Cooking. Italian Style.

Today was our first day of cooking class for Food and Culture. We have 3 lessons in cooking: Rice and Pasta, Meat and Fish, and then Dessert! Our cooking instructor is a chef at a famous restaurant in Rome called Glass. Her name is Cristina Bowerman. Glass is known for its authentic and unique Italian cuisine. A signature dish is: Pistachio crusted scallops on crunchy fresh pancetta, lemongrass sauce and baby asparagus. My brother would love this place, however it is not my type of cuisine.
Emily is my partner!

Our first lesson was on pasta and rice. We made Risotto and Pasta alla Carbonara. Risotto is an Italian style rice cooked in a broth (we made ours vegetable broth) to a creamy consistency. We added garganzola cheese, onions, and walnuts to our rice. I unfortunately do not like cheese and cream consistency foods, so I did not have any, but I heard it was amazing!!!


We then made Pasta alla Carbonara. This is a famous Italian pasta dish made with eggs, pecorino cheese, Parmesan cheese, and bacon. The hot pasta is added to the mixture of egg yolks and cheese and stirred really fast so the egg does not coagulate. The pork is fried in fat and then added to the hot pasta to finish the cooking. I tried the pasta before the bacon was added and it tasted perfect!


Next week we are cooking a meat and fish dish. I am not sure what, but I cannot wait! I am most excited about our dessert day. We are going to learn how to make Tiramisu and something else! YUMMMY!!!!