Ciao a tutti all’inizio della mia ultima settimana a Taormina...
(Hello to all at the beginning of my final week in Taormina....)
I have just finished having a cassata whilst sitting on my bed, writing my blog and watching ‘Grease’ the movie in Italian!! What a start to a week...haha
And what a jam-packed week I have just had too!!
I decided last week, what with my love of food and not having any opportunity to hang in the kitchen with Signora Antonella at my house since it is such a small kitchen, that it was high time that I did some cooking classes!! And as it turned out my school runs these too, separately to the language classes but with one of the Italian language teachers, Ketty, at her apartment in Taormina very close to school. Obviously the classes are completely in Italian but this just helped me with learning more of the language.
The classes began at 6pm each evening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday...and each night I didn’t get home til about 10pm or later, which meant that I had to be organised with my homework (which we get every night). I planned to take photos every night of what we made but forgot...so you will all have to use your imaginations.
Each night we made three courses or three dishes:
The first night for the Primo Piatto (first course) we made Pumpkin Risotto with cheese melted through and for Secondo Piatto we made Cotoletta alla Messinese (lightly breadcrumbed veal schnitzel) and stuffed capsicums.
When all of the food was ready (which was quite late...but the Italians eat late in comparison), Ketty’s partner Nico, ate with us. We ate and drank some local wine and chatted over dinner...it was very satisfying to be able to participate in a big way in a conversation completely in Italian with two locals!!
(Hello to all at the beginning of my final week in Taormina....)
I have just finished having a cassata whilst sitting on my bed, writing my blog and watching ‘Grease’ the movie in Italian!! What a start to a week...haha
And what a jam-packed week I have just had too!!
I decided last week, what with my love of food and not having any opportunity to hang in the kitchen with Signora Antonella at my house since it is such a small kitchen, that it was high time that I did some cooking classes!! And as it turned out my school runs these too, separately to the language classes but with one of the Italian language teachers, Ketty, at her apartment in Taormina very close to school. Obviously the classes are completely in Italian but this just helped me with learning more of the language.
The classes began at 6pm each evening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday...and each night I didn’t get home til about 10pm or later, which meant that I had to be organised with my homework (which we get every night). I planned to take photos every night of what we made but forgot...so you will all have to use your imaginations.
Each night we made three courses or three dishes:
The first night for the Primo Piatto (first course) we made Pumpkin Risotto with cheese melted through and for Secondo Piatto we made Cotoletta alla Messinese (lightly breadcrumbed veal schnitzel) and stuffed capsicums.
When all of the food was ready (which was quite late...but the Italians eat late in comparison), Ketty’s partner Nico, ate with us. We ate and drank some local wine and chatted over dinner...it was very satisfying to be able to participate in a big way in a conversation completely in Italian with two locals!!
On the second night, we prepared Pasta con il Cavolfiore (pasta with a cauliflower creamy paste...it sounds grose but was delicious!!) for Primo Piatto and then Polpettine Agrodolce (sweet and sour meatballs) and Zucchine Arosto (grilled zucchini) for Secondo Piatto. We also prepared a ‘dolce’ for the following night because it needed to spend a night in the fridge. It was Gelatina al Limone (fresh lemon jelly). And once again Nico ate with us.
On the final night we prepared Bruschetta for Antipasto, Pasta all’oeliana (Sicilian style pasta with tomatoes, tuna, eggplant and capers) for Primo PIatto, Pesce Al Cartoccio (whole fish baked in foil) for Secondo Piatto with a side dish of Frittelle di Cavolfiore (cauliflower fritters). Then for Dolce we ate the Gelatina al Limone that we had made the night before...quite a feast!! Not to mention also the local wine and the Marsala for after.
For the final night, the Director of the school came and ate with us at the last minute as he is friends with this couple. It was a bit weird having him there and definitely put the pressure on a bit but was also good as they talked normally to each other and it really tested me trying to keep up with a normal Italian conversation...but Nico was very helpful and often stopped the conversation to explain to me what they were talking about.
This is Ketty, Alessandro (the director) and Nico (L to R) preparing the Secondo Piatto and removing the fish bones on the last night, in Ketty and Nico’s apartment.
