Monday ... what a lovely day in Chef School!!

On Saturday last I was ready to just cut off my hands and give ‘em away ... felt useless, inept, letting everyone (self included) down. Phooey. Who needs cooking when you can get perfectly OK take-out?

Well, how times have changed. A little sleep does a world of good ... our class spent the morning (from before 9 to after 1) with Chef Maestro Silvio Salmoiraghi in his teaching kitchen ... three dishes, each done to, or nearly to, perfection. We worked on a Beef Sirloin with Herbs, au gratin (which includes making a standard ‘Italian Sauce’), an absolutely georgeous veal fillet following the structure and idea of Chef Maestro Gualtiero Marchesi, and Chicken Kiev. Chef is a superb teacher, making each instruction clear, taking one dish at a time and unpacking it effectively.

As my students at MONARCH Park would say, Oh. My. God. !

Here ... try this at home. Here’s a recipe for the Beef Sirloin.

Take about 100 gm of fine white lard and cut up into thin squares of about 1 cm per side and half of that for thickness. Put into a tall container that will fit a hand-mixer (blitzer). Add some parsley, part of a white onion, some fresh basil (don’t anyone DARE use that ghastly dry stuff!), and some white wine (not much). Blitz this mess to make a sort of ooze ... it will be green and pasty. Take it all out of the container, put it onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll it up to make a tube about the size of a toilet-paper roll, and bung it into the refrigerator for about 1 hour to chill so it can be sliced up.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Have about half a cup of fresh breadcrumbs handy for finishing touches.

Take the nice piece of sirloin about the size of your fist (not huge, not petite), and trim it up of all visible fat and connective tissue. Reserve the trimmings. Tie the sirloin with a piece of string around the vertical grain so it does not come apart in the pan, and salt all sides. Reserve on a small late next the stove. Heat a sauté pan to get butter well melted but not browned, and put the sirloin in so it cooks well on one side, then the other. Takes about 2-3 minutes a side. Do not overcook! When the sides are done, turn the meat on the tied-up edge and slowly rotate around so every edge is sautéed. Put the meat on an ovenproof plate and pop into the oven for about 7 minutes. When this is done, remove to counter and reserve.

At the same time you are doing this, make the Italian Sauce ... it will be needed for the final garnish, and takes time to render properly. Take a couple of tomatoes, a white onion, one shallot (a small one is fine) and some thyme, a bottle of white wine and some butter. Roughly cut up the tomatoes and the onion, perhaps some fresh parsley if you have it about the kitchen, and get it all sautéing with the butter in a fairly wide pan. You will need a bit of brown stock (the low sodium stuff, no name from Loblaws will work...heat it up before using), and some OK quality balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. While the tomatoes and onion are breaking down with the lard, toss in a bit of the beef trimmings from the preparation of the sirloin. Stir occasionally, or give it a wrist-flip or two. Poke the entire thing to get the tomatoes to really break down. Let it al bubble a bit. Add the brown stock (about 150 ml) and about half of that of balsamic. Let it reduce a bit, then pour the entire contents of the pot into a fairly fine, strong sieve (or chinoise) held over a saucepan. Push against the hard stuff that is left to get all the juices out. Add a bit of finely-minced black truffle. Reduce to a gravy that will coat the back of a spoon, and add a little fresh-ground black pepper and salt. Just before using (by about 1 minute, no more than two, add about 1/3 of a very finely cut shallot.

Take the rolled-up green paste out of the frig, and open it on a cool cutting board. Slice off about 4 – 6 slices. Re-heat the sirloin (if needed) for about 1 minute a side in fresh butter in a saucepan, then take the sirloin and top it with the rounds. If you happen to have a truffle handy, add a single thin slice of truffle on top of the green paste. Drizzle a few breadcrumbs on top and put it back into the oven for about 1 – 1.5 minutes, then plate to a suitable dish. Garnish with the Italian sauce on the plate, with a tiny bit over the meat if you wish.

That is one of three dishes we did today! Try it ... enjoy it! Take time to read everything and assemble all the tools you'll need before you begin, and become familiar with all the ingredients. You may choose to go out and buy some items, like the truffle.

