Sidenote:

The final two members of our party showed up.  They actually did arrive on Sunday night (at 6:45), but there was no one there from the school to pick them up.  Unfortunately, we could not leave word with British Airlines to give them a message.  They said it was for privacy’s sake.  So David and Graham had to take a train and a cab from the airport to the school.  It was pretty amazing that they made it given the fact that neither of them has ever been to Italy, speak Italian, or had contact with anyone from the school.

(Monday) Day 3  - Lost in Translation

So today was not only Memorial Day, but also Olive Oil day at the ICIF! 

I just have to say that it was a totally weird experience.  Don’t get me wrong it was very educational, but very weird.  The classes today were taught in Italian with an English translator standing upfront.  So, I’m sure that we lost a lot of meaning somewhere in translation. 

The olive oil lecture / tasting was very interesting. The man who taught the lecture has an olive oil production facility in Umbria (the area of Italy with the best olive oil.) I didn’t know that there was a specific way to taste olive oil.  First, you put it in your mouth and let the oil hit the back of your tongue.  Then, without swallowing, you bring the olive oil back to the front of your mouth.  Next, with a chewing motion you determine the viscosity of the oil.  Finally, you spit it out.  Like wine you are looking for a good aroma and flavor (unlike wine you do not look at an olive oil’s color; it has nothing to do with the quality of the olive oil).  Flavor and aroma are dependant on the variety of the olive, the soil, and climate.  This is just one tenth of the information we got today.  It was an excellent class.

After the lecture we were given lunch.  All the students of the culinary institute eat together in the main dining room.  This is the first time our group got to see everyone.  Besides us Americans, there was a group of Korean students and Brazilian students.  You could tell that we were not the most popular kids there.  In fact, we got a lot of nasty looks from the other groups.  Lunch ended pretty much with us being labeled as the outcasts.

The next class was a olive oil cooking class.  We only made two recipes.  Brendad (sp?) which is a salt cod cake, and meat stuffed olives which were breaded and fried.  Both recipes were very good.  The interesting part of the class was that like the earlier lecture, this class was also taught in Italian.  Even more interesting is the fact that the recipes they gave us were also in Italian.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them when I get back to the States.  I guess find someone to interpret them for me.

The school itself has numerous classrooms.  One is a lecture hall with a demo kitchen area, the other is a practical kitchen with stoves for everyone, there is a pastry kitchen with bread ovens and all pastry equipment, and then there is a production kitchen where they make lunch and dinner for the students (as well as for special events).  I’ll post pictures.  The most interesting part about the school is that they use electricity to cook (because it is a castle it would be dangerous to cook with gas).  It took a little time to get used to the electric flat top stoves.

After the cooking class, it was time for dinner.  All the students were there again.  The stares from the other groups continued and we felt even worse about ourselves.  I knew that I had to somehow reach out to one of the groups.  While cleaning up I got to talking to the Brazilian group.  I told them the fact that my mother grew up in Sao Paulo.  Instantly, I made a connection with them.  They told us about a little party they were having later that night and that I should come and bring all of my friends (meaning the rest of the Americans.

Most of our little group decided to go out for a drink afterwards.  It was the first time I ever had Grappa.  It is similar to wine in the fact that it is made from grapes.  I can almost compare it to a sherry.  It was good (and very strong).  I also had something called Ferent Banca (sp?).  It was pretty gross.  It is made entirely from fermented herbs.  I compared the taste to old man cologne mixed with leather.  The locals drink it a lot.  I guess when in Rome?? (Or in this case some city out side of Asti.  I should really find out what it’s called).

After a few drinks, we came back to the dorms and went to the Brazilian party.  It definitely bridged the gap between our two groups.  So even though we spoke different languages we were still able to have fun and enjoy the Italian Life.  I suppose in this case, nothing was lost in translation.

Tommorrow:  Risotto Day!  PICTURES AT

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/briguyinil@sbcglobal.net/albums

Okay. I got a complaint that my blogs have not been funny lately. Well, I feel the need to explain myself. Here’s my typical schedule (a la Italiano). I get up at 7:00 each morning to beat the other roommates to the shower. I get dressed really quickly and quietly, as the roommates are recovering from the night before, to sneak downstairs to the breakfast room. I grab the usual breakfast: an apricot croissant, a piece of bread, some really good European cheese, a little glass of OJ and a cup of very strong coffee. While I’m eating I try to upload pictures to the yahoo website since uploading to the actual blog takes far too long.

