Trento Book Release

This past Thursday, the whole staff went to Trento with the Chef.  He is in a new

book about Chef’s from the mountains and how they are modernizing cuisine.  About three weeks ago we had a food photographer come to the restaurant to take pictures of Chef’s signature dishes.  These pictures were put in the new book.

There were two other chefs at the event that where showcased.  these are some pictures of their dishes...

Thursday was, for me, the official start of the spring up here in the mountains.  It was 27 degrees Celsius (which is 80 Fahrenheit) down in the valley.  All the apple trees have blossoms, and the grape vines are starting to grow.  It was a spectacular day to be outside!

The event was for 50 people, mostly journalists from the Trentino Alto-Adige region.  Chef made his signature Lamb dish with Lichen, Jerusalem Artichoke, and Crosne (this is like a baby turnip).

  There were camera’s all over the kitchen so that the journalists could watch the chef prepare the dish.  Once the chef finished his preparation, we then all helped to make exact replicas of the dish for the journalists.  It was a great event to be a part of, and another amazing experience in Italy!

Trento Wine Festival

This past Saturday I went to Trento with the chef.  We went for another wine festival to make the food for the event.  We met up with two other chefs from the valley to help them for the day (chef made his dish on Sunday).  Chef Stefano made a Zuppa di Faggioli (which was incredible) with Carne Salata wrapped with Spaghettoni.  It was a beautiful dish, and the flavors were great!  We served about 120 people in about 10 minutes.  We were flying!

And of course, being at a wine festival, the chef and I went to taste some wines!  This was a festival for ONLY the sustainable wineries in Trentino Alto-Adige.  Most of the wines were amazing!  Chef introduced me to the vintner who makes his favorite wine, and let me tell you, the wine is incredible!  The lady gave me a bottle of the wine as we were leaving for free!  I told her I would pay but she insisted I take it for free.

At the event there was also some different styles of cheese, and salumi.  The salami’s where very good, and as was the Speck, but my favorite Speck is still the chef’s! 

It was another great day in Northern Italy!

The Banquet

This past Friday we served about 90 people hors d’ouvres, and a beautiful 4 course meal.  We prepared all week for the event, doing a few things each day.  We made 5 different types of hors d’ouvres, which were served when the people arrived.  We made a Caprese Panini with cherry tomatoes and the mozz in between the two slices, along with Carne Salata.  Carne Salata is marinated beef that can be served raw or cooked.  We served it raw with a goat cheese cream on the inside (like a roulade).

This was an event for A.N.F.F.A.S., which is the facility we cook dinner for every night.  A.N.F.F.A.S. is local place that helps people with learning disabilities.  I didn’t know the whole time what this place was until we set up the banquet.  They had pictures of everyone on the walls, and it made me appreciate what we have been doing every night (we make them dinner every night around 6:30, and the chef delivers the food). 

After the banquet and the service, the chef and the rest of us received a round of applause for the food that we had prepared.  Little did they know that at 7:30 (right before the first course was supposed to go out) we lost all power in the kitchen!  We had to scramble to keep the food hot for service!  Luckily chef’s brother’s hotel was right across the street so we could use their kitchen.  At one point I had to run in the rain, across the street to heat up the sauce for the main course (CRAZY!!!). 

It was a great event, and I’m so glad I was able to be apart of it!

Night Out!

Night Out!

Let me start out by saying I really don’t know what I was thinking because I decided to drink everything possible (Red Wine, Prosecco, Champagne, Beer, and Jager!!).

So last Saturday night was the first time I have gone out since I have been here.  I have been working a lot and haven’t had the desire to go party.  Last Saturday I promised some of my co-workers that I would go with them to a “Discotec” (what we would call a club).  So after work that night, I showered up and went downstairs to the Wine Bar for a drink.  Everyone met here after work and then we went off to the club.

At the Club, we had our own private section, and bottle after bottle after bottle of Prosecco!  They played house and dance music, (so I was in Heaven) and I think everyone in the Valley was there!