After lunch we spent over 2 hours with Prof. Sinigaglia, reminding ourselves of what is important in various Italian cuisines, and how regional or local variations or specialties developed or got that way.

Finally, questions were answered about our rapidly-approaching stage (rhymes with badge, not guage), then off for dinner. I spent part of the lovely evening here on a bicycle ride with some other cooks, and we enjoyed riding the castle perimeter. (Remember, our Chef School is in an old castle!)

Tomorrow is a day-long trip into Tuscany, featuring Sienna wineries and an olive-oil factory. We rise before 5 to be on the bus before 6, so good night all from Colorno.

It is Sunday evening here in Colorno (near Parma). The entire cast and crew of this Italian Chef venture has had today off ... most of us slept until at least 1 in the afternoon, having made quite a night (and early morning!) of it the day before. Even youth must recuperate.

Saturday saw us in school all day, with our class split into two lab sessions (group A and B). I’m in group “A”, and we spent the entire day, from a bit after 8 until nearly 6 in the evening working with Chef Maestro Soldati.

Watching Chef is to see the utmost concentration and creativity at play ... he does not follow a recipe in the usual sense ... he composes as he goes, knowing all the rules and working within them to develop new and stunning food. Stunning in every sense ... the taste, the colours, the composition on the plate ... nothing is left out, nothing is by chance.

And ... the plates are not full!

Each of us knows that a plate of food, like a good book page, or any art piece, needs some blank space ... the viewer, the diner, the participant in the discussion cannot be utterly overloaded all the time. This is one of the things that is constantly emphasized here ... more is not better, more is not (usually) good. Take time to compose, to thoughtfully create. Make the food tell your truth and knowledge and skill.

By the end of the day with Chef I was ready to just cut off my hands, cook them and give them to any needy charity case. I don’t think I have worked so hard for a long, long time. Chef really pushes us constantly, and the results from me were, well, less than hoped-for by him. I have a lot of growing to do. But at the end he was kind enough to offer strong encouragement to us all, and compliments, so all is not lost. We came home completely exhausted ... unable to do anything but raise a glass bottle of refreshing beverage. I said to Chef Tomaselli (our George Brown Chef with us) that the sun would come up tomorrow, and I’d have a chance to learn more and grow. His encouragement is greatly valued by everyone.

Sunday (today) was, truly, a day for rest and relaxation. It rained most of the morning and early afternoon, ensuring that the group could not really go out for much, and we all stayed inside and just did quiet tings. At about 2 the weather cleared, and by that time everyone in my house had risen and we all made a large brunch for ourselves. This was followed by an afternoon of quiet visits, laundry, ironing, a few card games and, tonight, birthday cake for two of our ‘family members’.

Our house has developed a tradition of doing home cooking. Most of the rest of the houses don’t, at least not all the time, but we do. Tonight we had a choice of Jason’s penne, Andrew’s spaghetti, some pizza that Tyler offered, three kinds of wine (red stuff, white stuff and bubbly stuff), beer, watermelon for dessert, with a finale of birthday cake.

Today's question ... how do we leave blank space in our lives for others, and for ourselves?

What a great week-end!

Kitchen Work is HOT !

The past 48 hours have been a complete whirl ... with no pictures to show for it!

Thursday began with everyone heading into the kitchens a bit before 9 in the morning, and with one brief break for a half hour lunch, we emerged at a little after 6 at night, having cooked six dishes and been treated to a production of Risotto alla Gualtiero Marchesi, beautifully yellow, smooth, perfect in every way and garnished with real gold leaf. Wow! This demonstration was by my in-school chef for the day, Chef Silvio Salmoiraghi, who is patient, supportive, exacting. Just what we all need!

The morning had us making three dishes ... a lasagne verdi al forno, a potato ravioli and pasta di castagne con fegatini (chestnut pasta with liver). Everything, pastas included, from scratch. The kitchen is what all kitchens become, I suppose ... a function-first workplace, hot and very structured. Ours, however, has a delightful view of the formal palace gardens. The palace used to be used, for over a century, as an insane asylum, and the gardens were tended with precision and their perfect edging, formality, topiary and layout were added to with a more informal park at the end far from the palace. All this presents a lovely brief respite from the kitchens when glanced at. We have little time for the glances, though. We’re here to work, hard, and learn. What great teachers!