By the Way: Please book mark this site (I forgot to include it last time) (http://new.photos.yahoo.com/briguyinil@sbcglobal.net/albums) because I’m not going to keep putting it at the end of the blogs.

Back to my routine: So they, by the time I’m done uploading, it is near 8:00. Depending on the activities for the day we either need to leave to walk all the way to the castle, or get on the bus for a field trip somewhere. Then we’re gone pretty much the whole day and come back for dinner at the castle (which has been really lacking; that’s why there are no pictures of them). Then we go straight from the castle to either a gelato place or regular bar. It’s too far to walk all the way back to the dorms and then back to the bar. So by the time I get home it’s 10:30 or 11:00. I e-mail my friends and family and then start working on the blog. So by the time I get to typing I am exhausted and not so funny (crabby if you will). And that my dear strangers, is why my blogs have not been as witty as the first few. However, today (which is really Thursday because I do each blog the next day, obviously so I can tell you about the complete day) you are in luck. I have a couple of hours before we head out to our Pizza lesson, so I will try to make this a classic Mark blog.

The morning started off with a lecture on the winery we were going to visit (BRIADA). It was founded by Giacamo Bolognia, the person who the scholarship (the reason for this trip) was named after. The winery and Mr. Bolognia are known for Barbera wine. Mr. Bolognia made it his mission to educate the world on the Barbera grape when it fell out of wine favor in the late 70’s early 80’s. The Barbera grape is the main grape of the Piedmont region (which includes Asti, Alba, and Nizzi plus all the little towns in between). Giacamo worked night and day to make the best wine possible. He achieved his goal two years before he died in the 1990’s. Now, Braida, is known through out of Italy for having the best Berbera wine in the entire country. All the wine makers of the region know the Braida name and respect it very much. The winery is now run by his widow, his daughter (who does the business dealings), and his son (who is now the head wine maker).

The ride to the vineyard was beautiful. It was only 30 minutes from the school which was a pleasant surprise. Our past two bus rides were 1 ½ hours and 2 hours one way respectively. You can only bond so much with your fellow riders until they start getting on your nerves. The vineyard was beautiful (check out the pictures) and we had a wine tasting. My favorite wine was the Muscado (which is the other grape of the region). It was a sweet white wine with a little fizz to it. Being a pastry person, it was like pure heaven. So after tasting three wines, we were ready for lunch. The lunch was actually right across from the tasting table.

The room was set up beautifully. So guess who came to lunch? The widow of Giacamo Bolognia and his daughter. The daughter came and sat with us for a little bit by the tasting table and told us the history of the vineyard and some inside stories. She spoke English very well (she had studied at a winery in Washington State). We then had an awesome lunch which was basically 4 courses. The antipasto was a asparagus flan (yummy), the main entrée was a meat filled ravioli like pasta with a sage butter sauce, there was a cheese course of gorgonzola, brie, and a hard cheese (sorry I don’t know what it was), and finally dessert was a apple tart (which was more of an apple cake). We had a wine with each of the courses. So we sat and talked for a long time with Giacamo’s daughter. She asked about what we were doing individually, how we liked Italy, the state of political affairs in the US, etc. She was so down to earth and funny. We had a great time. It was a typical Italian mean: food, friends, family, and wine. (There are some great group shots of us..check them out). So of course after lunch and at least 7 glasses of wine, we were all feeling tired. We all dozed off on the bus.

 Not wanting to waste the day away, we tried to stay up and go out. We walked around and shopped it was pretty depressing. Things in Italy cost a lot more since they changed over to the Euro. We ate a pretty non-descript dinner and decided to go to the bar for a drink. The night ended early and we all went to bed. Pretty boring, eh? Yeah, but do I have a story about day 6. I just got finished with day 6 and am blogging you about yesterday. Hee Hee. You’ll just have to wait. If you though dining with a winery family was fun, just wait until you hear about us being treated like rock stars!

Inside NOTES: Love to all. Sarah Flower, I have something for you. It’s molto bene! Mom, I spoke to the Brazilians again. They want to know what part of Sao Paulo you’re from. Sarah Holmes if you’re reading this, Graham that is here is from Kenyon College. Brian I bought my present to myself! Holla to Carlie and all the RMC kids! Tomorrow, (actually today), is fresh pasta and pizza day.