Step aside, Mario Batali!

May 17, 2011, Day Eight

Our day starts with a chocolate croissant at the Piazza della Repubblica before heading to Hertz  to pick up our car rental for today we go outside of Florence for a cooking class!

our super cute Fiat 500 rental!

There are many cooking schools in and around Florence but all of what we were finding were culinary schools with professionally trained chefs offering one day to full-week or longer sessions.  Brad, who is the cook in our house, wanted to learn simple homestyle Italian cuisine, preferrably from a nonna (grandma) who is willing to share her techniques and family recipes.  Thanks to Trip Advisor, we found Paneretta Farms located in Monsanto, just 30 minutes from Florence, whose "lady of the house" offers 5-hour cooking lessons in their own personal kitchen…perfetto!  Paneretta Farms produces its own wine and olive oil, as well as rents out rooms in their 400 year old villa to tourists. 

The villa and farm owners, Patrizia and Massimo Cucchi (famously known as the Panerettas), came out of the villa and met us at the parking lot greeting us with an energetic “buon giorno!”  We were running a few minutes late so we were worried that we were holding up the class, only to discover we were the only students today…yay!  They typically have approx six students per class but today was our lucky day!

When we entered the villa, their guests were just finishing up breakfast and on their way out for their day’s events.  They say goodbye to Patrizia and Massimo as if they were mom and dad…thanking them for breakfast and letting “mom & dad” know what their plans were for the day.  It was evident how comfortable their guests were which immediately made us feel at home.

Paneretta wine for sale, incl some other goodies 

Patrizia starts our lesson by explaining the Tuscan way of cooking and way of life.  She then announces what we’ll be making today:

Bruschetta

Tagliatelle

Pesto

Roasted stuffed pork loin

Tiramisu

What?!  And we get to eat it all?!  Let's get this party started!

The working island in the kitchen was filled with all the beautiful, fresh ingredients we will be using today.  The kitchen was very rustic and homey…you can tell that this kitchen is the heart of the house.  Throughout the kitchen walls, they had herbs from their garden hanging to dry which helped create the lovely ambiance and aroma in the kitchen.

Patrizia with her charming accent speaks English exceptionally well.  Adorable Massimo was not as proficient as Patrizia but we could tell he understands more than he can speak because he’ll participate sometimes by speaking in Italian to Patrizia who then reiterates his message in English.  It was entertaining to see their exchange and interaction…they clearly enjoy "working" together. Awh!

“We’re going to start with the tiramisu” Patrizia declares and turns around to face Brad, then suddenly gives him a bear hug and then lifts him up!  She then explains that tiramisu literally means “pick me up”.  What a character!  At this point, we knew we were going to have fun!

Brad making the tiramisu custard filling using fresh eggs from their chickens

lining up coffee-dipped lady fingers

pouring the yummy filling!

The next lesson is Pesto…Patrizia with her right hand clenched in a fist, punches Brad on the arm…quite hard I might add.  She then explains that pesto means “to pound”.  Hilarious!  Good thing she was using Brad as her model.  Pesto is traditionally prepared in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle.  They say that making pesto in the traditional method is better because the textures are slightly different resulting in better flavors as opposed to one prepared with a food processor.  For instance, you may have heard that we should tear basil and not slice them because the knife will bruise and cause the leaves to wilt…so I think it’s the same idea…no blades on basil. 

Having been home 4 weeks now, Brad has made pesto in the traditional method twice and yesterday, we used a food processor and we can confirm that there is a difference in flavor.  Hand-pounding pesto keeps the flavors distinct and it releases more of the oil from the basil, so the pesto is more flavorful.  However, I must admit that the food processor is much quicker and still very good so if I have to make it, I’m opting for power tools.

Brad learned how to make fresh pasta!

Massimo shared his chef's hat with Brad

Patrizia noted how this is a great exercise for women as it helps enhance our breasts.  Lol!

