MONTANUCCI TASTING:
This summer in Italian Food and Wine class, we have had the opportunity to engage in multiple tastings. The first one of this week took place at Montanucci. It was incredibly interesting and heartwarming. The pastry chef, Mr. Gambelli, has been working at Montanucci for about 50 years, and I loved hearing his words of wisdom about baking. I also loved bartender Slavik’s electric/engaging personality. The first item we tried during the Montanucci tasting was a savory scone with bacon. Mr. Gambelli rolled out the scones in very specific ways in a “snail” shape. The savory scone was very pleasant to eat; it has just enough flavor and I love the hint of bacon in it. The other day, I went to Montanucci and got one of these scones served warm. They were even better that way!
The next item served at Montanucci was a shortbread cookie. The mix for this shortbread cookie is the base of many pastries made at Montenucci. Mr. Gambelli chose to shape his shortbread cookies in a certain way and told us that each person has a signature shape of cookie. The taste of the cookie was very nice—it was flavorful, just the right amount of sweetness, and kind of melts in your mouth. Additionally, the cookies can have certain fillings such as apricot, cherry, or chocolate. My favorite was the apricot.
Another item served to us at Montanucci was an Aperitif made by Slavik. According to Slavik, it contained red orange juice, grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, strawberry syrup, and Aperol. Since Aperol is one of my favorite liquors, I adored the Aperitif. It was probably my favorite tasting of the evening. It had a very fruity, tropical appearance, smell, and taste.
The fourth tasting of the night, and definitely another favorite of mine, was a slice of Semolino cake. The Semolino cake is a classic dish from Montanucci. It is a cake composed of three layers: the bottom layer is a shortbread crust, the middle layer is a custard, and the top layer is chocolate mixed with heavy cream. According to Mr. Gambelli, the top layer of the cake is correctly made if it creates a mirror (shiny texture) on the top. The cake was scrumptious because all of the layers balanced each other out; no part of the cake was too sweet.
Paired with the Semolino cake was a fabulous dessert wine. The wine was called Cascina Fonda Driveri. It was a 2005 Metodo Classico Dolce. Along with most dessert wines, it had a beautiful golden color and was syrupy in consistency. The golden color means that the wine was older, and considering it was from 2005, it certainly had been well aged. Additionally, it was sparkling and had a perfect amount of bubbles. Within the wine, I could taste notes of tropical fruit like pineapple. I thought that the dessert wine paired perfectly with the Semolino cake. They each brought out flavors in the other, and the fact that the wine was sparkling helped cleanse my palate with each bite. Additionally, the sweetness of the wine complimented the cake, and the sweetness of the cake complimented the wine, which is the exchange that should take place with any good dessert wine.
ARONNE
Christian took us through a wonderful tasting of meat, cheese, and wine on Tuesday night at Trattoria Aronne del Moro. We were able to taste three types of prosciutto. The first was the sweetest and was from the region of Bologna. I loved the texture and the amount of sweetness in the meat; however, once we moved on to the second meat, a local semi-sweet prosciutto from the Orvieto area, I realized that I loved it even more. With that being said, my favorite meat was definitely the third prosciutto. It was thicker and saltier than the others and had a sort of beef jerky texture. It was absolutely scrumptious.
The fourth type of meat that we tried was lard. I was a bit nervous to try the lard because I had been served lard in a restaurant a few nights prior and I wasn’t a fan of it all. Thus, I was very hesitant. With that being said, the lard was a lot better than I thought it would be. As Graziella explained to us, the lard is served on warm bread so that it can melt a little bit and so that the greasiness of the meat can be balanced out. It was certainly well balanced and turned out to be my second-favorite meat of the night.
Along with the meat, we were served a wine. The wine was a prosecco and was a frizzante. The wine was slightly sweet and was a good pairing for our meats because the bubbles in the wine cleansed the senses with each taste. It seemed to be a younger wine because it was a lighter color than the golden color of the dessert wine at Montanucci.
During the second half of the tasting, we were given several delicious types of cheese. The first was a buffalo mozzarella drizzled with olive oil. As Christian told our group, before eating mozzarella, one must press into it and see if milk comes out. If so, it is a good mozzarella. I definitely enjoyed the buffalo mozzarella, although I will admit that the texture is not my favorite, so it was probably not my favorite of all the cheeses. However, it did have a light, fresh taste, and the olive oil drizzled atop it only intensified that freshness.
The second cheese was my favorite cheese of the night. It was a pecorino made with pasteurized milk. It was creamy, smooth, and relatively soft (compared with the cheeses we tasted after). I loved the light taste. The third cheese was another pecorino—this time aged for longer and exclusively in a cellar, as well as made with unpasteurized milk. As we learned during the tasting from Dr. B, it is actually illegal to make unpasteurized cheese in the United States. Thus, tasting this cheese was a special experience. It was definitely stronger than the other pecorino, and it had a musky taste that to me tasted JUST like a cellar or other dark, damp area. I enjoyed the second pecorino, but due to its intensity and dense texture, I enjoyed the first pecorino more.
The next cheese was a parmigiana reggiano. It was served to us in a smaller quantity than the others due to the strength of the cheese. It was also served with some true balsamic vinegar, which was thick, sweet, syrupy, and had been aged for decades. On its own, the parmigiana reggiano was quite strong for me. It was a dense, hard cheese; however, the sweetness of the balsamic complimented it perfectly and made it highly palatable for me.
The final cheese was a gorgonzola. I was nervous to try the gorgonzola once it was described by Graziella as a “cheese we might not like so much.” Additionally, after hearing about all the molds inside the cheese, and the fact that the molds gives the cheese its green chunks, my stomach was churning. I did not care for the gorgonzola cheese very much, but I am glad I tried it because it is quite a delicacy to many people. I am sure that I could learn to love it; however, any mention of “green molds” gives me an upset stomach. I do love keeping an open mind, though, and the gorgonzola cheese was interesting. It had an incredibly strong and distinct taste, yet it was also very soft and was spooned onto a plate by Christian. I am glad that it was a part of the tasting because now I can say that I have tried gorgonzola.
With the cheeses, we had a second wine. It was a red wine and was a spumante. It had notes of strawberry and cherry. The red wine was my favorite of the two wines from that night. Spumante is different from frizzante because it is more fizzy. Additionally, the carbonation is added later and was not originally a part of the wine. The wine was dry with a strong finish and a medium-high tannin. Since I love dry red wines out of any type of wine, I loved it; the carbonation only made it more palatable for me.
ADDITIONAL TASTINGS:
In our Food and Wine classroom, we had a “mini tasting” of sorts when we received a sample of a salami containing truffle and later a pecorino cheese containing truffle in the market. Surprisingly, I loved both the meat and the cheese. Truffle is such a versatile food. It complimented the meat incredibly well and went perfectly with the richness of the pecorino cheese. I will be ordering truffle again in the future.
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I have used these tastings to my advantage because I now feel more highly educated about certain types of cheese, wine, and meats. I now know that I love pecorino and cannot stand gorgonzola. I now know that I love dry, red wines and enjoy the tannin sensation. Information like this is extremely useful when ordering in restaurants. I am at the point where I am able to order an antipasti plate and pretty much know what all of the things are on it. Additionally, I have used these tastings to my advantage because my fear in trying certain foods is gone. I am no longer afraid of words like “lard” or “gorgonzola.” These tastings have also helped me in the grocery store because I have been better able to pick out types of wine for our apartment, or if needed, ask for wine suggestions from store owners by describing the general types of wine I like (red, dry, etc.).
Ciao dall'Italia 