The afternoon saw us work our way through a spaghetti with fresh, FRESH tomato sauce (spaghetti al pomodoro), one of my favourite Italian soups, papa al pomodoro (bread and tomato soup), and we wound up the day with making risotto. Chef made a gorgeous demonstration of Maestro Marchesi’s style, and we did a simpler version.

Following a full clean-up, the entire group met in the ‘Aula Magna’ for a formal demonstration with Maestro Marco Soldati, who demonstrated, then fed us all, a set of delicious Italian ices. What a great way to end up the day!

The evening was spent, as most of them are, in groups in our little agora, sharing stories (some of them true!), enjoying a glass or two, and getting the laundry done!

We cook dinner for ourselves every night, and I will tell you (ladies reading this blog please take note!) that it is truly a delight to hang around with a bunch of men who all love to cook, and are really happy discussing the finer points of a method of dealing with tomatoes, or exactly how to make a particular pasta, or how ‘dente’ is ‘al dente’, or variations on the correct layering for a ‘tarte di nonna’.

All that was yesterday ... today (Friday) we have all been together for 9 hours of technique demonstration and knowledge building. A four hour presentation this morning with Maestro Soldati had students participating somewhat, and we wound up with four students (me included) making the dessert for the entire school for our lunch! “Get creative” we were told.

This afternoon we were treated to a four and a half hour long wine-tasting ... four wines, four and a half hours. Two whites, two reds. Grapes, terroir, the maker’s techniques, history, climate, dozens of other considerations were carefully revealed, discussed and used to make decisions about these four fine wines.

And tonight we are off (in a few minutes) for an evening of fine dining in Parma. Giovanni will roll his bus up; we will all pile in and, with our leader Chef Tomaselli, go off to find out a bit of what Parma has to offer.

More in a couple of days! I’ll blog again on Sunday. Enjoy a lovely week-end, all.

Two entire days of cultural tours have just passed ... what a whirlwind! We’ve been to factories, farms, restaurants, been shown the most wonderful of products, treated like royalty, welcomed into 2,500 year old vineyards and driven all over the place in Giovanni’s bus.

A quick gloss ... today we visited a balsamic vinegar site and tasted the true ‘balsamico’, in three strengths ... the Red is only 12 years old, the Silver is at least 18 and the Gold is over 25. Each has its own characteristics and flavour notes ... the general consensus was that the silver was the best for both tasting and the most versatile for using with a variety of dishes. Most ‘balsamic’ on the market is adulterated or more of a ‘balsamic style’, not the real thing. Many of us bought small bottles of vinegar ... they’ll be enjoyed over the next week and a half as we all work our heads off for the Chefs at ALMA, each other and take more tours.

Another wonderful highlight today was our starting visit, to one of the co-operatives making Parmegiano Reggiano. We saw the entire process from start to finish, watched the Master Cheesemaker work his master’s touch, saw every part of the process and finally enjoyed some of the best cheese I have ever tasted in my life. Two and a half years old, right at the cheesemaker’s door, a perfect cheese under bright sunshine, with 'acqua frizzante’ to wash it down.

Parmegiano, in order to be the real thing, must be made under the strictest of conditions to earn the DOC recognition ... the farms for the milk must be within 20 kilometres of the cheese-maker, the milk must be delivered morning and night, the cattle must be fed no silage, only true hay and grass and some clean grains (nothing fermented, as silage is). The cheese is made with full morning milk and partially skimmed evening milk, and only rennet is added to get the process going. The cheese is salted by floating in a brine bath for about 20 days, and the rest of the process is done through careful ageing and rigorous quality control by an outside body dedicated only to quality maintenance. The real cheese is expensive, but it is, truly, worth it.

Later this morning we were welcomed to the extraordinarily-traditional farm of Massimo Spigaroli. This humble man is revered for his dedication to his various crafts (raising heirloom or traditional strains of vegetables and herbs, raising black pigs for the most traditional culatello, making mouth-watering sausage and prosciutto and running one of Italy’s best restaurants featuring all traditional foods he raises or makes on the farm). We were treated to demonstrations of culatello preparation, and a welcome, (before a truly divine lunch), of wine from his own heirloom grapes, and local cheese, bread and cured meats. This welcome aperitif was followed by a four-course lunch, featuring local (i.e. farm) dry-cured raw meats and gnocchi from his own heirloom products.

