During the winter break, most of our students continue to gather here, because they can’t afford to take holiday trips and there is little else to do in the neighborhood. In order to offer some entertaining activities that can also help them to perfect their Italian language skills, one of our guests, Maddalena Grieco (who, with two other Italian girls is doing volunteer work at a local orphanage), had the great idea of offering lessons in Italian cooking every Tuesday evening. Two weeks ago she began with pizza, following with the great Italian desert, tiramisu’.
The throng of students has grown from lesson to lesson, because there was the added advantage of some free and tasty food. Last Tuesday, the subject was Risotto alla milanese, and nearly twenty people filled our big communal kitchen in the back garden. The girls were particularly interested in learning the culinary skills, but the boys came along in impressive numbers, too, and everyone listened attentively while Maddalena explained the procedures.
After her presentation, Pietro gave an erudite lesson to explain the importance of choosing the proper wine to accompany Italian dishes. His lecture began with a historical overview of the use of wine in Mediterranean cultures, starting with the ancient Greeks, whose mythology attributed its divine origin to Dionysis. The god’s first lover was the handsome boy Ampelus, who was invincible against all foes except the bull. As in all great tragedies, Ampelus foolishly confronted a bull and was killed by the ferocious beast. When Dionysus discovered the disgrace, he became the first god to shed tears, but he was conforted when he discovered that the body of his lover had created the first grapevine. When the vine’s fruit matured, Dionysis squeezed the grapes, staining his hands, and he licked them. He thought, Ampelus, your demise proves the splendor of your body, which even in death, never loses its beautiful rosy color, and the new juice had a power like no other drink. Forever after, that first wine brought mankind relief from the anguish of mortal existence.
Our happy-go-lucky Bahians seemed profoundly moved by the story, and with bellies full of risotto and wine, they quietly went off into the night.
Due to the success of these Tuesday lessons, we have decided to continue them even after Maddalena’s departure, so next Tuesday, Pietro will be illustrating all the secrets of a perfect bucatini all’amatriciana…
Roy Zimmerman