So as I’m sure you can tell by now, we were drinking, dancing, and letting loose!  By the end of the night, I should have went home with my friend Mattia, but I decided to stay with the other guys.  Little did I realize it was 3 in the morning!  So we partied on till about 4 when the club closed, and from their, I honestly don’t remember how I got lost.  I was with my friends one minute, and the next I was in another town.  I think I walked anywhere between 3-5 kilometers away from Cavalese (and yes the bar was only about a 2 minute walk from where I am staying…….IDIOT). 

So as I’m walking, and wondering where the hell I am, I finally see a car!  So I wave my hands in the air and yell BASTA! BASTA! (which means stop).  So as the car stops I say, “Io sono Americano.  Io vado Cavalese.  Aiuto!” (I am American, I go to Cavalese, HELP!).  The driver then says to me, “We speak English,  and we are on our way to Roma and will take you back to Cavalese”.  I was so thrilled to hear that (after walking for about an hour).  When I arrived back at the hotel, I CRASHED!  It was 5:15 am when I arrived back in my room.

So the next morning I was supposed to start work at 9am……………That didn’t happen!  I had forgotten to set my alarm when I arrived home so I didn’t wake up in time.  I woke up to one of the cooks absolutely slamming his fist into the door yelling, “Marco, Marco”.  I woke up, put on my clothes, and ran downstairs to the kitchen.  It was one of the LONGEST days of my LIFE!  I did not feel good ALL day until about 9:30 in the night.  Luckily the chef wasn’t angry with me.  I apologized, and assured him it would NOT happen again, and he said to me sometimes we all just need to let loose.

I hope you all get some good laughs out of this because I know everyone here sure did!

Ciao!!

Pizza!

PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was awesome!  It was a little slower with the Michelin Restaurant being closed so we had some time to “Play” with food………..YES!!!  If you haven’t been following my posts, a few weeks ago I ate the BEST PIZZA EVER!  We were at a wine festival called “Vinitaly” and were able to taste this amazing pizza.  The pizziolo told us that they let the dough proof for one week!  I thought this was crazy!  One week of levitation for pizza dough, but let me tell you this pizza was INCREDIBLE!!  So with the flour that Ale and I picked up from “Molino Grassi” we experimented with different pizza dough’s.

The first day we made 3 different pizza dough’s.  One from normal Farina 00, another from Manitoba, and the last from a mixed flour that was rustic made from buckwheat and Farro.  The for a week of levitation is to decrease the amount of Yeast.  With a smaller amount of Yeast, you must allow more time for proper levitation…..(btw I love working with bread so this week was so much fun).   Each day after our tastings of pizza (yes I said pizza tasting) we would make a different dough either by mixing the flours, or adding water or flour to the recipe.  After 5 days of experimenting, the chef found the perfect mix for the new pizza dough for the pizzeria.

It doesn’t get much better than that!

Parma

What a Day!!

Today was our day off after a CRAZY Easter week!  I was looking forward to sleeping in, but instead the sous chef asked me if I wanted to go to his home for the day and of course I said yes (how could I pass up a chance to travel!).  Ale lives in Cremona (which is a beautiful city) in the lombardia Region of Italy.  I thought we were just going to go see his family for the day, but I had no IDEA what I had in store!

We left Cavalese around 8:30 to make our way out of the mountains.  Our first stop was a bakery in Trento.  Ale has been meaning to get to this bakery because he met one of the head bakers at a food conference not to long ago.  When we arrived, I stepped out of the car, and all you could smell was fresh bread (INCREDIBLE!!!).  I thought that we were just going to go and by some bread for Ale, but that was not the case (and this is pretty much how the whole day went!).  Ale started to talk to one of the people that worked there, and before I knew it I was in the actual bakery.  They took us in the back to show us their specialty bread that they only bake on Saturday.  They make this bread with the crushed grapes from which are used to make wine.  It gives the bread a distinct flavor (not sweet) and adds a little texture to the bread (and the aroma is amazing!).