Yesterday’s tours took us to a ‘fosse’ (cave) used for ageing cheese. One of Chef Tomaselli’s charming contacts spent much of his day with us on Tuesday, welcoming us to his family’s historical vineyard, then to his wine-press, and then to lunch in his own home! There are very few people in the world who are willing, or able, to have almost 35 people pop by for a 4-course lunch in their home. Renata’s wife is a chef in her own right, and she and the family fed us on the finest produce and skill in the region. What a treat, delight, honour!

Afterwards we went back into town and visited his ‘fosse’ (cave used for ageing cheese) and enjoyed a cheese-tasting. Then a visit to the farm to see (and smell) the source of the raw material. Happy cows all ‘round/

The fosse has been used for over 500 years for this procedure, and is ‘loaded’ with cheese for about 3 months of the year (late August to early November), then the fosse rests and recuperates for the rest of the year. To enter the fosse, one climbs down a ladder! When the fosse is loaded with cheese, the top is sealed with parchment paper and a natural sealing substance around the edge, then the entire entrance is covered with about 30 centimetres of sand. The results are utterly divine. Now, stop reading this blog for just a minute and go get yourself a delicious snack.

These two days of touring have taught me several things ... the incredible value placed on freshness and locality of product here, the sense of maintaining centuries-old, or (in some cases) millennia-old systems and traditions, and an un-hurried pace of life which allows much time to make, maintain and celebrate community and family.

Aside from a couple of gaudy advertisements for Chrysler and Jeep, I have seen no advertisements for north american products of any kind here. No need, no desire; we’re not needed, actually. It is very humbling to come from a culture that really has nothing to offer here. So much for our sense of importance!

My end-question for today needs to be “How does the work of your life, in every facet, honour the lives of those who have gone before? How would they recognize themselves in what we do, ourselves and together?”

Tomorrow is our first time going into the kitchens at ALMA, and I’m excited! So, a good night’s sleep and ready to roll well before 9 tomorrow. Classes finish at 6:30 in the evening. My feet will be killing me.

The Adventure Begins at ALMA -- First Lessons

We’ve been here in Colorno, very near Parma, three days now ... arrived late on Friday, and here it is, already Monday evening, and so much has happened.

To share! A case of pretty-good wine, it seems, is cheaper than a nice, not-large piece of gorgonzola cheese. There’s been some commentary about people having their priorities right. Two whole days to settle in has been a God-send ... George Brown Chef School does so many things right ... and our on-site Chef, Maestro Dario Tomaselli, has been tremendously supportive and helpfull. After all our doubts and wonders and braggadocio, we’re actually pretty-well prepared. And then, completely unprepared at the same time ...

A few notes from today’s “Introduction To Italian Culture, History and Taste” seminar ... a searing 2 ½ hour presentation: “The function of heritage is to let you, enable you, to stop and consider. Taste is an answer to human desire. Food culture is trust culture. Knowledge creates points of no return ... knowledge of the taste of the true food (a cheese, a bread, a meat, etc.) will set taste because it will set the standard. Intelligence is Curiosity grown in a good way.”

Prof. Sinigaglia had us riveted to our chairs ... there was applause at the end of his presentation. He covered not only the concepts of cultures and regions in the context of Italian foods, but also how products are respected and the use of historical techniques. What a start to our time at ALMA!

Our lunch was put on, as it will be each day we are in school and on campus, by the stunningly-skilled staff of the school. A group of about 12 American students had started their (separate) program and we shared lunchtime and took time to welcome each other.

Our afternoon was spent with Chef Soldati. He is highly regarded all over Italy, and is respected as “Maestro di cucina”. Chef spent almost 3 ½ hours introducing us to the composition of four salads ... cold, warm and hot, with pasta, with meat, just vegetables, including fruit. The results were stunning ... simple, each representing magnificent composition and utmost respect for both product and season. Maestro Soldati emphasized “Use the right part of each product for the purpose you need. The dish must keep it’s focus. Use plates with the correct design for the features you present. Humbly present great products well.” Being able to watch Chef Soldati is akin to watching a Mozart or Beethoven compose ... it is a thrilling experience, and somewhat exhausting. Great chefs here are regarded like the most fabulous rock stars ... accolytes to help, and an audience hanging on every word. A show, a lesson, a peek into a life of skill, knowledge and humble taste.

