mysonthechef

[mysonthechef]

Aa @autumncalabrese says, "Make yourself a priority! It's a blessing to be able to move your body." Their are so many people who can't move their bodies. I feel thankful and blessed that I am able to continue my journey and move my body. My CA-125 test has continued to come back great after 2 of being cancer free. #fucancer Be that person that when your feet hit the ground in the morning the devil says, "Oh shit that Bitch is up!" #ca125 #ovariancancer https://www.instagram.com/p/BzJyUbJA4l0BNJVbRbzBn9k69eQh2sJvi6QV5w0/?igshid=13ky4q0qymtlv

[annatascalanza]

Street food of Palermo! It’s always an adventure strolling the markets of Palermo. Seen above are fried tripe and the infamous spleen sandwich, finished with a squeeze of lemon. Have you tried it? Only the bravest of our #cookthefarm students tasted this street food treat!

[annatascalanza]

A look at the makers of ragusano and caciocavallo cheese with the Floridia cheese makers. Rosario, top left, is nearing on 70 years old and still makes his cheese with a genuine smile, working as though in a meditation. He now works along side with his son, while his grandsons play in the fields, tend to the cows and help where they can. We were able to taste some of their cheeses–truly delicious, especially the fresh ricotta!

[annatascalanza]

We spent an afternoon wandering the salt flats of Trapani, a place of complete tranquility, yet full of the stories of the salt harvesters hardships. The harvesting of salt is a brutal task–leaving hands cut from the sharp edges of salt and faces red with sunburn. The salt of Trapani is full of flavor, sweet and rich. We are so thankful to those who are still practicing the traditional ways of salt harvesting here!

[annatascalanza]

A peak into our morning at the Florio winery in Trapani tasting Marsala, dry and sweet, on our Cook the Farm touring trip! We were all blown away by the simple pairing of the most delicious dry Marsala with a bit of aged parmigiano.

[annatascalanza]

Day one of our #cookthefarm trip, tasting and touring our way around Sicily, was spent exploring Modica! Of course, this meant a visit to the oldest dolceria in town, Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, to learn the secrets of Modica chocolate. It is a tradition of chocolate making begun by the Aztecs–a special method that results in a delicious and rich chocolate, with crunchy granules of sugar!

[annatascalanza]

Turkish week! We spent a week unraveling the cuisine of Turkey, comparing and contrasting the ingredients, techniques and traditions between Turkey and Sicily. We compared yogurt and ricotta, acid and bitter flavors, bulgar and wheat, raki and wine, teas, nuts, fruit, spices and even traditional celebrations and ways of eating. It was insightful and rich with flavors, music and dancing! It opened our eyes to the fact that there is no single “Mediterranean diet”, but instead a diverse pot of cultures, flavors and traditions!

[annatascalanza]

Salvatore Pellegrino is a tea expert who runs a tea museum in Sicily. He has studied the subject of tea in Japan for over 10 years. He came this week to Case Vecchie to share with us some of the history of tea plantations in Sicily and some rituals used in North African and Japanese tea ceremonies.

[annatascalanza]

This week we had a guest chef and tea expert with us Salvatore Pellegrino. Salvatore cooked with us some traditional Easter dishes from his region of Raddusa such as impanata stuffed with pork sausage, wild greens, orange zest and spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and chili, trinity pasta, wild cardoons fried and soaked in honey, fried borage and cinnamon dusted frittata with mallow and wild fennel.

[annatascalanza]

To start horticulture week we took a trip to a local farm to view their permaculture growing methods. Orazio, the youthful 94 year old showed us around his property where he grows a variety of things to provide for his family such as olives, vines, citrus and a bountiful garden of vegetables and herbs. While these local farms are not aware they do permaculture farming, meaning they grow a variety of different crops to sustain themselves, it is simply the way they have always worked their land.

[annatascalanza]

Yesterday we had the incredibly, knowledgable and passionate ethnobotanist, Andrea Pieroni, join us for a lecture and foraging in the field. While the weather didn’t cooperate with us, we were so happy to be out learning about all the edible plants of Sicily.

We then returned to the Case Vecchie kitchen to make teas and experiment cooking and evaluating the different flavours of the greens we harvested. While our main goal was to gather herbs and greens yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised to see an abundance of mushrooms.

[annatascalanza]

Last week we went on a field to Favarra to visit a local Pasticcieria to see the process of making the marzipan sheep that are a traditional sweet for Easter in Sicily. The photos give you a look into a local bakery to witness a tradition that is unfortunately being lost.

[annatascalanza]

A look into the Case Vecchie garden. Though it is technically winter in Sicily, we have been so lucky to have so many things to eat from the garden, like cauliflower, kales, broccoli, salad greens and more. Jack and Katy our gardeners have also been working the students planting for the growing season ahead. Here are some photos of what’s growing.

[annatascalanza]

Yesterday we had Corrado Assenza the renowned pastry chef from Caffé Sicilia in Noto spend the day with us in the kitchen. While Corrado did not make any pastries with us he shared his passion for using quality ingredients, unique techniques and a gentleness in cooking that is often overlooked.

Here is a look at some of the dishes we cooked and ate yesterday.

[annatascalanza]

Two weeks ago we dedicated a night to the artichoke, as we are in the heart of this thistly vegetable season. We had the students make several different dishes using 100 artichokes, from artichoke caponata to artichoke ravioli, fried artichokes and a fresh artichoke salad.

[annatascalanza]

Today students spent the afternoon learning the art of grafting from our very own specialist, Giovanni. Students each took a turn graft their own tree in our orchard! In the years ahead, we are hopeful to  have baskets of pears, apples and pomegranates!

[mysonthechef]

Jarrod's dirty hands.