All up the classes were great and you will all have to come to my place for a Sicilian feast when I return. I will even have to track down some Sicilian wine as the wine here is wonderful!!
So cooking classes seemed to take up most of my week and also meant that I didn’t really get to spend much time with a new girl at school who moved into the same house as me on the Sunday before my classes. Christina is Portugese, 19 years old and speaks about 5 or 6 languages!! She only stayed for a week but this was about her sixth time here in Taormina and she always stays with this family...but I saw her every now and then at school and then we all had dinner together and went for a “passegiata” (the Italian style of going for a stroll, which is more of a parade up and donw the main street!!) with Antonella on Saturday night.
I did however spend a lot of time with the one and only other Australian at school at the moment, and Danielle is also a Melbournian but currently living in London. For the first time on Friday we went and had a granita at a cafe that had been recommended to us as the best granitas in town and possibly in Sicily (they are a speciality of Sicily). I had espresso and almond and she had strawberry and almond and they were fantastic...so fantastic that we returned the following day and both had a mix of raspberry and mulberry!!! They were SO good and clearly made from very fresh fruit!!
On the final night we prepared Bruschetta for Antipasto, Pasta all’oeliana (Sicilian style pasta with tomatoes, tuna, eggplant and capers) for Primo PIatto, Pesce Al Cartoccio (whole fish baked in foil) for Secondo Piatto with a side dish of Frittelle di Cavolfiore (cauliflower fritters). Then for Dolce we ate the Gelatina al Limone that we had made the night before...quite a feast!! Not to mention also the local wine and the Marsala for after.
For the final night, the Director of the school came and ate with us at the last minute as he is friends with this couple. It was a bit weird having him there and definitely put the pressure on a bit but was also good as they talked normally to each other and it really tested me trying to keep up with a normal Italian conversation...but Nico was very helpful and often stopped the conversation to explain to me what they were talking about.
This is Ketty, Alessandro (the director) and Nico (L to R) preparing the Secondo Piatto and removing the fish bones on the last night, in Ketty and Nico’s apartment.
All up the classes were great and you will all have to come to my place for a Sicilian feast when I return. I will even have to track down some Sicilian wine as the wine here is wonderful!!
So cooking classes seemed to take up most of my week and also meant that I didn’t really get to spend much time with a new girl at school who moved into the same house as me on the Sunday before my classes. Christina is Portugese, 19 years old and speaks about 5 or 6 languages!! She only stayed for a week but this was about her sixth time here in Taormina and she always stays with this family...but I saw her every now and then at school and then we all had dinner together and went for a “passegiata” (the Italian style of going for a stroll, which is more of a parade up and donw the main street!!) with Antonella on Saturday night.
I did however spend a lot of time with the one and only other Australian at school at the moment, and Danielle is also a Melbournian but currently living in London. For the first time on Friday we went and had a granita at a cafe that had been recommended to us as the best granitas in town and possibly in Sicily (they are a speciality of Sicily). I had espresso and almond and she had strawberry and almond and they were fantastic...so fantastic that we returned the following day and both had a mix of raspberry and mulberry!!! They were SO good and clearly made from very fresh fruit!!
Saturday I headed off with Pepe and four others from school on the regular Saturday excursion, but this time we went to Randazzo, a small town a little north and west of Taormina, a little inland and on the northern side of Mt Etna, and also to Castiglione, an even smaller place close to Randazzo but perched up on a hill in a beautiful rolling valley.
Whilst walking around Randazzo we saw some great things like this elderly man having his weekly shave at the barber...
We also looked at some great old churches made from the lava rock of Mt Etna which is widely used for building in the area, and Pepe also told us lots of other interesting information. We then went and had a look at the puppet museum which was really interesting. There were with rows and rows of traditional Sicilian puppets hanging from the ceiling that were half life-size and over 100 years old!!
After Randazzo we hopped back in the car and headed to Castiglione.
There Pepe took us to a great local eatery where we ate fresh house-made pasta with mushrooms which are currently in peak season and again some great wine and coffee.
After our late lunch we then climbed to the highest point in town and looked at the magnificent view across the valley...
Whilst walking around Randazzo we saw some great things like this elderly man having his weekly shave at the barber...
