Bologna la Golosa

After spending Christmas and New Year's with my family back in the United States, I got back to Bologna a few weeks ago.

I took an oral exam for my Italian Literature class, which was nerve-wracking (imagine having the entirety of your grade depend on one conversation you have with your professor, not to mention that it was a six-credit course). I got there at nine in the morning to find the hallway already filled with other students. Some of them were from my class, some were from the professor's other course, some had taken the class last year and were just now getting around to finishing it up by taking the exam. The head professor was almost forty-five minutes late. Then we started. I ended up doing my exam with the assistant professor, but the head guy was there, two feet away, talking with another student. Then, ten or fifteen minutes later, after answering every question as thoroughly as I could on Dante and Boccaccio and Pirandello and the others, it was over. He wrote down my grade on my report card and I was free to go.

I've been taking advantage of my light schedule these days (classes don't start until February) to get to know Bologna a little better. Starting with the food, naturally. Now, all of you who know Bologna and are shocked that it's taken me so long to find these places, please know I share your amazement and I'm going to try to make up for lost time. I've recently become acquainted with Pizzeria Spacca Napoli, conveniently located five minutes from my apartment. They serve the most gigantic pizzas for an excellent price. And while the ratio in Italy is generally assumed to be one pizza per person (you should see these little Italian girls eat), here I think it's safe to split one.

Another classic Bolognese restaurant is the Osteria dell'Orsa. I'd describe it as very authentic, for lack of a better word. You sit on benches along these long wooden tables, and you could very well end up sitting next to people you don't know, as it's a very popular place and there is always a wait to get in. But it's worth it. The Orsa serves three or four different types of fresh, hand-made pasta each day, but they always have the traditional tagliatelle al ragu'.

A whole new group of students arrived for the spring semester, and the BCSP took all of us to a pasta demonstration class. We drove about an hour outside of Bologna La Tintoria, where they showed us how to make the sfoglia for fresh pasta, tagliatelle, farfalle (bow-tie), tortelloni, and tortellini, as well as cookies. Unfortunately, I didn't get the recipes, but I can tell you it all tasted great!

One last food discovery, and I can't take credit for the finding. Tiffany and Becca discovered it, and to them go the glory. The oldest tabaccheria (a store that sells everything from cigarettes to stamps to bus tickets) can be found right across the street from the train station, bearing the name of AB for Anton Bentivoglio. He was head a powerful feudal family during the Middle Ages. Anyway, back to the food. In recent years they have expanded the tabaccheria, adding a gelateria. Well, if you go there when Piera is working, she will make you a treat to remember. It starts with a large mug of decadent hot chocolate. Then she adds a scoop or two of the gelato of your choosing. Next, a hearty dollop of thick whipped cream sprinkled with coco powder. To finish the presentation, a tasty little cookie. Congratulations if you can finish one by yourself.

Signed,

the Sengenblogger

Foto di gennaio

Vicky and Bianca at Spacca Napoli.

They call it art.

Snow in Bo!

Piazza and Church of Santo Stefano.

"Hurry up and take the picture, I want to eat it!"

Victory! Way to go, Sky.

Recipe - Tagliatelle al Ragu`

Thanks to Ania and her grandmother for the recipe and instruction!

I would suggest assembling the sauce first, and then letting it simmer while you make the pasta.

Ragu`

For four people

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

Oil

2 cans tomato sauce

2/3 - 1 lb ground beef, chopped

1/2 Italian (pork) sausage, chopped

*you can also use other meats, such as veal or chicken, which will result in a different flavor)

1) Put 1/2 cup oil in a pan on the stove, add onions, let them brown for abo

ut three minutes, then add carrots and celery. Leave on low heat.

2) In another pan, cover the bottom with oil and add the meat. As it is cooking, the meat should lose water. However, if it doesn't, add some.

3) Add some salt to each pan and continue to let them cook on low heat, stirring occasionally.

4) When the meat is browned, add it to the vegetables. There should be enough liquid to cover the mixture. If there isn't, add some.

5) Add salt, pepper, to taste.

