Lo Chef del Gatto Nero

"The Black Cat Chef" in Italian!!! Just in case you wondered... this is a new photo of her too!

Ciao from Italy! I am mid-way through my third week here in Sorrento and finally working into a routine. We began our Italian speaking classes last week and I am not catching on as quickly as I would like. Italian is a beautiful language and every time I attempt to say something I just feel like I am butchering it. Those who are forced to be on the receiving end of my utterances must be thinking the same! Most of them simply smile and nod.... I often wonder what exactly those reactions might mean...... I am getting along OK if I read it. Just don't make me respond! My brother picked up this groovy hand electronic translator for me. It works well and has helped with my ability to pronounce some of the standard phrases.

Daily I rise and open my drapes to take a peek and see what the weather might hold for the day. The past few mornings have been crystal blue sky shining back at me. I clean up and head to the breakfast room. My morning meal consists to brioche, butter, cheese & thinly sliced ham or salami. The last few mornings have also included caprese salad... tomatoes, basil & mozzarella cheese. Occasionally, I'll change it up and have a medium fried egg and bacon. Caffe American & orange juice. I really love breakfast in Europe. I wonder WHY don't I prepare and have these delicious choices in my refrigerator at home in America everyday? I fell in love with these offerings during my first trip to Germany in 1993. While there my favorite meal of the day was fruhstuck.... it's prima calazione here in Italy! I am making this vow to myself. Upon my return to home I will more frequently indulge in this type of start to my day rather than the cereal, toast, oatmeal or eggs!!

As I mentioned in my last blog, I had an incident with my glasses & have been forced to wear my "cheaters". They are working OK but I am finding that I have a few headaches.... on Tuesday I was forced to tape them together!!! I wear them only here at the B&B, not out in public. Don't want to look too odd! But all of this taping of glasses recalled a story from years ago when I had my little shop (Esprit Decor) in downtown South Bend. I had a few local characters that would frequent the store and just want to hang out and visit. One such individual lived near the store in a rented apartment. He would take his afternoon meals at the local Mission or soup kitchen and then come by to visit. He wore glasses..... One Saturday morning a friend of mine was there to help me and he was at the counter while I was helping a customer. This local came in and my friend simply greeted him and said "hello, how are you today?" The response... "Well, look at me... LOOK AT ME! How do you think I am?" And here was this fella with his glasses all taped together with black electrician's tape!! My friend wanted to bust out laughing.... and we did once he left. It was NOT funny that his glasses had been taped together, he had actually been beaten up the evening before. But the reaction, the total incense that the tragedy of taped glasses had gone un-noticed!! That was what was so very funny. So, as I taped my glasses together (with clear tape) I could only chuckle at that memory ... and wonder how that fella might be doing?

I have fallen in love this Lola the resident dog! She follows me everywhere and jumps up on my lap to snuggle nearly every time I sit down. There are animals all over this town! Most have collars and assumable therefore homes. A few don't but still seem well fed. There are also kitty's.... yesterday on my way home from another trip to do laundry I met a whole slew of them! There had to be 10-12 cats living in this apartment complex and they all came out to meet me as I walked by. I have established a photo album entitled "The dogs & cats of Sorrento" on the photo link. You'll be able to see all the friends I make on my daily walks to and from town!

The solitude I have created for myself these past months is being invaded and I find that it's problematic for me! The beauty of the situation surrounding the knucklehead brigade in Atlanta was that I could go home to my little nest and escape them.... NOT the case here in Sorrento! We all live and work at Mami Camilla's and there is little ability to escape them. The way things are set up here, the internet does not work in our rooms. We must be in the common areas of the house (lobby, back and front patio) to pick-up the wireless connection. I have managed to find a little nook here and there to carve out some quiet time to read/write email, talk on skype with family and friends, search for employment in the states & write to you on my blog! It is becoming more challenging to find those places as every-time I find one... one of my fellow students also thinks it's a cool idea and location and then they all invade. UGH! The madness! It's a challenge to be an adult surrounded by 20-somethings who have the mentality of 15 year olds. Thank goodness for earphones and classical & jazz music on my computer!!!

So here is what's been happening in the kitchen. I think I mentioned that we have two different chefs ... Augustino & Biagio. They have very different teaching styles and while they both have a fiery Italian temper, Biagio's is a slower burn ... Augustino just let's you have it! Fortunately for me, I have not been on the receiving end on any of the tirades. While I am always in the kitchen when they happen, I am minding my own job! The guys have a tendency to chit-chat in the kitchen, actually they chat more than girls do! The other students who are working in town sometimes hang around while we are in the kitchen and "watch". But, this causes a distraction for the chit chatters. So, here's what happened last Friday.... one of them dropped a bowl of chopped chocolate & butter on the floor. Another didn't add enough flour to the pasta while rolling it out and it was sticky and uneven the other burnt the garlic .... I was just doing my job of frying potatoes for the potato Parmesan. Allora, this series of events simply put the chef over the edge. I am not 100% sure what he was saying as it was mostly in Italian. But, he made it clear that the chatting needed to STOP! We needed to pay attention to what we were doing and that this experience is for us, he knows how to cook! We paid money to be here and that we need to be making the most out of everything! For the first week he was pretty easy on us and now we are thinking he is an ASShole ( it's great how the Italians say this word, all the emphasis on the front half of the word & the back half just falls off) but that's too bad. Either be mentally in the kitchen when you are here or don't come back!

