Passion for Food

Another week of classes is down. I continue to notice the differences between life in the US and life here, some I like some are a bit more difficult getting used to. In our cooking class today our professor took us to San Lorenzo Market to show us what vegetables were in season, what types of meat were offered, among many other things. He is a bigger man that has started to look after us. We have a class of 12 girls so he always calls us “girls”. Him, his wife and daughter all made us key chains with wine corks. He is so passionate about cooking because he has been doing it since he was a child that he sometimes gets off on speeches about traditional Italian food. We end up running behind in every class but I he is still my favorite teacher I have here. At the market he described how tomatoes are out of season and artichokes are in season. What oranges to use for juice and which ones to eat. We learned which fish are best and freshest because they come from places no further than an hour away. The meat area was very different, here they use every part of the animal. When I say every part I mean EVERY single part. A long time ago Florence was divided into two classes, the wealthy and the poor. The poor could only afford the cheaper parts of the cow so that is how using those parts got passed down. One of the vendors thought it was funny to show us the cow penis and cow balls thinking we as girls would like them. They also use the feet, stomach, and brain as well. Thomas, of professor, promises they are good but I just don’t know if I could stomach those things. After the market we went to Grom, which is a gelateria in town. We were able to see how gelato was made and then have a free cup where I enjoyed cookies and cream and Nutella flavored. Gelato doesn’t have as much fat or as much air as sugar does and Florence is one of the main cities where gelato started- Florence, Paris and Sicily. I love learning about the art of food and how passionate people can be about it.