6) Let the sauce simmer until the water evaporates, then add tomato sauce to the desired consistency.

*For a better sauce, put a lid on the pan before Step 6 and let the mixture cook for about an hour, then remove the lid and continue to Step 6.

Tagliatelle

For four people

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (the finer, the better)

4 eggs

1) Start with the two cups of flour on a clean, flat surface.

2) Crack the four eggs into a well in the middle of the flour heap.

3) Gradually mix eggs into the flour, by hand!

4) Add flour as needed, until the dough is tough and no longer sticky at all (better more flour than less).

5) When you've reached the desired consistency, continue to knead the dough on a floured surface.

*"Piu` i lavori, piu` buona la pasta!" - The more kneading, the better the pasta!

6) With a rolling pin, form the dough into a circle (much like a pie crust) until it is very thin.

7) Starting from two sides, roll the dough towards the middle, making a scroll-like shape.

8) With a sharp knife, begin cutting the scroll into strips, moving horizontally. The strips should be less than a centimeter in width (if they're wider, they have a different name... :)

9) The strips of pasta should unroll easily (if they don't, it means you needed to put more flour

in).

10) Boil water, add coarse salt and the tagliatelle.

11) When the pasta rises to the top of the water, let it cook for about three more minutes, stirring.

Let's put them together: Drain the pasta, combine with the sauce over a heat, serve, and enjoy with parmigiana cheese and people you love!

Les photos de Paris

There's a law in Paris that prohibits buildings taller than the Eiffel Tower.

But it's all a matter of perspective, right?

"Toto, we're not in Indiana anymore..."

That other Notre Dame, all decked out for Noël.

The Champs Elysée at nuit.

Panoramic of Paris.

Looking at the Louvre from inside the Louvre.

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. The steps leading up are filled

with musicians and vendors and tourists.

Domers under the dome of la Sorbonne: Meghan, Julie, and I.

Bonjour Paris!

Michael, me, Daniele, Gabriele, Henry, and Anna.

Walking along the river, we had to be careful not to slip and fall in Seine!

"The last time I saw Paris..."

I am in love with French baguettes. But my affections are also claimed by croissants. And of course I can’t forget my adoration for crêpes…

Paris is indeed la ville d’amour: believe it or not, there are even more things to love than the food. Like the Christmas market stretching all along the Champs Elyées. Or experiencing the beauty and balance of the church of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. Or going up the Arc de Triomphe at dusk instead of the Eiffel Tower because, well, wouldn’t you rather look at the Tower? Or hanging out with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, eating snails and watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night. Or getting into the Louvre for free. It’s gratuit for European Union citizens under 25, so I walked up to them, showed my student ID card and spoke French with an outrageous Italian accent. It worked!

Winding our way through the colorful Latin Quarter, the traditional home of Parisian academics, Michael and I found Julie and Meghan, two other Domers spending the year at the Sciences Po. They did us the incredible favor of showing us to the best crêpes on the Left Bank, and to the Panthéon.

Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, we were still in Paris. This impressive monument differs from the one in Roma in that it’s not about all the gods, but rather about all the wonderful people France has produced and housed over the centuries. In the extensive labyrinth of the crypt you’ll find anyone from Voltaire to Marie Curie (actually born Russian, but we’re not splitting hairs here). And if dead people aren’t your thing, you can enjoy the interesting experiment of Foucault’s Pendulum, designed to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.

A few tourist-ing notes: Monuments and museums in Paris are free on the first Sunday of the month. However, if you’re planning on going, I’d suggest getting there early to avoid the lines. It’s possible to spend the night in the basement of Sacre Coeur. You just need to sign up for one hour of Adoration and five euro. The relics of Christ’s Passion are displayed at Notre Dame Cathedral the first Friday of the month.

Signed,

la Sengenblogger

"Oh, there's no place like Rome for the holidays..."

I returned to Rome for a lovely Thanksgiving feast hosted by Michael’s program. The food was the traditional American holiday fare (with the exception of ravioli), but prepared and, dare I say, perfected, by Italians. Michael’s family and Msgr. Heintz were over visiting, and together we were able to not only explore Roma but also take a day trip to Assisi.