Most of us were trying to figure out what he was doing. His activity. We focused on what was going on with the food products, and Chef Soldati worked hard to get us to stop doing (just) that and think, instead, about what he was doing, and why. It is quite a leap, quite a challenge, to and for each of us. It will take us far, slowly.

At the end of day a group of us made dinner again together at our apartments, and sat down, as I am now, to write the day before it becomes one of too many days.

I’ll leave you with one of today’s challenges; when people eat your food, how will they realise that you know about your self and who you are?

Before ...

Off to Italy, and Chef school, tomorrow. This is how I'm 'spending' my sabbatical year from teaching cooking at Monarch Park Collegiate. A little crazy? You bet ... but I seem to do this rather well ... for example, late last night I helped rescue a dog who'd been hit by a car in front of our place. The result for me was 9 puncture wounds or lacerations on my right hand from its canines. A round of antibiotics later, I heard assurance from my doctor that I probably won't develop an aversion to water (hydro-phobia) in the near future. The poor dog was hit at the same street-corner where I was hit by a car while riding my motorcycle on the last day of my previous sabbatical! The injured dog escaped my generous reach, unfortunately, and ran into the ravine nearby.

Last sabbatical (five years ago) we went around the world -- literally --

It was that camel ride at dusk on Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia -- only 750 km across the Indian Ocean from Indonesia -- that confirmed for us that this was unlike anything else we’d done. Night had fallen, we had turned off away from the beach, and were lumbering up the dunes into the sand hills to then put the camels to bed. Gail gave me a gentle poke, hugged me, and whispered: “I’m the last person on this camel train. If I fell off right now, I’d truly be lost. I haven’t the faintest idea where I am and the stars in the sky are all backwards.” I could hear the grin in her voice. Shades of Maria Muldaur’s “Midnight at the oasis” and “Heaven’s holdin’ a half-moon shinin’ just for us”….

During that sabbatical year we went to Vancouver, Montréal, Edmonton, San Diego, Dallas, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Paris, Grenada, Seville, Prague, Bangkok, Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Perth/Fremantle, and Broome. In one 3-month stint, we flew more than 45,000 miles, through 19 airports, and traveled in 5 continents.

Snapshots of some of our adventures include:

· Feeding vegemite-on-toast to an orphaned kangaroo co-habiting with us in an Australian B&B

· Riding a train for 3 nights and 4 days across the straightest track in the world from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean ... the mighty "Indian-Pacific"

· Frolicking underwater with “Wally”, a Maori Wrasse in the Great Barrier Reef while scuba diving

· Walking on the bridge over the River Kwai amidst the ghosts of the JEATH Death Camp

· Admiring the bravery and ingenuity of Canadians as documented at the war memorial at Vimy

· Being thrilled to the core by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the Rudolphium in Prague

· Being outraged at the rudeness of the sales clerks in Paris when trying to buy an outfit to wear to said concert (Gail)

· Being moved by the power of Federico Garcia Lorca’s poetry, “duende”, and the architecture in Andalusia

· Participating in the ritual of the “padronas’ at a wedding in Fortaleza, Brazil as one of 600 guests (and Gail being the only woman there wearing sensible shoes)

Five years later, things are a little different, with my focus being full-time professional development through chef school. I asked a recent graduate of the program what Italy was like, and he said, "Italy looks exactly like the inside of a kitchen!"

George Brown Chef School has an international exchange program with La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana in the Parma area. Most of the students are graduates of George Brown Chef School and/or have industry experience. Me? I've been in chef school for a full 6 weeks now. My 'learning curve' is 90 degrees ... I'm standing on my jets ... and it's a blast!

We all arrive in Parma on Friday afternoon. Classes begin (in Italian) on Monday.

Some time while I'm away in Italy, Gail will be in Russia for two weeks studying "The Role of The Fool in Russian Literature". Let's hope she doesn't change her focus to "The Role of The Fool (Martin) in Italy"!

Stay tuned ...