Two Greedy Australians: Calabrian Table Tour , Day 7 farewell dinner and cooking class

Here we are on the train from Lamezia to Naples enjoying the lovely coastal view. I guess there aren't too many flat options in Italy to put a train line. Had a very light and early breakfast this morning so my stomach is already complaining about a lack of food. I guess I'll have to start retraining it to want less.

This morning we had to farewell our wonderful American friends, Barbara and Chrissy. They were so much fun and helped make the tour even more special. We will miss their sense of humour and their 'Aussie' 'have a go' attitude. I will be looking for your comments on this blog girls. Have fun in Cantanzarro and a safe flight home. I will never be able to look at an Idaho potato the same way again without remembering you.

Happy birthday Barbara for the 4th June.

Farewell also to Andrea our tour guide and translator extraordinaire. Thought you might like this photo of all the mussels you ate. No wonder you love these tours.

Arrivideci Tanya, our kind and considerate host.

Last night was our final night in Tropea and we were treated to a cooking class by Chef Peppi, followed by an amazing farewell dinner. Of course there was music, dancing and even singing; thanks Herb!

Gnocchi

I was not disappointed by the Gnocchi lesson and will attempt to share some tips.

Mix together 1kg of potatoes (pushed through a ricer) with one egg. Use your hands.

Gradually incorporate flour whilst constantly kneading with your hands.

This dough will take up approximately 1/2kg flour, maybe more, depending on the type of potatoes used.

Ideally use red skinned potatoes and boil with the skin on to reduce the amount of moisture they take up. Cool and skin them.

I was surprised by the amount of kneading. You basically knead the dough until it is elastic and smooth (a lot like any other pasta dough). Rest it if time.

Cut off sections and roll into snakes, finger width. Cut off two cm sections and roll the gnocchi shape on a piece of decking board with ridges or on the back of a fork. Place gnocchi pieces on a tray covered with a T towel and let dry for a little while, maybe 1/2 hour.

Use a large pot of boiling, salted water to cook and add a generous amount of olive oil to prevent the gnocchi sticking together. Normally you wouldn't do this when cooking pasta as it can stop the sauce sticking. The pot will now be off the boil so put the lid back on. When ALL of the gnocchi has floated to the surface, remove and stir through with the sauce simmering in a pan. Taste the gnocchi first as it may be necessary for the pot to come back to the boil before removing the gnocchi.

Bon appetito!

There were other lovel dishes too. Another that I want to remember was the

Eggplant Parmigiana

Thinly slice eggplant, sprinkle with salt, stand for a while, rinse, then pat dry.

Lightly coat in flour then lightly fry and blot on absorbent paper.

Prepare for the layers: crumble or slice some mozzarella, collect a bowl of dry breadcrumbs, make tomato passata(sauce) or open a commercial one, tear pieces of your favourite ham.and collect some Parmesan cheese.

Just like a lasagne, place layers in a deep ovenproof dish, eg, start with tomato sauce at the bottom, add a layer of eggplant, add ham if using, then mozzarella, tomato sauce, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and contine until all used up. Top layer is meant to be breadcrumbs but I would rather fancy more cheese and lots of it! Yum.

We also enjoyed marinated swordfish. This was prepared earlier. The fish was cut into single portions and left to stand in the fridge with the following ingredients: parsley finely chopped, olive oil of course, salt, pepper and oops I've gone blank. There could have been some white wine and garlic. Not sure. Best to go with your own yummy concoction anyway. Lemon zest was grated over towards the end of the standing time. Cherry tomatoes were sliced on top and zucchini (mostly the skin) was zested over the top. This was quickly baked in the oven for about 15 mins and was tasty and juicy.

And as you can see from the above photo, red Tropea onions made an appearance too.

Speaking of onions, small red Trpea onions were baked in the oven until they were soft and caramelised . Many were added to a baking pan with white wine vinegar and some olive oil. I'd guess that it was 2 parts vinegar to one part oil but it may even have been 3:1. Anyway the bottom of the pan was covered. Salt and sugar were added, maybe a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar.

There was a second fish dish and this was very simple to prepare. Just place fish fillets skin down in a baking pan and add your favourite Italian breadcrumb mixture to the top, drizzle olive oil and bake. The trick of course is to make yummy crumbs. The Italians use their old bread, being sure to waste nothing. They turn it into crumbs (use a gadget if you wish) and add delicious flavours, eg, salt, pepper, herbs (I think Peppi just used parsley), Parmesan cheese and olive oil. I think I would use lemon zest as well. I'm pretty sure there was garlic in there too. The trick is to allow the crumbs to take up the flavour over a few days.

Then there was Chicken and capsicums. Peppi used chicken wings cut into 3; the pointy end bit though was nowhere to be seen. He coated the chicken in a tasty flour mixture. It looked like he added heaps of paprika but apparently it is a red pepper powder (not chilli), plus dried chilli, and probably salt and pepper. He then fried off the chicken, caramelising it well, popped it in a baking dish with large chunks of red and green capsicums. He probably drizzled this with olive oil, baked it until cooked through and tasty.

Peppi also made saltimbocca. He used thin pork , added some fresh sage leaf, popped speck on top (could use prosciutto ), threaded this with a wooden toothpick to hold, dipped one side in flour and fried. He added whiskey to the pan, although he would have preferred brandy and flamed the pan. He placed the pork on a serving dish, quickly reduced the pan juices, added fresh parsley and drizzled over the pork.

I haven't mentioned the other pasta because I wasn't fussed about trying it as they used Barilla pasta. Now I'm far from a food snob, but when there is fresh gnocchi on offer, Barilla will never hit the spot. Anyway, Peppi made an interesting sauce where he combined homemade tomato sauce with nduja (if you've been following you'll know that this is spreadable sausage full of chillies). It made a great sauce. He cooked Scampi in there and added other stuff but I'm sorry I missed the details of this one.

Oh and then there is my favourite Tropea potato and green pepper dish. At least it was my favourite until I saw how much oclive oil is used. You simple cut potatoes into ' hot chip shape', add chunks of green capsicum and fry in lots of olive oil until browned, tasty and to die for. I limited myself this time. They basically cook themselves with just a bit of tossing around from time to time.

Just a few last memories of the evening: