'Tis the season...

10 Days 'till Christmas...

So the past few days have been without major parties so there really is no need to re-hash something ive told you a few times already. We've spent the majority of the time on Zullo grounds too due to the weather factor here. Its started to drop a few Celsius and snow almost daily, even though none of it is sticking, but between that and the wind chill being around 40+Mph there really is nothing we can do outside in such a southern town. So we wait untill those big parties to stretch our culinary legs here at the compound.

Prepping liver for the soufrette.

So tonight we had a party scheduled for 19:00, one of the sous chefs parents and family, only about 10 people but were always eager to cook around here when we can. This party was a bit different than most because usually we start at 9 and then serve at 14:00 but Peppe made an exception for this party because of the family aspect. also because it was a family party the menu was a bit changed, not a large but a bit more intricate. We had some of the freshest mozzarella I've ever tasted at the party, it was milked and curdled that day (hopefully we'll be able to do that while were here) We also had shocked fennel heads stuffed with bacalao, bread and cheese, they were then bake as a whole. We also made another pot of soufrette to serve as a main dish, fresh organ meat from a lamb slaughtered earlier this week. All of that among other things were all prepped and ready to go untill about 18:50 when we got a phone call saying there was so much snow in Foggia that the party wouldent be able to make it to dinner. So the food that wasent cooked yet was wrapped and the rest was served to the staff. It sounds like a bit of a wasted day but its the life of a cook, you gotta roll with the punches. But the night isnt a loss, were going out with the other chefs for some beer and pizza later, good bonding time even if we dont speak the same language. Its gonna be fun.


Hopefully later this week or the next we'll be able to learn how to slaughter an animal, that would be a story for the kids.

Pace&Amore
-R