The food of Ca' Penelope

Outdoor Dining - Ca' Penelope

Last week, the chef of Ca' Penelope returned from traveling. I had heard stories of the chef who only liked to cook meat and was concerned as their seemed to be some rumblings that she was none too pleased to have another chef in the house. She was described as a casalingua - the queen of the kitchen and very strict about the way things were to be done in her kitchen. She learned to cook in her grandmother’s kitchen and had been the head chef in small restaurant for 4 years prior to coming to Ca Panelope. On her first day of arrival, a fight ensued in Italian – I caught only that she did not want another chef in the kitchen. I steered clear that day, only too happy to be grilling our harvest of eggplant and zucchini in preparation for preserving them in oil. I made a simple grilled panzanella (bread and tomato salad) for lunch and even ensured that I made it exclusively outside the kitchen. As we sat down to lunch, she joined us at the table and began to ask questions – she tried the salad and gave me compliments. Soon, there was laughter and talking and she seemed to be open to having my help – I was eager to work with a true chef in Italy as until now, my experience has been primarily solo or with foreigners or less experienced cooks than myself. I had picked up a few things along the way, but not the traditions that I had come to learn.

Indoor dining - Ca' Penelope

That night I showed up unsure as to what to expect. I offered to do some prep work and began doing simple tasks such as cutting onions, tomatoes and rosemary. Before long, we were fast friends – telling stories and discussing our respective histories. She began working on gnocchetti (small gnocchi) and I simply helped in transferring finished pasta onto the boards. After a bit, I asked if I could roll and cut some of the pasta and she passed the baton – after 15 minutes of so, I was comfortably producing alongside her and felt very natural. The following day, she asked if I wanted to help make tiramisu and allowed me write her recipe with a promise to not share it – only allowing me to make for others outside of Italy. This was a huge amount of trust – she has never given her recipes to anyone.

Gnocchetti

The next day she arrived and began prepping for the day – we had 15 people coming for dinner and 30 the next day. We had much gnocchetti to make – she asked me to prepare the dough while she worked on another dish. Soon we stood side by side, preparing the several thousand of gnocchetti that would get us through the weekend. Lorna also prepared tigelle – a typical dish of Modena. They remind me of a thin English muffin and are filled with meats, cheeses and a spread made of lardo, rosemary and garlic; I called these Panini and was quickly corrected that they are nothing like a Panini. To my simple American mind, I could not see the difference. But Italian traditions about food run deep – not that long ago, Italy was not unified and each region had its own unique dialect and food. It is only in recent history that they have come together to form a nation – regional pride is strong and each region possesses a uniqueness of tradition and culture. Meats had to be sliced, cheese cut, bruschetta made and sauce warmed. Lorna also prepared chicken cacciatore – literally hunters chicken; a dish of chicken braised with peppers, tomatoes, onions and wine (in this case, lambrusco, the typical wine of the region) and seasoned with garlic, rosemary and bay leaves. It was beautiful to see the amount of tradition and history in each dish and to see each dish lovingingly prepared by hand. This week, we prepared tortelloni (in my eyes they looked to be ravioli), filled with spinach, ricotta and Parmesan. It was great to gain more comfort working with pasta – Lorna is a very skilled pasta maker and has been making it for over 30 years.

In my time there, we also made many sauces - Salsa de Modena, a sweet and sour sauce made of carrots, onions and vinegar; sun dried tomato pesto, tomato sauce for pasta and a spicy pepperoncini sauce . We made many different jams – black fig, green fig, green tomato – using some for breakfast and some in tarts to be served with coffee or as a dessert. We made frittatas for lunch and dinners – using the plentiful eggs from the ducks and chickens of the farm. And we made countless pots of zucchini soup – putting it in the freezer for the winter months when vegetables are harder to come by.

This is the life of the farm – plentiful harvests with hard, long days and food put away to carry you through the long winter months. Preserving and living off the land are rare things in the US; I am so thankful to be given this chance to learn what is most certainly being forgotten and lost and while it is more common in Italy, they are too losing touch with the land. It is these traditions that need to be valued, cherished and passed along to any and all that will listen.