After leaving the bake shop, we made our way down to Parma (which if you look on a map where Cavalese is and Parma, you will see).  In Parma, we had to pick up some flour for the Chef because he wants to experiment with different flour for Pizza dough ( and that will be my next post J).  The flour mill is called Molino Grassi, and they produce some of the best flour in Italy for breads and pizza.  We only needed 30 kilo’s of flour, and we got 3 different kinds, but some how it took us a freaking hour to get flour (I know……nice rhyme). 

So when we finally left the flour mill, I thought that we were headed first to see all the Culatello.  I was way off.  I know Ale told me that he wanted to show me where they bag all of the coffee near his home, but he didn’t tell me that we were going to Massimo’s shop (Massimo is the man who supplies the coffee for El Molin and it is incredible! Check it out on line: search Lady Café Italia)!  I was able to see the entire process of which he goes through to make the perfect coffee.  He also told me the ratio to make a perfect coffee (10g coffee/60g water AMERICANO…..8g coffee/25g water ESPRESSO).  Massimo also makes this stuff he calls a coffee dough (its really more like a paste).  He has taken an old paint mixer and converted it for his needs to make this paste.  He mixes ground coffee and oil and keeps it heated at a specific temperature for a couple of hours so the emulsion is correct and holds.  He then sells it to gelato stores, and he also mixes it with sugar and cocoa powder (words can not describe how good it is).  It was amazing to see the passion this man has for coffee, and I hope to one day buy his product in the U.S. for my restaurant.

The next stop on our “Tour” was to see the Culatello.  Culo in Italian means “butt” so the meat comes from that area of the pig.  Culatello is also known as “The King of the Salumi”, and let me tell you……..It sure is!  If you think Proscuitto is good, you need to get your hands on some of this stuff.  I know for a fact that my Uncle John would go crazy over this stuff!  Enough about the Culatello (cause I could go on and on about this stuff for days), I want to tell you about the place where they make it.  Culatello is protected, just like Parmesan cheese, and Proscuitto de Parma.  It can only be made in Zibello, and there are certain dietary restrictions for the pigs as well as specific procedures to follow after the pigs have been slaughtered.  Sorry, random fact.  The castle is incredible.  Its not very big but it has been renovated on the inside and is stunning.  They have a huge garden in the entranceway, and peacocks that roam the terrace.  Down in the Cantina is where all of the Culetello is stored.  It is basically a LARGE basement, with only one window facing north.  Inside, they keep the leftover crushed grapes from wine making.  They say it adds in the flavor of the Culatello, and helps with the formation of the mold.  Also down in the Cantina they have the Parmesan Cheese.  The wheels are HUGE!  One interesting fact I learned is that they make different kinds of Parmesan Cheese from different cows.  Each of the cows is feed similar diets, but the cheese comes out very different!

After leaving the Castle, we headed to Ale’s house to meet his family.  He kept saying to me, “ Oh my family is crazy, I hope its ok for you”.  I told him that Everyone’s family is a little crazy, and if their not, its not normal!  His family is not crazy at all!  They were wonderful and showed me such hospitality.  They made me Polenta Pasticatta which is polenta with cheese and ragu (INCREDIBLE).  After dinner (around 9:30) we left to meet Ale’s friends at a bar.  I am glad we got to spend some time with his friends because I don’t think he has seen them in a while.  After having a few drinks at the bar we headed home, arriving in Cavalese at 2:30 in the morning!  It was a long day but I think we did all that we possibly could in one day! All I have to say is………I LOVE ITALY! 

Easter Week

Again I apologize for not being able to post, but I have had zero time!  Hope all is well with everyone!

Easter Week!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ok, first I will start off by saying Happy Easter to everyone, and I hope you all had lots and lots of chocolate!!

This week was CRAZY! We were so busy there wasn’t any time to think!  From Wednesday to Monday I worked 75 hours!  Lets just say by Monday night I was almost a Zombie.  It was an amazing week though.  For the last two weeks I have been fully controlling the main course station.  I have been cooking all of the proteins, and maintaining the prep for my station.  That being said, I had to do so much prep work this week to be sure that I was prepared for the Easter weekend.  We worked every day from 9-4pm, then from 5:30pm till 12.  It was pretty intense!