Patrizia showing different types of pasta depending on how its cut

precision cuts!

he was cradling this like a proud father

Throughout our cooking class, Massimo was constantly serving us “snacks” of crostini, cheese and their own aged balsamic, along with Rosato from the Paneretta vineyard.

their very own dried oregano

15 year old luscious balsamic on bread and parmigiano reggiano

we enjoyed it so much, we bought a bottle!

we also took home a bottle of Paneretta's Rosato (rosé) 

Massimo showed us how to butterfly a pork loin and how to properly truss the pork with a twine.

While the pork loin was cooking, they invited us to enjoy their backyard with amazing views of the Tuscan hillside.

chicken coop

mama quack and baby quacks

Like us, the Panerettas are dog lovers…here are pictures of their cute "kids"...

A few minutes later, they rang the dinner bell (literally) and they served us a delicious feast in their large dining room…

 Bruschetta with roasted eggplant, topped with provolone...

Brad’s tagliatelle with pesto (again, like at CT, there’s potatoes and green beans)

Roasted pork loin stuffed with grilled asparagus, ham and provolone, with a side of grilled radicchio...

After the main entrée, Patrizia and Massimo came out with the tiramisu we made earlier, with candles and a Buon Compleanno candy on top, as they sang “happy birthday” to me!  I guess sometime during our cooking and chatting, we had mentioned our visit to Cinque Terre for my birthday, so they cheerfully celebrated with me!  What a sweet and thoughtful gesture!

Tiramisu!

We had a scrumptious and fantastic meal with Patrizia and Massimo…and an interesting dinner conversation with Brad and Patrizia intensely discussing politics.  It was interesting to hear her perspective of the US Government and the recent events involving Bin Ladin.  After speaking to other locals incl Patrizia, we realized that the Italians are very much in tune with what's going on in our country and its impact on the world.  And let's not forget the cooking…we had a blast…they’re such a funny couple who have a true passion for life and food! 

Today was definitely one of the highlights of our trip thus far!  In comparison to all the activities, tours and souvenirs, this has to be our most favorite and best valued "souvenir" because this is a gift that will keep on giving.  Since coming home, we've prepared much of what we learned…applying the creative ideas the Panerettas shared with us by using different ingredients on our pasta dishes, and the variety of toppings for our bruschetta…delizioso!  The icing on the cake were our most hospitable hosts…molto grazie, Patrizia & Massimo!  We hope to see you in New York someday soon!

our souvenir recipe book…the cover is a fitting cartoon of Patrizia & Massimo

More than five hours from when we started, we were done with our class and stuffed!  We were ready to spend the rest of the day checking out a nearby Tuscan town…the Panerreta’s suggested we visit the nearby San Gimignano which was only 15 minutes away and was actually on our list of towns to visit!  There are so many towns we’ve read about and so little time so this was great that we can squeeze this in before heading back to Firenze.

The architecture of San Gimignano is amazing!  San Gimignano, known as the City of Beautiful Towers, is a classic medieval walled hill town in Tuscany. Its 14 surviving medieval towers create a beautiful skyline visible from the surrounding countryside.  

i just borrowed this pic

entrance to San Gimignano

Lots of steep hills to climb but was entertaining thanks to the streets lined up with artisinal shops selling gourmet products such as cheeses, salumi, olive oil, wine  and pasta.  This place is packed with tourists and souvenir shops which takes away from it’s whole medieval ambiance.  I know, we’re tourists too but we don’t want to be around all of them!  :)  

cinghiale (wild boar) everywhere!

After walking around for a couple of hours, we were ready to head back to Florence.The huge meal we had at the Panerettas kept us full for hours and we didn’t get hungry until very late.  We both had different cravings so we decided on a picnic at one of our favorite hangouts, Piazza della Repubblica.

Jian Jian cinese food for me and pizza for Brad

Another fun-food-filled day in Italia!  Buonna Notte!