Hi friends!
So through the semester I was able to have the pleasure to attend some Eataly “slow drink” activities where we taste wine with food and talk about the pairing and origins of each. Here’s a little round up of all the others I attended besides the chocolate tasting – enjoy!
French Influence:
This session went into the history of Julia Child and the signature dishes she helped the average joe to learn through her show. With this in mind, we got to not only taste these items but also got to make our own egg!
Tuscan Influence:
This time, we learned about the more local Florentine food that is famous for this region of the country. For wine, we had Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico, which is actually the same place I ended up visiting earlier in the semester! For food, we had a bread soup – ribolitto – & an Italian version of a hamburger since they are know for their meat. However, this hamburger only had one ingredient (no, not ketchup) – olive oil! Very different from what the ones at home taste like; it’s not even the same type of cow! Another bread soup is pappa alla pomodoro, plus we had chicken liver crostini and a version of caviar.
Cheese Tasting:
The difference between RMC and PC that RMC is not treated with chemicals (can eat with the skin), however PC is (because its sterilized so all bacteria – good & bad – are killed off ). How can you tell? Turns out its by slicing a thin slice and holding to the light – you’ll see that it’s one color no little white dots (like plastic) since PC is heated milk to form one solid block so not natural. On the other hand, RMC has little holes in it from airbubbles of clumping together. Another unique factor of RMC is that it has multiple flavors in your mouth (different grasses the animal eats) & lasts longer in your mouth than PC (is one color and one flavor & doesn’t last long in your mouth). There’s a way to prove this too: by smelling the end of a RMC and then breaking it under your nose. The smell is different!
Last but not least, a few pro tips when buying your cheese:
*Rennet – the enzyme that turns milk into cheese, found in RMC since not killed off like in PC
*also cheeses that are produced around July-August is off bc that is when the animals are supposed to rest & have babies so if there are cheeses produced during this time they probably put hormones in their animals.
See you in the next post!
