a personally professional portfolio
monthly emails: novembre 2021
Ciao tutti!
To all those who are getting this for the first time – welcome! And thank you for being interested in hearing from me. To give you the quick, speed-dating version: I am pursuing a Master’s of Gastronomy: World Food Cultures and Mobility from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy for the 2021-2022 school year. And, no, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it – I hope to find out! I’m writing these monthly-ish to inform friends and family of my ongoings. Keeping up on a more frequent basis has been a challenge, and I’m also doing this for selfish reasons as it can double as record of my experiences and reflections. Glad you’re coming along for the ride!
Setting the scene(s) while composing this month’s correspondence: back row of class (what’s new) while watching a documentary on couscous and the fellahin, who are some of the remaining growers of ancestral varieties of grains; taking a study break in Aula Magna, a portico-clad, brick-ceiling auditorium where our exam on olive oil history, technology, and tasting will take place this afternoon; and at my desk at home, which is finally organized enough for me to use instead of just collecting wine glasses and tea mugs, receipts, and Euro coins.
November has been a month of settling into a new normal. Though I began my program at the beginning of October it’s taken me until now to really feel like I am here. I know where the outlets are in the house, how to start a sauna-sized stove and a proper fireplace, and how long it will take me to get down from my house into the city (taking into consideration shoe choice, temperature, bus availability, bags carried, and if I’ve had any wine). I can ask in broken Italian about my landlord’s dog and rabbits (he’s getting two new ones after the “murders” last month), and I can ask strangers if I can pet their dog, which really requires a bit of buttering up. My understanding of the casual bureaucracy that is Italy has taught me patience. So. Much. Patience.
I was corrected the other day by another student (Mallory, from Key West, takes care of the garden at our home in San Michele) when I mentioned, “I live in Florida.” “No,” she said, “you lived in Florida. Now you live in Italy.” She’s not wrong – I’ve finally just gotten my permesso di soggiorno, which is one step above a study visa and on the path to claiming residency. Another fun component of Italian bureaucracy included a 2 hour wait outside of the immigration office (one of twelve people at the time), a “one-in-one-out” policy that was mostly confusing and hardly followed, and a final doorstep call for appointment-only patrons to come inside followed by a rushing throng of eager folks stating their cases on why they should enter. I don’t speak much Italian still, let alone Piemontese Italian, but tone means everything...What I can tell you is that I now know a great place to open a café for consistent business.
All bureaucracy and paperwork aside, the pace of life here has shifted a few gears down from the madness of American daily life. It’s a startling difference. The average day begins around 8am for the market and grocery, and 9am-ish for the rest of the city, taking into account if the store owner has arrived on time and whether or not they’ve had their coffee yet. My classes usually begin around 10am, so I’m up and out the door before 9am if I ride with one of the roommates or by 916am at the bus stop. That one is also a give and take – sometimes it’s 915am, sometimes it’s 922am. I no longer spend my unpredictable wait at the bus stop incessantly checking the schedule but rather come up with new dance routines and moves to keep myself warm, or walk up and down the block greeting the dogs behind their fences. This confidence in transportation that rarely keeps a schedule is secured by the fact that I may literally be the only person to ride the #6 bus from the San Michele neighborhood – my presence at a bus stop causes a “oh shit” type of downshifting from the driver once he sees me, yet I’m greeted warmly before we zoom off again. Upon arrival at the central station, I transfer to the #1 bus that will bring us to the small village of Pollenzo, where UNISG is, after a switchback commute down the side of the hills and through farm fields and satellite villages. There’s usually a strong pungent scent of cattle or manure, sometimes burning if the weather is right. Whereas farms in the U.S. are largely rural and far outside access to the average city-slicker citizen, here I can see where beans and wheat are grown, where cattle roam and where horses graze. Picturesque and transparent, present and incorporated into the infrastructure, these aren’t the farms of large-name companies but rather family farms and collectives.
By the time we arrive at school, it’s time for – you guessed it – a coffee, and if they have any left, a focaccia or brioche (which is technically a croissant but they refuse to call them that even though the French border is just under two hours away). In Piemontese, I order my “cappuci” (pronounced kah-pooch) with a wee bit of miele, *plop in goes the stirring stick which doubles as my spoon when I scrape all of the delicious coffee-soaked creamy foam. If that could be made alone, I would eat buckets of it. Off to class, which is followed by lunch and, if the mood is just right, a glass of vino from the Banca del Vino, a wine project started by Carlin Petrini after UNISG was established. The intent is to conserve, display, and share the variety of wine produced in Italy – by region, style, terroir, technique, and history. Situated in the basement of one of our buildings, the portico ceiling and soft lighting gives this cellar space a dreamy and decadent feeling. The presence of Roman ruins and archaeological evidence within the cellar adds to the Italian-ness of this space.
If I have afternoon class, I’m at the uni until about 6pm. It gets dark quickly here, as the sun dips behind the Alps just before 5pm. We take the evening bus back to Bra, which usually takes longer with commuter traffic heading back into the city, people returning home or going out for dinner. If we make it back in time, I have the pleasure of taking a warm “private” bus ride up to San Michele. If it doesn’t, I get a 35 minute stroll home through the streets. Oftentimes, I prefer to walk as the city’s businesses are open and bustling until 730pm. Similar to Spain, Bra goes into a sort of siesta-mode for a few hours between 1pm and 3pm or 4pm, so they split their day for lunch, smokes, and a nap. Closing times are hard-set hours – Italians get very bothered if you stay too long. This was another culture shock, for after needing to buy last minute groceries for home, one could say I was practically escorted by security to the cash register at 730pm promptly.
