Before we said goodbye to Florence, we had an unplanned but fortunate catch up with a friend from university – Milly – whom was in Florence as she was undertaking a fellowship at a nearby university. Milly suggested Gilli, one of Florence’s first cafe’s and (we suspect) the only one that’s still operating from its opening in the 1700s.
Chris had a “Mokacchiato” – which was a piccolo-sized coffee with cocoa. Chantal had a “Café Moka” which was espresso with chocolate and cocoa (essentially a mocha without milk). It was really good coffee and an even better catch up.
Cooking in Bologna
It was a short train ride to Bologna and not long after we arrived and checked into the apartment, we made our way to Cultura Italian Bologna Cucina – a cooking school for a class booked through Taste Bologna. We highly recommend this for anyone travelling through Parma as it was an awesome experience.
Not only did we get to meet some fellow Aussies, laugh with Londoners and a couple who live in Belgium (one from Sweden, the other from Denmark), but we got to make three authentic Bolognese dishes.
We first learnt how to make Bolognese sauce (there is no garlic but plenty of wine), then we learnt how to make the pasta.
Pasta: The Names are the Shapes
In Parma, the pasta is made from flour and egg, to the ratio of an egg approximately 62 grams in size to 100 grams of flour. The dough is mixed together on the bench and kneaded until it no longer sticks and it springs up if poked. To get the gluten to do the work, the dough is then rested for 15 minutes.
Once the dough was well rested, we put it to work by rolling it into thin sheets (until you can see your hand on the other side). Most of us did this through the machine but we also learnt how to do it the traditional way with a rolling pin (mattarello).
Chantal finally learnt the differences between Tortelloni, Tortellini, Tagliatelli, Pappardelle, and Linguine. Tortelloni is big, Tortellini is small, Tagliatelli is any pasta which is flat and cut into strips, Pappardelle is big strips, and Linguine is very small in width. Today, we made Tortelloni, Tortellini and Tagliatelli.
After the cooking, we all enjoyed a glass of wine with the meals we prepared. There were three courses in total: Ricotta and parsley Tortelloni in a sage and butter broth; Tagliatelli in a Bolognese ragu sauce; and pork and two kinds of ham Tortellini in a beef broth.
The experience was incredible and a lot of fun. Our teacher and chef, David, was extremely patient and ensured we had enough wine to share. We can’t wait to cook for our friends and family upon our return!
Chris and Chantal 