This week ended up being a turning point for me.  We were so busy that there wasn’t any time to think.  This ended up being a great thing for me.  It was just GO, GO, GO the whole time.  I was on time with all of my plates, and I didn’t miss a beat!  The Chef said to me that I did a great job staying organized and in control during all the Chaos. 

This ended up being a great week for me amidst all of the craziness!  Again, happy late Easter to all! 

Vinitaly Day 3

VinItaly DAY 3

Today I am definitely feeling the wear and tear from this event.  I am exhausted from driving 4 hours a day and working another 6-8.  Today is exciting because the whole kitchen from “El Molin” gets to go today!  The Chef is presenting two dishes today, and wants everyone on board to make service nice and smooth.  When we arrived, we started to make the Beet Spheres for the first dish.  We put 3 on each plate and had to make enough for at least 85 people (considering that yesterday we served at least 120).  It took about 2 hours to make all of the Spheres, but since we had that finished, for service all we had to do was plate.  With the Beet Spheres we served a Gorgonzola Cream, with Juniper flavored Stroitzel (which is a savory pastry similar to a biscuit).  This dish is Buonissimo!  The only thing different that I would do is to make a pastry with walnuts instead of the Juniper, for me it is a little strong.

The second dish we did today was Chefs take on Fish & Chips.  We served poached black cod with Shrimp Bisque Cream, a risotto and a Potato chip, and Shrimp Tagliolini that is smoked with Juniper and Rosemary.  On the top of the dish we put tiny little spheres of frozen lime juice that we made with liquid nitrogen.  For me it wasn’t my favorite dish but it was still very good. 

After we finished service, Chef let us all go around Vinitaly to taste different wines from the different regions.  We started out in tasting some amazing wines from Toscana.  We had a couple white wines from the region that I thought were incredible!  Afterwards we headed to the Amalfi Coast area and had some more white wines that were so well rounded  and very nice on the palate (and for me I don’t normally drink too much white wine).  After tasting the southern wines of Italy, we went over to meet Chef and his friend to have some pizza.  Let me tell you, this was the BEST pizza I have ever tasted (no joke)!  The dough was absolutely incredible!  We talked with the pizziolo and he said that they let the dough rise for ONE WEEK! The dough is incredibly soft on the inside, and the outside has the perfect crunch to it!  The pizza had Chef’s Speck, potatoes, Mozz, and a coffee paste.  It sounds a little weird but it was AWESOME!.  The other pizza we had was almost the same, but it had a Buratta instead of the Mozz.

After the best pizza EVER, we headed over to the Pimonte region to try some Barolo’s.  The sous chefs friend has his own vineyard so he took us there first.  They have some amazing wines!  The Cantina is called Vajra, and it is a small family run vineyard that specializes in Barolo’s and one very interesting Reisling (which typically is not found in the Barolo area).  After our tasting, the family gave me a bottle of wine to take home (which I was not expecting, but I am very excited to drink) to my family.

We headed home after another long day of work, but I had some amazing wine yet again, and I am having the experience of a lifetime!

April 3rd

April 3^rd, 2012

I have to say, staging in Italy is amazing!  I love hearing the church bells ring every hour, from Cavalese and the surrounding towns.  Today again is my day off, but I woke up early today to make the bread for tomorrow. I made the five different kinds of bread, and then did some laundry.  After I started the laundry I decided to go for a run.  It is so beautiful today, so I ran as far up the hill as I could, and then I hiked.  I was up in the woods for about an hour today running and hiking.  I found all sorts of things like the different pines (and they all have different scents), the Lichene (which is what the Chef uses in a lot of his dishes), and wild Licorice.  It was so nice and peaceful to be in the mountains, the sun shining, and just enjoying the nature around me. 

I am heading to Bolzano this afternoon with the Sous Chef because he needs some coffee, and I just want to go back again!  It is such a beautiful city (and I want my Sacher Torte) set in the Valley.  We left for Bolzano around 2 in the afternoon, and we couldn’t have picked a better day to go!  It was sunny and warm, and the drive is beautiful.  Its crazy to think that just a week ago I was making this drive to go to Verona, and none of the apple trees had blossoms.  Now, every single tree was covered in flowers!  It was a beautiful site to see. 

