eG Foodblog: divina - Over the Tuscan Stove

[bleudauvergne]

No special requests except that you keep on blogging -- It looks amazing.

How far in advance do you plan your classes?

[Lori in PA]

I'm confused about your living arrangements. You live in 2 places in Italy? Florence during your class days -- is it an apartment? Do you camp in your class kitchen? :-) And the other days are an hour away in the country?

I would like to see great pix of your kitchens -- I want to imagine myself working in them...

[Kouign Aman]

Risotto with gorgonzola ( non-stir

oh my. oh my. oh my.

This, I pray, is on your website?

If not, how much is a course in your school and when do you have openings? (job? who needs a job when they can learn non-stir risotto?)

[Eden]

this photo just caught my breath - I love sfoglitelle

I hauled a kilo of zolfini home from your Market on my last trip to Firenze, they're just wonderful & there's no other bean that replicates the flavor. I'd love to know if the growers are right in their claims that the bean has been in cultivation since pre-Columbus. (most beans we eat today originated in south america)

I'm supposed to get together with friends soon to plan our next Europe trip and I suspect I'll be using links to your blog to help convince them we need to spend more time in Tuscany

thanks for taking the time to blog, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week!

[divina]

When I first moved to FLorence , alone, in 1984, I stayed for a month in a small hotel.

The dollar was high and the room was great about $35 a night for a private room, bath down the hall.

Then I decided to try and stay, I found a room for rent for $200 in Fiesole wth a young couple and bought a motorino. Freedom!

I was here for three months ( got a job in the hotel I had lived in , making beds and then cooking for the kids from Gonzaga U. living there)

After three months, My roommates in the states called.. they were moving!

I bought a round trip ticket Florence to FLorence and went home and sold my stuff.

Packed my bas and have been living out of them since.

A year after I was here ( I moved 9 times) I met Andrea... my now husband.. the oby of my dreams.

he had a great apartment ( huge) around the corner from Vivoli's and not fasr from the San Ambrogio market and Cibreo.

in 1988 I was offered the opportunity to teach cooking for Syracuse University ( I was baking desserts for the vegetarian restaurant in town)

The school used the huge commercial kitchen under the American church.

That lasted a semester..and when I went back the enxt semester to reserve my space, they had already given it away.

I had 20 kids signed up...and now where to teach.

I ran around to all my friends asking to use theri restaurant kitchens and they all said no.

I called everyone I knew.. nothing.. finally my brother-in-law said there was a nice aparmtent in his building across town.

I called..

teh guy wanted to show me something else..

and here Iam.

A nice but small home kitchen, dining room and bedroom overlooking the Mercato Centrale.

PERFECT!

in the meantime I had tried to open a official school, but the red tape here... would require that I basically open a restaurant kitchen.. which is not what I want!

We lived here and taugh here for years, not being able to afford 2 places. Finally it just got too small as my work increased.

My hubby was a cabbie in Fiesole and sold his licence and we bought a fixer upper..

I AM NOT FANCEX MAYES... then nightmare which I almost died during the process..

took 8 years until we could finally get in.

( during that time I lived and worked in Panzano at the Antica macelleria Cecchini, Dario had a farm and we had our own place there, hence my real friendship with Dario)

I also ended up having to qui, blood pressure at 245/150 and I lived through with no damage!

So, we LIVE in certaldo where I will go on Friday after my Chianti tour with students and breathe and enjoy the countryside.

My work is seasonal so I often have months off with no reason to come into town.

But when I work it is so totally not worth it to commute!

and I get the best of both words.

[divina]

The market itself was built in the 1860's when Florence became the capital of the newly United Italy. The first capital was Torino, home to the Savoia family.

The old market which was in what is now Piazza Rupublica was knocked down and three markets were built, in the style of the times, looking very French.

The largest of the Markets in San Lorenzo, the San Ambrogio market (where we will go today) is smaller, and the third which was across the river I cannot find any references to.

My apartment was one of the older buildings left standing.

In the Piazza is the home to Benvenuto Cellini who was the goldsmith to the Medici's.

On my street, the man who wrote Pinocchio was born, his father was the chef to the Ginori family, nobility that lived in Via Ginori!

when I was retileing the kitchen some stucco came off the the walls were frescoed.

I moved a plastic wall ( now red) and made the kitchen longer and my bedroom smaller.

here is a foto of my mettitutto, where I keep my pots and pans..

and the table setup for class after shopping.

( thank you IKEA, before when I was poor I had a marble table.. now I cna afford a long butcher block!)

The only thing left in the house from when I rented it is the sink.

no cuisinarts, no microwaves, no kitchenaids.

