Cooking Class

Today while the others went off to witness the start of nebbiolo vintage around Montforte d'Alba, Brian and I were happy to stay at home for a quiet morning together and to prepare for lunch in the garden - antipasti of salami, cornichons and grissini, main course of tiny fresh pasta parcels filled with fontana cheese, tossed in a light butter sauce and topped with some shaved parmesan, a few crispy fried sage leaves and lashings of white truffle, served with a green salad and fresh bread, then a lovely piece of cheddar style cheese and beautiful grapes, and finally an assortment of chocolates and nougat - all purchased from Monday's market. 

There was just enough time for a quick rest before we took off once again to our landlady's house in Barolo - this time for a cooking class.  Marina's mother and girlfriend were also there to help and we set about making:

Focaccia with little pockets of stracchino cheese.
Insalata Russa  - fabulous salad of tuna with cooked and diced vegetables and mayonnaise.
Rolled peppers stuffed with tuna, capers, anchovies and parsley.
Tagliatelle made from the most beautiful eggs with bright orange yolks.
Ragu di Carne to be served with the pasta, made from pork and veal mince.
Brasato al Barolo - a whole piece of beef that had been marinating overnight, braised with vegetables and Barolo wine.
Tiramisu - made with very thin lady finger biscuits.

A lot of the preparation had been done by the time we arrived and we spent over 3 hours cooking - amidst much hilarity and nonsense, with half an hour's break for coffee and the focaccia on the verandah overlooking a huge valley of vineyards.

Then Marina's mother left, pre-dinner drinks were served, and Marina's husband, Gianna, with whom we'd gone truffle hunting yesterday, joined us for dinner.  And what a dinner it was.  The food was spectacularly good and we were asked if we would prefer to have our pasta with the ragu or with white truffle.  

Most of us elected for the truffle (though we all tried the ragu version as well) and we were given a plate of about 10 white truffles collected by Gianna in the very early hours of this morning (when serious truffle hunting happens) from which to choose the one we liked the most.  The one we finally chose weighed over 50gm and had the most fabulous aroma - would have cost a fortune at the Alba fair - and it was sensational.

Dinner was so much fun.  We drank wines from the family's vineyard - all nebbiolo - and Marina and Gianna were the perfect hosts.  And then somehow we discovered that Gianna has a good tenor voice and the dinner party became an Italian singalong!  What a fantastic evening of excellent food, good wine, lots of singing and enormous quantities of laughter - all shared with a wonderful bunch of people.