Polpette!

Here is the problem with the word "polpette": the only good way to say it in english is "meatballs," but that doesn't really capture the true gist of the word, because "polpette" doesn't imply anything about meat.  Translated, it should really say "little edible balls," but I think we can all agree that this brings to mind all the wrong kinds of images and definitely doesn't sound appetizing.  Regardless of this discourse, this is what I found myself making in an Italian cooking class last week.

I seriously cannot believe it took me this long to take a cooking class here - how did I let this happen?  The class I went to was through a company called Taste of Italy, which holds a few classes a week in seemingly every area of cooking possible - pasta dishes, desserts, antipasti, fish, you name it.  And while the obvious choice would be making pasta by hand, I am pretty sure I would do that exactly one time in my life.  A pasta "chitarra" (those schmancy tools that cut the pasta dough into linguine) is not exactly on my list of items to buy.  So I instead decided to sign up for the polpette class (thinking it would serve me pretty well in the future)...and I am so glad I did.

So I arrive at the cooking school (more difficult that you want to imagine, grazie Italian public transport) and, what do you know, it's me and 5 Italian mothers and/or grandmothers, 2 possibly retired and quite nerdy Italian men (pursuing a new hobby? impressing their wives? more power to them!), and a yoga-toned 30-something woman named Frederica with wildly curly hair and a serious passion for food (really, the way this woman's eyes lit up when we started talking about the dishes...I hope mine do the same!).  Before I could get too intimidated (you do NOT mess with Italians and their food - add in my imperfect language skills and I started wondering if I would be able to hold my own), I met Maribel, a woman who works for Taste of Italy and is actually from the U.S.  In other words, I had my very own translator.  And did you know the word "miglio" means "quinoa"?  Because I sure didn't.  Thank god for Maribel.

We all piled into the kitchen, where 3 assistants were busy running around and preparing the various stations.  Armed with recipe packets, it looked like we would be making 6 different types of polpette.  And this is when our chef, Maria, started explaining the various dishes to us.

Think of Maria as a cross between an Italian grandmother and one of those tough-love Southern waitresses who calls you "honey" and is damn good at her job.  Seriously, this woman knew what she was talking about.  Though I couldn't always follow along (again, thank god for Maribel), I learned so much from this woman.  For example, we rolled all of our polpette in cornstarch instead of flour before baking or frying, apparently because cornstarch is less absorbent and this keeps the meatballs lighter.  And peanut oil is apparently one of the best frying oils because, in the end, its flavor doesn't overpower the other ingredients (especially for delicate flavors like fish).  Always salt at the END, especially in a world where lots of things are pre-salted.  Cut green onions with scissors so as not to crush out all the juices.  I could go on...

So it was basically organized madness, because cooked all the dishes pretty much at once.  We would be working on one thing, then run over to a different station to hear another little sage nugget of advice from Maria (add some cornstarch if it's too liquidy, it needs to be a sauce!), then run back to sauteeing veggies, and so on...hell, it was fun enough just to 

Three hours of hard work later, we feasted.  I mean really feasted.  I ate at least 3 of every polpette we made.  Not to bore you - or make your mouths water - but I came home with an arsenal of recipes (granted, in Italian and in metric measurements.  Though Maribel is emailing them to me in english and US measures.  How have we not caught on to metric?  This is why I am also buying a digital food scale).  The line-up:

-Lentil-quinoa-pumpkin polpette rolled in sesame seeds

-Potato polpette stuffed with sauteed veggies and served with a red wine reduction sauce

-Pork meatballs in tomato-red pepper-black olive sauce

-Spinach and bean polpette stuffed with mozzarella

-"Polpette della nonna" (your average meatball, I think ours were mostly sausage)

-"Polpette di pesce" (fish! we made pulp out of fresh shrimp and fish!) in tomato sauce served with polenta

I cannot wait to make these again.  I have some pictures on flickr (what is it about Europe that makes me photograph food all the time?)  I cannot wait to take another class - I'm thinking pizza.  Time to conquer the fear of homemade dough.  As soon as I get the recipes in english, ask me and I'll share!

Yoghurt, fra le altre cose... (Yogurt, among other things)

Dear Sterzing-Vipiteno,

Please, for the love of all pro-biotic cultures everywhere, distribute your yogurt in the U.S. You have so many products...what's the harm in expanding across the ocean (much less the rest of Europe)?  Since I eat your yogurt a solid 3 times a day, if not more, I have a strong feeling I won't survive without it when I go back stateside.  Just the tubs of plain yogurt in a few select grocery stores would be enough, seriously.  Think about it.

(for your admiring pleasure, in either Italian or Deutsch: http://www.milchhof-sterzing.it/)

(but seriously, I do eat this three times a day.  It's like osteoporosis-fighting heaven in my tummy.)

Dear America,

Learn how to make awesome yogurt.  Thanks.

In other news, today I went to Carnevale in Venice, which I realize now is basically the Italian version of Halloween, but it lasts a whole week and involves waaaaaaayyyy more parties, shows, and alcohol.  The city was so packed and nearly everyone was decked out in costume (ranging from baroque Venetian wear to, I kid you not, massive furry duck suits).  So it was more like Halloween times a gazillion, with lots of Venetian masks...and it was a complete blast.  Pictures are up on my flickr page!  

And since I'd rather not relive in great detail the tiresome stories of my oral exams that are finally finished (seeing as how it involved my professors staring into my soul with looks of academic judgement, a lot of butterflies in my stomach, and some lovely stuttering on my part) I'll just tell you that I passed them :)  So as we say, "avanti"...moving on!