[bleudauvergne]

Judy. In 1988, I was desperate to get to Europe, an Art History student at Syracuse University, just itching for that year abroad in Florence. Due to cash constraints, I had to put my travel plans on hold. It was so dissapointing not to be able to go. I was crushed. But fate had other plans for me. 3 continents and 18 years later, it comes to light that I was meant to spend my life here in France. I think this strange coincedence means I will have to get down to see you soon, Judy.

I would simply adore seeing photos of your kitchen, and hearing your thoughts on your discovery process of Tuscan cooking, more about how it began, some of the dishes that make it back to your curriculum time and again, how the seasons work into your class planning.

Thank you for blogging, Judy!

edited to add: Wow you posted photos of your kitchen and posted them at the same time I asked!

Edited November 9, 2006 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Catriona]

"mettitutto". What a brilliant word.

I'm going to use it for the drawer in my bedside table which is such a mess, my husband can't cope with the thought that I have something that messy in his house. "But darling, it's a traditional Italian mettitutto, you can't take away my traditions!"

[divina]

Since I live here I teach all year, on TWTH.

I do classes even for one person.

What was not available to me when I arrived, so found my nitch.

having being trained in Classic Frenhc cuisine, I had to unlearn everything, and start from scratch.

I teach mamma cooking, but cna take it up a notch for fine dining and like to teacj techniques... and really how to cook..and not how to follow recipes.

the Tuscans have a whole nother way about it, a natural feeling with food!

I love to talk, ask way too many questions and get too personal, but that is me.

I have gathered great stories recipes and foto's and.... is my book I am planning on trying to seflpublish here this winter.

Cooking with the seasons is the only way to cook here.

I teach my students to shop first then look for ways to prepare the food.

If the food is at it's peak, it really only takes the simplest preparations to show it off, no fancy sauces. just pick a technique, roasting, boiling, steaming etc..

great olive oil , fabulous sea salt, balsamic vinegar?????

Less is more!

I just found some black fresh olives from Puglia and am going to salt cure them.. so will put up the foto's later today after class.

from yesterday's class, the returning students have requested

Fresh pasta

Wild boars sauce

a lesson in tomato sauces

Torta della nonna ( an ITalian pie crust , pasta frolla, two layered pie, filled with pastry cream and baked topped with almonds.

we will find our main course at the market.

Off to work!

[Lori in PA]

Thank you for the kitchen photos and the explanations. You talked about teaching your students to cook from the ingredients that are the best and freshest -- wonderful! Do you have other goals for your classes, as in, "If my students can only learn ______, _______, and ______, I'm happy."?

What is your favorite sort of person to teach? Least favorite?

What about living in Italy makes you happiest? What do you miss about the US?

Is that enough questions for one post?

[hathor]

Beautiful description of your cooking style, Judy. It can be daunting, and scary, and tricky to cook in this style. You can't 'cover up' any boo-boos.

That whole 'less is more' philosophy can be far more challenging that you might suspect. I love the photo of your much loved and used pots. New pots are worse than new shoes!

[Pontormo]

You have a great personal story, Judy!

While Florence has always had lots of establishments selling fast food to tourists, I am wondering if you've noticed any effects McDonald's has had on your home. Do business owners complain? Any interesting reactions, or is it just accepted with a shrug, like Footlocker and the Disney store in the center of town?

Edited November 9, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[divina]

Since I moved here in 1984.. things have become very American..when I arrived there were 2 chinese places and one Sardenian restaurant.

Now? 4 McDonalds in Florence..chinese.. I think last count there were over 200, add on several japanese... and a countless number os Shwarma places, only outnumbered by Call Centers.

But there are some Napolitano places, Calabrese too!

My poor market is dying.. and the San Ambrogio market flourishing. I will post the foto's today.

The city center has been abandoned to those from outside the city high rents making it impossible for locals to live here.

I really don't miss anything from the states, I go back once a year for the IACP convention and eat bagels, mexican food and sushi.. all of which I cna make myself now if I get cravings.

Hathor... I use the pots and pans the locals use... no calaphon, no all clad

I LOVE high heat..and slow cooking so have clay pots, aluminum pans, some triple botton with lids as well.

[divina]

The market is so big and most of the shoppers are tourists. so many of the stands at the central market have become more "gift shops" with gourmet non perishables, colored pasta, dried tomatoes and mushrooms.

plans for modernizing the market include moving in the polimoda center??? an ATM and post office.. sounds like a mall.

San Ambrogio is tiny and was restored to it's glory.

It is a more residential area and supported highly by the locals.

supermarkets are having huge success, due to the hours for the locals working, cost for families with cheaper food.. and easy to understand for the thousands of students and visitors to florence.

Edited November 9, 2006 by divina (log)

[hathor]

Hathor... I use the pots and pans the locals use... no calaphon, no all clad

I LOVE high heat..and slow cooking so have clay pots, aluminum pans, some triple botton with lids as well.