We also looked at some great old churches made from the lava rock of Mt Etna which is widely used for building in the area, and Pepe also told us lots of other interesting information. We then went and had a look at the puppet museum which was really interesting. There were with rows and rows of traditional Sicilian puppets hanging from the ceiling that were half life-size and over 100 years old!!
After Randazzo we hopped back in the car and headed to Castiglione.
There Pepe took us to a great local eatery where we ate fresh house-made pasta with mushrooms which are currently in peak season and again some great wine and coffee.
After our late lunch we then climbed to the highest point in town and looked at the magnificent view across the valley...
Spot the woman in the top floor of her house doing her ironing...I think I wouldn’t mind doing ironing if I had that view!!
On Sunday I hired a car with Danielle and another Danielle at school who is American from California and we headed off to check out some of the local wineries that had been recommended to us. It was quite the experience...
We picked up the car and started by having a classic italian breakfast of cappucino and a cornetto at a bar on the beach in the town next to Taormina, Giardini Naxos.
We had had 2 vineries reccomended to us by the teachers at school who organises all of the activities (Pepe). One was on the southern side and one on the northern side of Mt Etna, and then we had also discovered that there was a food and wine harvest festival on is a small town right next to Taormina.
We headed to the furthest winery first on the southern side of Etna and had A LOT of trouble finding it!! When we did eventually find it, we could barely find a park, even for our little blue FIAT Panda!! haha. When we went inside to a VERY full restaurant and asked to taste some wines we were told "Look at all of this confusion. Im sorry but there is no way you can taste wines now when we have 140 people here to have lunch" and the majority of them were on motorbikes or scooters!!
So we cut our losses and headed for the second one on the northern side of Etna and arrived there to a very QUIET carpark. We were starving by this time and followed the signs to the restaurant to only peer through the window to see what looked like a private function, so we walked away to only be chased by a man asking what we wanted...
In the end after a lot of negotiation and explain what we were after and them telling us it wasnt possible as they were having a family function for a christening, they then invited us in to join in with the family lunch!!
Since this lunch went until after 5pm, we then didnt make it to the harvest festival...but we had a very nice and interesting day none-the-less.
PS - Oh, on the Sunday I also found a very interesting product whilst we were in a food shop in Giardinin Naxos...
On Sunday I hired a car with Danielle and another Danielle at school who is American from California and we headed off to check out some of the local wineries that had been recommended to us. It was quite the experience...
We picked up the car and started by having a classic italian breakfast of cappucino and a cornetto at a bar on the beach in the town next to Taormina, Giardini Naxos.
We had had 2 vineries reccomended to us by the teachers at school who organises all of the activities (Pepe). One was on the southern side and one on the northern side of Mt Etna, and then we had also discovered that there was a food and wine harvest festival on is a small town right next to Taormina.
We headed to the furthest winery first on the southern side of Etna and had A LOT of trouble finding it!! When we did eventually find it, we could barely find a park, even for our little blue FIAT Panda!! haha. When we went inside to a VERY full restaurant and asked to taste some wines we were told "Look at all of this confusion. Im sorry but there is no way you can taste wines now when we have 140 people here to have lunch" and the majority of them were on motorbikes or scooters!!
So we cut our losses and headed for the second one on the northern side of Etna and arrived there to a very QUIET carpark. We were starving by this time and followed the signs to the restaurant to only peer through the window to see what looked like a private function, so we walked away to only be chased by a man asking what we wanted...
In the end after a lot of negotiation and explain what we were after and them telling us it wasnt possible as they were having a family function for a christening, they then invited us in to join in with the family lunch!!
We sat down at our own table were poured wine and then broughyt endless plates of lovely Sicilian food!! We even got to have some christening cake (or proffiteroles to be exact)...and got to try two of the wines which were VERY nice!! We were stuffed and that was even with declining the main course!!
Needless to say, we each bought a bottle of wine to kind of say thankyou for letting us join in and also as the wione was amazing...and it was only 6 euros a bottle!!
Since this lunch went until after 5pm, we then didnt make it to the harvest festival...but we had a very nice and interesting day none-the-less.
Here I am with our little blue Panda!! haha
Ci vediamo
Jo xoxo
Jo xoxo
PS - Oh, on the Sunday I also found a very interesting product whilst we were in a food shop in Giardinin Naxos...
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