When we arrived in Bolzano, Ale took me to a great place where they make fresh bread all day long!  There were two ladies working (and they own the place) that are German and make unbelievable bread!  WE then kept walking through the markets and small, narrow streets until we arrived at a small Delicatessen.  They made all kinds of sausages from deer, pork, and beef, and they also made Speck and Prosciutto (still to me, the Chef’s Speck is the best around).  We bought some sausage that they call “Common Wurst” which is very similar to a smoked Anduilie sausage from Louisiana (don’t know if that is spelled right!).  Afterwards, we stopped at a nice little bar down one of the side streets, where you can sit outside, and relax.  We ordered a “Hugo” (pronounced ugo) which is Prosecco, with a syrup from a flower similar to Jasmine, and mint……DELICIOUS!  After our relaxing drink, we decided to head to “Bozner Bier”, which is a local brewery that makes all of their beer in house (I talked about this a few weeks ago).  Ale and I decided to each get a Growler, which is about 4 liters of beer!  On our way back to the car we finally stopped at the “Sacher Torte” store so I could finally try one.  I have to say, and I’m being honest, the one we made in school tasted much better.  Chef Woolley’s Recipe is the Bomb!  Also They make it with an Apricot Jam here, and we made ours with Raspberry (Sooooo much better).

On our way back to Cavalese, we went a different way.  Ale wanted to show me a Monastery up in the mountains (and we both haven’t been able to go to church on Sunday’s during Lent because of work).  This place was beautiful, and that is an understatement!  It is on the top of a mountain with the beautiful view of the Dolomites in the background (Check “Facebook” for pics).  After the mass, we drove back home through the astonishing mountain views to have dinner.

I ate with Ale and his girlfriend Pearla at their home in Tesero.  They have a beautiful 2 bedroom place!  I couldn’t help but laugh at dinner because it was the most American meal you could think off!  We picked up some Wurstel sausages (which are like American hotdogs, but 10 times better!) from the Delicatessen.  They also made French Fries, and of course we had the “Bozner Bier” to drink!  I said to them, “the only think I need now is my Rockies hat and a seat at Coors Field!”.   It was really good, and nice to spend some time with great people on my day off.  After dinner we had a few of Ale’s homemade liqueurs like Lemoncello (AMAZING) and a Mandarin one that was good too! 

Overall I had another amazing day, and I am loving each and every day I get to spend in this beautiful country.

VinItaly Day 2

Today just the chef and I went to the event.  Last night I fell asleep around 9 at night because I was so exhausted from the time change.  We left this morning around 7:30 because today we were not making the dishes, Chef Paulo (the other Michelin Chef) is for the event.  It is so beautiful in the mornings to drive through the mountains, and into the valley to go to Verona.  To see all the Castles and Monuments makes me think of how long the land has been inhabited here.

As we arrive, we don’t have anything to unload today. We just walked in and helped Chef Paulo get ready.  We finished setting up around 11:30 today and had about an hour to kill before service started.  So what do we do……. Of course we go drink Champagne!  Good Champagne is REALLY GOOD!! It is refreshing and cleansing to the pallet (to me).  So as we walk around the event in our chefs jackets, everyone says hello, and has us come in for the wine tastings.  It is pretty cool because my Chef gets us into the best places, AND we drink their BEST wine! I have a good understanding now about the different wines from the different regions in Italy. 

Today was the busiest day of the event.  We got absolutely slammed!  And the worst part was that it was about 200 degrees in the kitchen area!  We had an oven running, Emersion Circulator, 2 dish washing machines, and an induction burner with boiling water on it……….HOT!! To say the least, I sure learned today how to make a damn good Salumi plate!  I think I made Salumi platers today for at least 160 people, AND I helped with the plating of the two other dishes for 100! It was a crazy day, but again, once we finished, we quenched our thirst………With Champagne!! Ahhhhhh! Soo good!

Another day of amazing food and Wine!