←

I'm right with you on the pots and pans! Lots of terra cotta, clay pots just make everything taste better. Except for when you need high heat...!

That is a tragedy that you say your market is dying, is there just not enough local traffic to keep it going? The variety of ingredients that you have available is amazing to me. My choices here in the hinterlands are far more restricted.

[Pontormo]

Perhaps you're responding to Judith as I write, but I, too, am interested in learning more about what you said about the Mercato Centrale. I had no idea! I love the place!

Why is San Ambrogio thriving, instead? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is there is more development on that side of Florence, out where the new Archivio di Stato is located.

I also wonder about the effect of supermarkets and all the people moving out beyond the old city walls to those blocks of apartment buildings. I confess that when I stayed in the Oltrarno, on the other side of the river that divides the town, I either picked up things to cook for dinner in little stores along the way back to my fourth-floor walk-up near Piazzo Tasso, or in the morning, visited the smaller open-air markets set up nearby including Santa Spirito. However, I confess to going to the huge Essalunga since it was open in the evenings.

From what you say about the costs of residences in the Centro, are the people moving in just not shopping for food? Are there too many commercial places setting up in spaces formerly used as homes?

[divina]

many of the people moving in are students and foreigners.. ( landlords can charge more for rent) buy food, but usually shop at the supermarkets, which are open later.

There are some new stands in the market opened by People from Sri Lanka.. so we are getting some new foods in.

It will not close.. but there are many empty stands.

[divina]

This morning started off with me going to San Lorenzo for breakfast at Claudio's like the other morning.. cappuccino and ciambella.

It was early and the guys were still unloading meat.

The went upstairs to get some foto's for the blog.

My olive man Alberto has also switched over to pasta and oil, and only has one kind of fresh olive for me to cure. So I picked up a kilo of black olives from puglia..and went home to start some salt cured olives.

Just layering them in Sea salt ( large sea salt, sale grosso 8 euro cents a kilo at the coop, 50 euro cents at the market)

I added lemon rind and garlic slices in with the salt. As per Alberto.

Everyday now I will throw away the liquid that forms.

When there is no more liquid, the olives are done.

Back home to class.

When the students arrived we made the pastry cream and the crust for our dessert.

Torta della nonna.

then put the wild boar on to cook and off we went to San Amborgio.

Just a short cab ride and a world away!

no shwarma shops, no chinese restaurants..

This is food paradise.

Cibreo restaurant is right here.. now in 4 forms. the restaurant, the cafe, the trattoria and the private club, Teatro del Sale.

Ran into my friend Alfonso who was kind enough to pose with the girls!

While we were shopping I got hugged and kissed about 4 times.

Everyone wants to know if i ever miss home?

What's to miss?

more later.. hubby is home and it is dinner time!

Edited November 9, 2006 by divina (log)

[Kevin72]

Good lord, between your blog, Judith's Umbria blog last month, and Ms. Foodie's wonderful travellogue on the Italy board right now, I'm seriously pining for a return trip. Keep up the great work!

[Kouign Aman]

Is that a three-generation family class you are teaching?

[divina]

Thanks...

the mom daughter on the left of Alfonso were here for the week the young woman on the right is from England and came for the three day session.

I do often get families... husbands and wife's, parents and kids...

groups of friends.

Food is a universal language.. and bonds friendships!

[little ms foodie]

I'm just getting to start you blog divina, fabulous and of course brings back lots of nice memories from our recent trip! thank you!

[divina]

Inside the San Ambrogio Market

todays first course.

Papparedelle con cinghiale, we made a wild boar stew and minced half of it to make our ragu, adding a tiny bit of tomato.

Main course was the fried beef, milanese.

The young lady from london was amazed and the thinness of the handcut beef, already breaded and prepared. So we picked some up and made it.

I remember shopping at their stand 21 years ago, he was 18! ( on the right)

a nice salad and

twice cooked spinach. We bought already cooked spinach and chard and minced them then recooked them in garlic and olive oil, salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Decided to use the farm fresh eggs and make uovo al pomodoro, by dropping some eggs into the hot tomato sauce covering it and then serving when the eggs were cooked.

I also added some buffalo mozzarella.. they ate it so fast... without forks just bread there wasn't time to get a foto!

Our Torta della Nonna was fabulous!

Tomorrow Chianti!

[divina]

FYI San Lorenzo ( Saint Lawrence) patron saint of the Central Market and for some also patron saint of chefs....

Was Grilled to death!

[mizducky]

Only time to lurk and read this week, but I wanted to up periscope just long enough to say how much I'm enjoying reading along. What a yummy lifestyle!