Thanks Grandma

Today is day 6 of my Italian adventure. After a day of running around like a crazy person, I stopped for a bite to eat at Bar "La Crota." I still don't speak the language but I know my food vocabulary (of course!) so I ordered pasta fromaggio (cheese pasta) con bistecca pollo e potata (chicken steak with potatoes), thinking it would all end up in one dish. As it turns out, I got two. Silly American. 

I have to say that it was nothing spectacular with the exception of them damn potatoes that reminded me of my grandmother's fried potatoes. It literally gave me a visceral reaction, one which I did not expect. I'm 6000 miles away from any friends or family, sitting on the cobble stone streets of Italy, but a half plate of fried potatoes took me right to her, right to the kitchen of the house on Etiwanda Street. It took me a moment to realize again that I'm in a foreign country with no comfort of the people and things I love, which gave me such a greater appreciation of my memories and what it took for me to get here.

We know it's comforting, but really, we benchmark our lives with food; it's why we remember the excitement of the first time we tried sushi, the nourishment of chicken soup when we're sick, and all of those childhood memories in grandma's best dish. There are so many things I love about food but this is what I love the most; its abilitly to transport us through space and time and make us feel good to our core.

To see more photos of my time in Bra, Italy, check out the "Just Photos!" tab.

It's like Harry Potter...

This jetlag is killing me softly. I fell asleep at 6pm (at no accord of my own. It just happened, ok?) and the biggest torrential downpour I have ever seen (or heard) woke me up at 1am. So here I am, sitting in the dark, writing away.

I'm getting my master in Food Culture and Communications and many have asked exactly what it is I will be studying. I finally have my complete curriculum, so here it is:


Social History of Italian Food since 1861
Theory and Interviewing Techniques
The Sociology of Tourism and Gastronomy
Gender in Traditional Small-Scale and Alternative Agriculture
Ethnoecology
Urban Food Systems
Food Design and Place: the Restaurant and the Supermarket
Food, Consumer Culture, and Gender in Postwar Italy
Food and Landscape in Italian Cinema
Food in the City: the Bronx
History of Specialty Products
Culture, Place, and Heritage
The Space of Food in the Indian Diaspora
Semiotics of Gastronomy
Media Studies
Food and Media
Professional Food Writing
Food Documentary
Editing Techniques
Cinema and Gastronomy
Travel and Food Photography
Techniques of Food Photography
Enogastronomical Communication
Food in Popular Culture
Ethics and Aesthetics of Food
Medieval Food History
Social History of Food: Networking, Hierarchies and Identities
Theory and Methods in the Anthropology of Food
Consumption, Food and Culture
Food, Environment & Sustainability
Food Economy
Sustainable and Organic Agriculture
Ethnobiology and Human Ecology
Food Justice
Food Law
Elements of Food Technology
Wine Technology
Molecular Basis of Taste
Wine Sensory Analysis
Food Sensory Analysis
Food Sciences and Public Nutrition
Sense of Smell
Cheese Tasting
Chocolate Tasting
Cured Meat Tasting
Olive Oil Tasting
Beer Tasting
Wine Tasting

Seminars:
Seminars on honey
History of SF
Slow Food International
Education/Event
The Philosophy of Slow Food
Introduction to the Study Trips in Italy
Sustainable Gastronomy

These topics are covered within 10 months and I finish the program with an internship. Wish me luck!!

Oh, have I mentioned the campus is in the agency of the Castle Pollenzo??? I'm going to school in a castle. It's like Harry Potter, but en Italiano!

(Click to Enlarge Photos)

Cheese and Other Distractions

I came to Italia with an idea in mind, with some concept of how to spend my last 9 days as a free person before I enslave myself to my education again. I wanted to eat amazing food, find an apartment, launch my blog, and get some sightseeing done. Let's just say that things aren't going as planned. Between the geographical limitations, moderate physical injury (I threw out my back badly, but I'm hanging in there), and numerous technological hurdles things are....well, different. Oh, and I still need a place to live. I have 4 more days left. Let's hope my body kicks back in and allows me to enjoy what's left of my freedom.

On the plus side of things, I have fallen in love with the European breakfast all over again. Years ago, I visited Germany and learned that their breakfast is comprised of fresh baked breads, homemade preserves and jams with coffee and/or tea. It's been a memory that stayed with me since and I have unsuccessfully tried to duplicate it with La Brea Bakery bread, Bonne Mamane marmalade and other miserable substitutes....what a joke!

