One Wednesday morning, we gathered before breakfast to get on a small bus and drove about 15 minutes to a nearby cheese maker who is friends with Fabrizia Lanza (who owns the school). Cheesemaking typically happens in the morning so we had to be on his time line. Basically, Filipo (cheese maker) did his regular thing while Francesca narrated and helped us ask questions. It was really interesting to see how sheep’s milk can be come so many types of cheeses with minimal waste. He made some cheese that will become primo sale and then used the whey (liquid) to make ricotta in another large vat. He let some of us try moving ricotta out of the vat into the cheese molds and we had quite a laugh because he was critical of everyone’s technique and eventually couldn’t take it anymore. While we were at Filipo’s, we had a picnic breakfast in a barn like space with old cheesemaking tools.
After we got back from the cheesemaker, we had free time. Mom started to tell Francesca about our cousin’s cousin has family in the town nearby and we asked one of the ladies who works in the kitchen if she knew him (GianCarlo). She did and Francesca, also knew him and his caffe. She suggested we get in her car and try to find him, so off we went. When we walked in, it was clear that Mom and I were foreign to the caffe regulars. Francesca started to explain who we were and he interrupted her to go “Beth?” Clearly, our cousin Anthony had been communicating with GianCarlo and told us we might be coming by. It was great to meet him (even though we needed Francesca to communicate) and such a great coincidence that we picked a cooking school next to this town of all the small towns in Sicily.
Once getting back to the Casa Vecchie, we had a little free time but then had a cheese tasting with Kyle and Mia. (Mia is a cheesemaker in addition to a gardener and bee keeper). We got to taste different cheeses from Sicily. I think Ragusano is my favorite, probably because it’s similar in flavor to Romano. After cheese tasting, we had a delicious “light lunch” of chicken salad, chicory and fennel. The fennel was roasted with anchovy, breadcrumbs and cheese and it was SO good. We ended with a pastry that was like a donut and topped with sweetened ricotta.
We had a lot of free time after lunch and it was raining so a lot of our group went into nap mode while Mom and I hung out in the library where the internet is better.
We reconvened around 530pm for a mini baking lesson with Enza (one of the kitchen ladies). We made dough (pasta frolla) for sesame biscotti and then she taught us how to make Cassata Cake. We each got to make our own small one. Cassata cake uses pre-made sponge cake, marzipan, and sweetened ricotta formed in a small mold. Limoncello is added to the cake pieces and then after removing the cake from the mold, it’s topped with a glaze and candied fruits. We had them after our dinner and they were so sweet most of us didn’t quite finish them and focused on the sesame cookies that we had finished after setting our cakes.
Dinner was lentil soup, fava beans, salad, and cheese- and of course wine. By the time dinner was over we were all very ready for bed. Thursday we have another cooking lesson and some free time. The weather should be better so we are hoping to have more outdoor time.
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