Please don't hear me say that I am always doing things the right way. I don't! But, I am paying attention, taking notes and asking questions. If the chef tells you how to make pasta & shows the proper way to roll it out. He does not expect to have to tell you again. As a chef we are to be responsible for writing things down, be it measurements, techniques, or hints for ourselves to recall the process. Once you are in a kitchen "working" it's expected that you come with the basic knowledge required to do the job and your own process for solidifying the new things required to work in that kitchen. It's really no different than being a Brand Manager, as Sales Executive or a Lawyer. You know how to perform the job, you simply need to understand how the new companies process work. While things are very relaxed here it doesn't mean we are to be relaxed and on holiday!

I went to Naples (Napoli) last weekend. I took in the art at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, the National Archaeological Museum. It was amazing to see the sculptures and artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as other parts of Italy. For the last two weeks of April all the museums and historic sites have been free. I was able to save a few euro on admission so I rented the audio guide to make my experience more enjoyable. The only thing I didn't like about it was giving up my ID (passport) in order to rent the silly little machine. I guess that it is a hot item and this is the only way the museum had decided they can safe guard themselves from theft! TOTALLY uncomfortable with that process but when I attempted to decline the use of the machine the man behind the counter got all huffy and showed me a whole file full of the ID's and acted as if I was being unreasonable..... So, off I went without my passport to view the stone and marble statues larger than the average sized human.

Napoli.... if this is the first and only city someone sees upon arriving in Italy they will be very disappointed. In my opinion, it is the dirtiest city I have ever seen!! Before traversing to the train station here in Sant Angello that morning the folks here at the B&B made a point of telling me to be sure to mind my belongings, not to wear any jewelry, and not to buy anything from a street vendor! I understand that the architecture is fabulous but I can honestly tell you that I saw nothing beyond the museum and the train station. I will not be going back alone either. So, if I am to see any of the architecture I'll need to make some friends who will want to go with me!

One of my favorite sauces is "puttanesca". I asked Chef if we could possibly learn this sauce and he said "remember me" which is the term used frequently in Italy for "remind me"! So, this week we prepared Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. Now, there are several theories as to how this sauce came about. It origin is Campania, which is the state where Naples & Sorrento are. It reflects the common things in the market rather than the garden. Loosely translated it is called "whore's spaghetti". One story goes that the inspiration came from some people arriving at at restaurant late when the kitchen was low on ingredients. The hungry men said to "facci una puttanata qualsiasi" which means to "make any kind of garbage". Puttanata is a noun meaning something worthless or something easy to prepare. It also is a derivative of the Italian word for whore... puttana. The chef in this instance had only tomatoes, olives and capers. Another story goes that it is also known as "spaghetti alla buona donna" or "good woman's spaghetti" because it contains of ingredients found in most Italian pantrys. Personally... I like the first story because it is more colorful and Puttanesca is a fun word to say!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

3 Tablespoons Olive oil

1 Anchovy

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

2/3 cup capers

1 cup kalamata olives (pitted)

2 - 15oz cans of peeled tomatoes

24 oz of halved cherry tomatoes

**You can use all of one kind of tomatoes if you prefer. If using just fresh cherry tomatoes you may need to add some liquid.

small handful of dried oregano

small handful of fresh parsley, chopped

black pepper (salt to taste)

Add the oil, anchovy & garlic to pan. Let the garlic begin to brown. Add the capers, olives, tomatoes, oregano & pepper. Let this cook down a bit, 20-30 minutes. Stir in the fresh parsley & season with salt if needed.

Using store bought spaghetti is OK with this dish as the flavor of the sauce is so powerful it would overwhelm the fresh pasta flavor.

Toss the sauce with the pasta. Spoon out in large ball onto plate. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve. You don't need cheese on this sauce! It totally changes the taste and you lose the true flavor!!!

You are all just rising in the US as it is 6:10AM Friday morning when I am publishing this. Enjoy your day and your weekend. I thing that tomorrow I will head to the island of Capri and Sunday perhaps to Herculaneum. There are so many things to see and experience that I don't want to miss a thing! It's hard to believe that I am ending my third week here already!

Ciao!