Yesterday we studied Veneto, the region including the towns of Verona (from Romeo and Juliet) and Venice (where I'll be in 24 hours!). The cooking in this region uses lots of spices and vegetables, so it's similar to Southern Italy. They eat a lot of rice and polenta here. They also eat risotto, but they make it a little different from some other regions. Theirs is creamier. Because this region borders the Adriatic Sea, they eat a lot of fish. Like squid. Like calamari. Which we made, and I was really excited about it. But more on that in a minute.
Like I said, they eat a lot of veggies. They have white asparagus there, and it's sweeter than green asparagus because it doesn't grow in direct sunlight. They also eat lots of radicchio. Did you know there are five different types of radicchio? They are each used for different things.
Gnocci is a pasta traditionally made from potatoes. It is called "little ears" pasta because it is shaped like little ears. In October, there is a huge Gnocci Festival in Veneto!
Tiramisu also came from Veneto and literally means "pick me up." Another sweet from Veneto is Zaleti, cookies made with corn flour and raisins. Yesterday's menu was:
"Calamari ripieni alle erbe aromatiche and Zaleti"
Stuffed calamari, and cookies
Until yesterday, I had never had calamari. I was never one to eat seafood of any kind (except tuna, for some reason) until recently. I used to get sick every time I'd eat it, and even the smell of it sort of made me nauseous. At seafood places, I always ordered chicken.
But I have branched out in the past year. I like tilapia; I love shrimp, and I even kind of like mahi mahi, but not enough to finish a whole plate of it. Calamari just sounds so fancy and pretty and yummy that I couldn't wait to try it! I was sure I'd love it!
In order to make sure the fish is fresh, our teacher buys fish with the heads still on. So task number one was to. . . I guess there's no easier way to say it. . . rip the heads off the squid. Next, pull out the bone inside. Finally, grab the skin by the eyes, pull it off to separate the head from the tentacles, and pop out the little round thing inside. (If the eyes squirt black ink everywhere? No big deal.)
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| Me and my squid friend |
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| Decapitated squids |
After we cleaned and washed the squid, we prepared the stuffing. Toasted bread, lemon zest, oregano, wild fennel, marjoram, basil, mint, and celery leaves were combined in a blender. We sauted onion with garlic and chopped up tentacles. (I did the tentacle chopping.) Then we added lemon juice and white wine and then the toast mixture. It looked like this.
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| Stuffing! |
The next step was to stuff the calamari. Basically, you pack as much of that stuff into their little bodies as you can, and close it with a toothpick. Then you put them in a baking pan and drizzle some oil on top. They bake 10 to 15 minutes at 200 degrees (celcius).
Time for Zaleti! I don't feel like typing the whole recipe, but I found a very similar one here. Since they're made with corn flour, they have an interesting texture. I liked them, but I have never not liked a cookie. I guess corn bread is to cake like zaleti is to cookies. (By the way, this recipe for Golden Sweet Cornbread is incredibly delicious and easy.) Here's what the cookies look like.
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| Raisiny, sugary, buttery deliciousness |
I had to fill up on the cookies because this beautiful calamari. . .
. . .did not live up to my expectations.
It tasted like rubber. And the filling was too lemony, or something. I was totally fine preparing the slimy dish. I didn't have a problem with the decapitating and stuffing part. But I felt a little sick after I ate it. So, I'm not a calamari fan. I am, however, a muffin fan. And as I type this, I'm devouring one of these delicious Banana Crumb Muffins I just made.
This definitely makes up for the yesterday's disappointing squid incident.
(Can you believe I've been here a month now?!)
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