiccia and dishes using salsiccia. In Italy, cuisines from different regions have distinctive characteristics due to the unique spices and flavors added. If you like hot and spicy taste, try the Southern Italian food. You might even sweat with some of the extreme ones. The class also made simply flavored steak tartare, which was really […]

Today, the class visited a famous winery in Tuscany. It was located in a small village with beautiful scenery, and the clear weather was perfect for the visit. Historical story lectured by the founder of this winery was very interesting. Students tasted 3 wines representing this winery and Vincent made from white grapes, which are in harvesting season now. It must have been really good to taste it with a view of drying grapes. In addition, the class got to taste the winery’s balsamic vinegar. Flavor of balsamic vinegars can be different depending on the kinds of woods the barrels are made of. It might be a nice idea to […]