It turns out that the Italians enjoy a similarly wonderful fare in the morning. Since I arrived, I have enjoyed fresh breads, homemade jams, sliced meats, and local cheeses every morning. It's what I've been looking forward to at four in the afternoon. I've even become a lover of blue cheese! Yes.....I said blue cheese!!!!

By Italian law, Gorgonzola is covered by a Protected Geographical Status which means it can only be produced in Piedmont and Lombardy. Well, I'm staying in La Morra which is in the Piedmont region and the cheese is fabulous. Every morning the hotel's housekeeper, Sara, arranges a spread in the dining area and I have to say, I just can't get enough.

Once I fill my plate (and you know I do), I sit outside at my reserved table on the patio at stare at this view:

And that delicious Gorgonzola I'm obsessed over??? It's so creamy that I slab on a thick layer onto a piece of bread and top it with several slices of prosciutto and relish in it's tasty wonder. Now that is the breakfast of champions.

To see more photos of my Italian breakfast love affair and other photos of my travels, check out the "Just Photos!" tab toward the top of the page.

Day 1...Part 2

Still May 22 

3:47 PM

Finally checked into my room at Cascina Rocca Agritourismo, a bed and breakfast AND winery. It's so beautiful and charming, it makes the long journey worth it. The I definitely appreciate the peacefulness of the countryside and feel so welcomed by the family who runs this place.

Cascina Rocca - La Morra, Italy

The weather is much colder than I am used to this time of year (we are about 100 km away from the French Alps),  but it's warm in the sun so I took a tour of the grounds and discovered so much on one plot of land. Vines, livestock, edible garden, tasting room, fermenting cellar (photos posted below). There are two dogs, Lucky and Tommy, who are as sweet as ever and make me miss my pup!

As soon as you walk into the building, it smells of fermenting fruit and it smells just like hard liquor and it gets me every time I walk back in. This area is known for their Barolos and I'm staying with a top notch producer (eat your heart out Hugh Hughes)! The land the vineyards lay on the hillside behind the inn. After years of hearing about "terrior" I had to check it out for myself. The soil was surprisingly mushy (check out my shoes in one of the pix below) but in some of the drier spots, the texture was identical to molding clay. This was not the same for the soil in the edible garden, which was a little more like dirt, not clay.

As far as food and drink, I kept it simple for the first night; a salad of greens from the garden (now that's farm to table) and a glass of 2007 Franco Molino Barolo, which is one of the wines they offer from their winery.

But, after almost 24 hours of travel and adventure, I have to say, it was one hell of a day. I'm crawling into bed, covering myself in every free blanket in this joint (brrrrr). Tomorrow will lend itself to more opportunities.

(Click to enlarge photo)

Day 1...Part 1

May 22

9:35 AM

After 17 hours of air travel and almost no sleep, I made it! Let's do it to it.

A view from the plane

10:24 AM

I'm on the bus to Milano Centrale and from there I will take the train into Bra and then venture into La Morra where I will stay while apartment hunting. On the flight to New York this all seemed so surreal. I was shitting myself, thumbing obsessively through my Italian phrase book. Now that I'm finally here, I feel much more capable considering I felt completely helpless. The first 3 Italian phrases out of my mouth were "parli inglese?" Traveling alone in a country where the language is foreign really takes balls. But I'm actually on my way so it can only get better from here. I am still, however, trying to figure out if I've always been helpless or if I've actually gained some of my guts back in the last 6 months. I've been in Europe for all but one hour and I'm already neck-deep in self discovery.

1:02 PM

Still in Milan. It lacks charm like Inglewood, but in a European kind of way. I won't trouble you with pictures, but here are some of the highlights of what I've seen:

• Burger King
• Mc Donalds
• Persian rugs
• All you can eat sushi
• Gin fizz cafe
• Game rush (not game stop)
• Graffiti EVERYwhere
• Firetruck and policemen raging to the scene of the crime
• An OLD, OLD man on cruiser bike
• Boots! It's still boot season over here. Not one single pair of flip flops.

2:07 PM

Two flights, one bus, and three trains later I still haven't reached Bra yet. I am TIRED!