United Nations

So here we are at week 6 of our journey and from here on out its all down hill till we leave.

Sliced roast stuffed with caciocavallo and squash

Sorry about the lack of post lately, its just the whole post-new year recession hasn't helped us pick up any large business but the smaller parties has become more frequent. I've come to find out a major difference between the service here compared to where I worked in the states is food preparation. In the states it would go: prep for the day, fill all your bays and any extra you had would be your head start for prep tomorrow. With the full bays cook per-order fresh every-time. As for here: Prep only what is expected for the day, no day lay away for any food. Semi cook all food at the start of service and finish cooking per order. Now mind you in that states dinner service would range any where from 150-390 people a night between the hours of 4 and 10 making it a necessity to cook per order, but here its much different. Being that peppe zullo is semi-private you must make reservations ahead so that we have an exact number as to how many people, along with every showing up at the same time the only thing throwing off timing between customers is how long it takes them to eat or how much they want to talk. Both methods work for there own situations but neither would work in the others. Get it? Hope so.

The United Nations?

Now I'm not trying to say one way of cooking is better than another, not at all. What I'm trying to say is that this experience has done more than taught me about Italian food and how fresh it is and where it comes from. This experience has shown me more than that, its shown me that the way I've done things my entire life isnt exactly the best or only way to do something. There so much more out there than what I've been shown already, and coming into this with the mind set of "Yeah I know how to cook I'm just here to learn about the food" is a huge mistake. I'm learning things almost daily that aren't entirely new things but just different ways of doing them. and for the cooks here its and experience to, I'm showing them things they've never seen or done before. (I made banana bread the other day and they were blown away.) This whole experience is becoming more than just a food experience it's becoming a cultural experience, and the Italians aren't the only culture I'm getting into. Peppes son was born in Mexico and he moved here roughly 5 months ago and every time we talk we compare things we've grown up with (him being 17) and its interesting to know how different life is when our countries are right next to each other. Also a few days ago 3 cooks that were students here last year returned from Japan to do another stage with Peppe because they feel they haven't learned everything they can about this place. So now i'm being exposed to Italian, Mexican, and Japanese cultures, (mind you I spent 3 weeks with Brazilians back in asti) The Complex is becoming a regular U.N. with the conversation were having and questions being bounced around in the kitchen. You have to come into this experience as it being more than food, its learning about a whole new life.

40 days and 40 nights.
Pace&Amore
-R

p.s. If you really want to start conversation at a bar with everyone. Pull out an American $20