If I don’t have afternoon class, then I’m off to Bra for errands or adventures and the likely aperitivo. This month I explored beyond my usual cappuci or café for an afternoon pick-me-up (the former which can only be ordered in the morning – an afternoon cappuccino is sacrilege). I’d like to introduce you to one of the most decadent drinks – bicerin (pronounced bee-che-reen). It’s like your childhood dream came true. I remember the forbidden desire when we were kids – mum would doll some coffee up with sugar and a heavy hand of cream, sometimes adding chocolate or vanilla syrup. This is that – espresso layered with drinking chocolate (and pure chocolate at that, none of that powder), sweet cream and whipped cream. It’s just the drink you want when you’ve walked through frigid Alpine humidity after the sun has cast it’s shadows over the city. Sometimes, sometimes, this can lead to a need for a digestif or glass of wine. Just depends on the day 😉
I suppose I shouldn’t spend this entire email on just my daily schedule, as that’s quite dry to read about. Not a good indicator of time spent, either. So, naturally, let’s talk about food! This month’s tasty tidbits have included (but are not limited to) the following:
Focaccia di Recco
Squash a la Nico (this means Nico buys “funky looking gourds” and puts them straight on the fire, or occasionally carves them out, stuffs them with other veggies, and does the same)
M**Bun burger and fries meal, an Italian “slow-fast-food” franchise that flips the status quo on American fast food; using Piemontese beef, wheat and grains from Piemonte, and local suppliers of produce, they make fast food way less suspicious and a lot more transparent
Face mask recipes – okay, this one needs an explainer!
To non-celebrate my birthday, I hosted a ladies’ spa day at our home in San Michele with bonfires, sauna, and treatments for hair, skin, and nails. A lovely day spent with some fantastic ladies! Usually I’d spend my birthday with mum at a spa, but since that couldn’t happen this year, I had a little homemade spa day! I bought ingredients to make all natural masques – yogurt, honey, coconut oil, sea salt, sugar, lavender, oats, turmeric, rose water, essential oils, lemon, olive oil, coffee grinds, and beyond. Some masque combos were edible. Fan favorite was yogurt, honey, lavender, and oats.
Olive oil. So. Much. Olive. Oil. Two courses covering olive oil history and olive oil tasting and techniques required us to sample many, many olive oils. What I learned was surprising – Spain is actually the largest producer of olive oil, extra virgin olive oil is a highly bureaucratic and elitist, and most Americans are eating rancid olive oil (though you can hardly tell if you haven’t had freshly pressed oil).
Wine. So. Much. Wine. Two more courses covered wine history and production as well as wine tasting and techniques. What I learned was less surprising and more annoying – all those standards for wine, vocabulary, etc. were only created in the 1960s. Before that? Wine was wine with a lot more accessible understanding and appreciation. That’s not to say there isn’t validity in tasting techniques and the work of sommeliers, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is whether or not you like it.
Orange saffron pistachio cake, made by a classmate for someone’s birthday. So good it was noteworthy in this email!
Pumpkin cream tortellini featuring one large turkey-shaped tortellini!
Bugs! Specifically Tenebrio molitor, Schistocera gregaria, Acheta domesticus, and Zophobas morio. Generally speaking, that covers locusts, grasshoppers, and soon-to-be-beetles. Insects are garnering more ground as a potential source of protein. Do I think that insects can replace animal proteins entirely? No. I think there are a lot of cultural hurdles and ideas that need to be revamped to accept insects as an option on a mass scale. With that being said, I think they have amazing potential to be a supplementary or substitute protein. Their flavors can be described as earthy, like mushrooms or toasted nuts. Their texture? Not for me…though cooked and crushed into a powder could be a real game changer, and I can even imagine using as a powdered additive to dips and seasonings.
Cave cheese? Not sure how to describe this one…essentially really old cheese that tasted like the smell of my grandma’s basement. Like mothballs. Not my favorite. But really interesting to learn how it was produced using cold and damp conditions as well as the power of insects. This cheese was literally alive with microbes.
Cachi marmalade…twice! Once with grill-roasted cachi (Japanese persimmon) on toasted sourdough, a beautiful golden-orange color with glass-like transparency. The other time was a blended applesaucey version made from unripe fruits, which I incorporated into an apple-cachi cinnamon crisp pie.
Pink pearl apples – sweet little things with a stunning pink flesh.
Vin brule (not sure how to add the proper accents here, but put a little tent over the u and an accent on the e), an Alpine tradition and Piemontese staple, from the Italian military veterans named the Alpini. Their hats? Fantastic. Their jokes? Cringey but charming. Paired with a seasonal classic, roasted chestnuts.
And finally, last but not least, not one but two absolutely stunning Thanksgiving meals. Featured dishes included Beet Wellington, chocolate bourbon walnut pie, guinea fowl, turkey, artisan bread stuffing, spiced pear cider, stuffed focaccia, radicchio salad…simply feasting. I was blessed to attend two Thanksgivings and share with so many other people this holiday.
The list above of course doesn’t cover everything I’ve eaten and experienced. Many days have included polenta…honestly, just a lot of polenta. Cheap, delicious, and easy to bring to school for lunch. Gianmarco, one of my roommates, is a pasta fiend so we’ve been making pasta almost weekly. Nico, another one of the roommates, forages quite a bit so we’ve eaten relatives of chicory and dandelion and other leafy greens I’ve never met before. Jonas, the selective vegetarian of the house, is a big soup guy and has introduced me to a variety of legumes and plant proteins that are abundant and commonly used here. Peers in my program have invited me to dinners and lunches, pizza al taglio and kebab are not uncommon, and endless salumi and formaggi, of course!
This next month is filled with less school and more adventure, and my next update email will likely be written from a country home in Ihla Sao Miguel, Azores. A small teaser to look forward to!
Love and gratitude from the Piemonte