Lessons from Cooking Class

The bread in Florence is unsalted. While they feel it makes a perfect platform on which to really taste the other flavors (olive oil, etc) there is a story behind this. The trade route from the sea where the salt was produced was through Pisa to Florence. At some ancient time, during a war with Pisa, trade was cut off and salt was hard to find. The people left salt out of the bread. After the war was over, the people continued to leave the salt out of the bread (whether because they liked the flavor[-less] or to snub their noses at Pisa I don't know). I heard later that even in Pisa the bread is unsalted, so perhaps the was just a medieval urban legend.

The meringue for the tiramisu should be so stiff you can turn the bowl upside down over your head without fear of it falling out. Whipping up the meringue with an electric product is OK, but the tool emits heat which serves to immediately breakdown the mass... So if you are using an electric mixer, you might want to put the blades in the freezer for a while first. Lady fingers are too soft -- there is a different cookie / biscuit which is better to use (can't remember the name of it). The cocoa / mocha should be just a dusting, else the powder could dry out the dish. Any additional 'flavoring' or sweetening should be done via the coffee -- not in the eggs. In the summer you can substitute fresh fruits for the coffee / mocha.

In preparing the base for the bolognese, be generous with the olive oil and cook the onion / carrot / celery on medium heat only -- you want to make the onions translucent, not caramelized. (You will also be generous with the wine -- and use REAL WINE in a bottle.) The beef / pork ratio should be 80 / 20%. When you add the meat into the pot, turn the heat up to sear the meat. Only after there is no more red do you add any salt (you do not want to draw the moisture from the meat). Mix tomato paste into veggie stock and pour into the pan for simmering -- continue to add stock as needed during 2+ hours of simmering on lowest heat. Throw large bit of lemon peel, whole rosemary and thyme on top to simmer with and give hint of flavor. Fish out before serving. The sauce should be brown -- not red. In the summer you can use (more but still not a lot of) fresh cherry tomatoes for a more rustic sauce.

Fresh pastas only contain egg and flour. (One egg and 3/4 cup soft wheat flour for each large serving.) Dried pastas may be other ingredients like olive oil -- but no seasonings in the pasta, as that will come from the water in cooking and from the sauces. To make pastas with veggies (like spinach) you will process / puree the spinach, then squeeze out as much water as possible.

It's impossible for me to describe the kneading and 'judging' part of the process, but once you've made your ball of dough you wrap in in plastic, getting out all of the air, to let it rest. Knead directly onto your marble / granite / large wood board. Roll out onto this surface as well -- thinner and thinner until you can see the grain of surface through the pasta. Dust with flour and fold to cut, and cut with pizza cutter or kitchen 'trowel'. Unfold and dust with flour to wait for cooking.

After you've drained the cooked pasta, you throw it all into the simmering sauce, and turn the heat up to high for less than 10 seconds, tossing the pasta in the sauce all the time -- this helps the sauce coat to the pasta. Then you pour this entire into your large serving bowl.Wide noodles should be used with meat sauces. Narrow noodles should be used with fish or vegetable sauces.

 This is all I can remember....... Perhaps the Chianti we drank with lunch caused short term memory loss..........