69. TORINO -Tavola Doc 4 – A Typical Lesson

During my four weeks studying at TavolaDoc we went through the whole gamut of anti pasti [hors d’oevre], primi piatti [pasta, rice, or soup], secondo piatti [meat or fish] and dolci [dessert]. After the preparation, we would sit down and eat what was prepared. As Claudio is also an expert on Italian [at least piedmontese] wines, I offered to pay for the bottle, which he would choose according to what we would be eating. So we ended the class with a sit-down dinner with wine whose qualities were explained to me. As my primary goal was to practise conversing in Italian, it was a pleasant way to enjoy three hours of conversation.

Claudio did not just demonstrate the preparation of the dish in question, but he also gave me all kinds of advice from his years of experience. It ranges from how to use a knife to the shrinkage of pasta – in total 57 general tips.

During the preparation of the dishes I could and did ask him questions and he would stop and explain the point in question. There was never a rush, and if when I was assembling my notes back at the Loft and I needed clarification, I would ask him the next time we met and he would explain. I found my approach of taking lots of photos worked very well. When I got back to my apartment, I made sure to collate photos, notes, and recipes and to keep each set in a separate folder. The key I found was to do this right after the class while everything was still fresh in my mind.

When I returned home to Canada I prepared a translated set of instructions that included my notes, comments, and photos.