john william asked: I’ve just returned from visiting my friends in Italy They live in Siena, a town 65km from the city of Florence. Siena is the town in Italy, where the famous ‘Palio horse race’ is paraded around their town square. You can watch this spectacle from a bar overlooking this square, (its not square but round). Its covered with sand so the horses don’t hurt themselves.
Florence is the ‘City of Marble’, used on main buildings, the city has a large catholic cathedral, it is covered in marble, it looks wonderful, the marble is quarried in the mountains around this city. Now, Green marble is no more so if you have some green marble, keep it, could be worth money in the future.
I’ve visited Italy because of Italian Cooking. I love Italian cooking, so does my wife, it doesn’t have to be fattening, there are lots of fine dishes which don’t pile on the pounds, most are cooked in Italy everyday and, this is the Italian cooking I want to learn about.
I bought from the internet an e Book on simple Italian cooking which contains this type of Italian cooking. The reason I bought this e Book was, I had fell in love with Italian cooking. Not the type used in films, ie ’stuffed mole’, but the type used in Italian homes since before ‘Rome’, up to today.
My friends in Siena have a small farmhouse, with a large kitchen to help their students. Their farmhouse is in a small field just outside of Siena, in this field there are rows of olive tree’s, which could earn them an income without the visiting students’
I’m a student and also their friend, when I first visited them in Siena last year, I was asked to cook them a meal, they were astonished in how much knowledge I had of Italian cooking. They didn’t know I had my eBook on simple Italian cooking.
I made them a meal for them from my e Book, which has 104 recipes including, starters, main meals, desserts. So I made them a meal of,
Vegetable chowder, (minestrone alla Milanese).
Eggs, (Alla sciarmante),
Peaches with wine.
It took time to make this meal, but it was worth it. Next I had to bring them assorted wines, as I didn’t know this area of Italy, so this was a guess, I must of got the right mix, because they didn’t complain. They loved it, so we became good friends.
They would teach me how to prepare other meals, not just Lasagne. Meals that didn’t put on the pounds. Meals their mother would show them how to cook.
When I returned to England, I showed my wife and my boss the recipes I’ve learnt. They were surprised at my knowledge, I’ve been congradulated many times. I love Italian cooking, I don’t need to be told ‘the meal was good’..
When the Italian inspectors came to our restaurant, we knew they were close by. When they arrived at our restaurant, I could only hope that I had the experience and knowledge to pass their test. They ordered their meal of three courses with wine.
Then they told my boss who they were and wanted to commend our restaurant on our fine Italian cuisine. My boss was so happy we had passed, not like many in the USA or Europe.
The inspectors realised we knew how to cook Italian and were very happy to let us continue with our restaurant.
All because I bought an e Book.
Arlene
