Bon Appetite!

Although I’ve neglected posting about it, between all my globe-trotting, I have still been attending a weekly wine and food pairing class. I always knew it would be both interesting and informative, but I never could have predicted how much it would have revolutionized my relationship with food.

The cumulative power of every small technique and method I have learned in class has, for all intents and purposes, turned me into a culinary goddess. Where I used to boast the fine talent of egg scrambling, or expertly pouring marinara over noodles (very useful skills, I’ll admit), I now have drastically expanded my repertoire. I would like to introduce to you the new and improved Lindsay Anderson: college student and master chef.

I’m not kidding- last week I improvised a vegetarian carbonara that would have you begging me to move in with you. I’m talkin’ rosemary tuscan filets with gorgonzola cream sauce here people. Beef tenderloin, pork, and sausage skewers. Chicken with shaved onion rings, grilled swordfish with Mediterranean vegetables, olive meatloaf, pumpkin risotto, spoon chocolate cake, apple torts, biscotti, lemon meatballs, homemade pesto. Even leek and pancetta frittatas, which I’ve never even heard of.

You name it, I’ve done it. (And, when I remake it at my apartment, modified the ingredients slightly to...protect my figure).

No, you are not misreading my cockiness, I am fully, 100% bragging. Because I am proud. And I will make my husband very happy someday. But in the mean time, my friends can simply bask in the mouth-watering joy of my culinary prowess, and I’ll probably use my newly developed skills as leverage to get people to do things for me.

This Monday, instead of fine-tuning our mastery, we took our lesson to Boccadamo, a small restaurant in Santa Croce, to experience a true Tuscan meal.


Armed with pens and paper, we sat down to take notes on what would be our final report due at the end of the semester. I’ve had worse assignments.

I am planning on reposting the essay I wrote on the dinner, for attempting to summarize the best traditional meal I have had in Italy would be an injustice. What I will say, however, is that 5 glasses of wine later (if you ignore finishing the bottles with Erin and Kyle after everyone left), I had become besties with Prof. Maria Petracca. I mean, we’d been pretty tight before but this sealed the deal.

Probably my most eclectic professor, she comes to each class in all her curvaceous glory, invariably wearing multiple pieces and shades of purple. I think its a Florentine thing, since purple is their color. But still, eggplant eyeshadow and violet parachute pants are not a good look on anyone.

Whatever though, she has an affinity for Motown, which she plays whenever we cook, along with the Beatles and Beach boys. I can’t complain. Maria is my homie, and I left the dinner with a list of coastal cities to visit, along with the best wine tasting cellars in Chianti...annnnd a recommendation to drink lots of water.

This dinner, aside from being the longest, most pleasurable of my life, actually taught me so much. I’ve had excellent Italian meals since I’ve been here, but this was the traditional Italian feast I have always wanted to experience. More than the food or the wine or the friends though, it was so culturally enlightening. Food and wine really are a whole magical realm that when done right, can cause a simple meal to transcend to a true experience. And now I can make them myself!

I may come home with an empty bank account, but my culinary arsenal should make up for it.

It's worth looking into whether my landlord will accept Sicilian artichoke risotto, or perhaps torta di ricotta. If anything, Europe has taught me that bartering is not dead so you never know!