Assisi is definitely on my list as a place to return to this year, and hopefully when it’s not raining. St. Francis and St. Clare (which is my middle name) have always been dear to me, and it was amazing to be able to walk in the places they lived and see the Portiuncula, the chapel St. Francis built, in person.

To be honest, there isn’t a ton to do in Assisi besides go to churches, the three main ones being San Francesco, Santa Chiara, and Santa Maria degli Angeli. It is, of course, an idyllic town nestled in the Umbrian hills, and has retained, at least through tourism, some of its medieval characteristics. For example, if you’re ever looking to storm a castle, stop by

Assisi to pick up a crossbow or a mace.
Saturday, Michael and I were privileged enough to open the Advent season in style through evening vespers with none other than Pope Benedict XVI. It was held in a very packed and slightly more organized than usual St. Peter’s Basilica. You could easily pick out the people there for a photo op from those wanting to pray, as the formerly-mentioned group started leaving after the opening prayer. Well, better seats for the rest of us, I guess.

If you want to catch a mass at the Vatican on a Sunday, I would recommend the ten-thirty. You’ll find it at the high altar at the back, and if you’re unsure which o

ne that is, just follow the large crowd and the sound of beautiful choral music. Don’t be intimidated by the Latin, there are booklets with the responses (and English translations).

Singed,
the Sengenblogger

From left to right: Msgr. Heintz,

Kevin, Megan, Amy, Michael, Tim, and I

Yes, places like this do exist. in Assisi, even in the rain in late November.

The courtyard of the Church of St. Clare.

Il Papa! Giving the Angelus on Sunday morning. Second window from the right, the one with the flag underneath. Good spot to stand: by the fountain.

Recipe - Lasagne bianche marchegiane

This is a white lasagna, which means tomatoes are not called for. What is important for this recipe is the besciamella sauce (béchamel), the “secret to Italian lasagnas,” as Ania calls it. As a disclaimer, this is just one recipe for a white lasagna. Each region of Italy has their own version. This one comes from Le Marche. It serves about six people.

Ingredients

6-7.5 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 lb. sausage
1 pkg. thinly-sliced ham (around 7 oz.)

lasagna noodles (about 2 packages)
1/3 cup flour
6 tbsp butter
6 1/3 cup milk
1 tsp nutmeg
oil (olive, preferably)
3 cloves garlic, halved
grated parmesan cheese (as much as you want!)
a few springs of parsley, chopped

salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash mushrooms in cold water, peel, rinse, slice.
3. Cover the bottom of a medium-sized pan with oil, add the halved garlic cloves and turn on heat.
4. Put the mushrooms into the pan, adding more oil on top.
5. When the mushrooms are browned, add the sausage.

Besciamella

6. In another pan, melt the butter and add the nutmeg.
7. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flour, stirring constantly. Return to heat and bring to a boil.
*Note: you may want to add another tablespoon of flour to thicken the sauce a bit more.
8. In a third pan, warm up the milk (not to a boil) and then add it to the butter mixture, along with 1/2 tsp of salt.

9. Combine the meat/mushroom mixture and the besciamella. Add the parsley and a pinch of salt.
10. Remove from heat.
11. Bring a pot of water to boil, then put each piece of lasagna pasta in the water for about one minute (if it’s fresh, a minute or two longer if not), until softened.
12. Grease your pan with butter.
13. In the pan, layer the pasta, the besciamella/mushroom mixture, the ham, and the grated cheese.
14. Put in oven for 45 minutes.

This picture shows the warming milk in the upper left, the boiling butter in the upper right, and the mushroom/sausage mixture in the bottom right.

This picture shows the besciamella mixed with the mushroom/sausage mixture. It's ready to go in the pan!

The assembly line: pasta, sauce, ham, cheese. And repeat until you reach your desired height.

Ta-da!

Buon appetito! Our chef, Ania, with her masterpiece.