Cooking Class

It was an overcast day at the villa, perfect for staying inside and learning how to make homemade ravioli and pappardelle noodle, ragu alla bolognese, and a peach tart for dessert.

Anna, vivacious and energetic led the class alongside the chef, translating his instructions from Italian into English. Making pasta starts out quite simple and easy enough...flour, egg, well, mix with hands. But it is the kneading that was the more laborious part of the process and takes the most time. The sauce was a Bolognese with a mix of veal and beef sauteed with carrots and tomatoes and surprisingly no garlic which is always the first step in making my pasta sauce.

The sauce bubbled in low rich sounds as Anna showed us how to knead the pasta dough. Then we kneaded, fashioning a sort of pasta dough kneading relay race with team Pomaio Podere of the Arezzo Clan. We kneaded and folded until our forearm muscles grew parched and then nod it off to the next person.

The dough for the tart was made ahead of time and pressed into the tart pan all that was needed was homemade peach and apricot preserves made with the fruit from the fruit trees outside. Anna weaved the strips of dough in a rustic lattice top and then into the oven she went, the pie and not the vivacious, spunky girl friday.

Northern regional cuisine is so different than the Southern. Veal, pine nuts, white beans, olive oil and chopped tomatoes sauces and fresh fruit and chocolate desserts as opposed to the slow roasted pork in spicy tomato sauce, eggplant and almonds with mascapone or ricotta dreamy, creamy desserts of the South. I allowed myself this one time of not asking what part of the animal I was eating until I took at least one bite; and if you're wondering if veal cheek is tender like soft butter melting in your mouth, it is.

At the end of the lesson, we sat down at the family table to:

Team Pomaio Podere homemade ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese, pappardelle con bolognese and torte della pesche all brought together with a pretty, little Chianti from the vineyard.

Crafting a meal such as this is, with time honored technique was not only satisfying but brought a new kind of respect for the food. The history of a regional cuisine so simple, the past revisted with every bite.