INSIDE: Cooking with Contessa Rocca 3 n e l l A Venice Hotel News 3 n l a l i V h n p a m Excursions from Stresa 4 s e u H S n y n b A s y Where to Eat in Stresa 6 o t r o a h M p l y l b A s o t o h p l l A View of Isola Bella from Stresa Cooking Up A Storm ® in Venice dream of he best way for a traveler to experience Italy’s abundant T heart is to take a cooking class. Recently, in Venice, I had kitchen time with two natives, who generously opened up their delicious world to me: Volume 12, Issue 2 www.dreamofitaly.com March 2013 ITA LY Chef Patrizia, The International Kitchen “I’ll make you a Spritz!,” says Chef De-Stressing In Stresa Patrizia, the moment I enter her apart - ment. I barely have my coat off when came to Stresa to de-stress. I palace set on a privately owned island, this darling sprite-of-a- signora hands needed a real vacation, one on boat trips on the lake. I even saw a me the classic Venetian refreshment: a I without obligatory “Top 10” cul - zebra. sparkling glass of Campari, mixed tural sights. I craved scenery, the views with Prosecco, garnished with an of the lake and mountains. I wanted Stresa sits on the Borromean Gulf on orange slice. time to just savor being in a gorgeous the western shore of Lake Maggiore, Italian town. Italy’s second largest lake. Chef Patrizia, her assistant/translator Part of the lake is in Silvia, and Lisa, another student, This Stresa delivered. I had a Switzerland. The Italian por - toast: “ Cin cin! ” The vibe is set for a five-day idyll of relishing sim - tion touches the shores of happy party/cooking session. ple and memorable pleasures: Piedmont and Lombardy. walks along Lake Maggiore’s The class began earlier that morning, promenade; the magnificent With humble beginnings as when I met Silvia and Lisa at the vista from my hotel balcony; tiny fishing village accessed Rialto market. This bustling spot by people watching from a cafe by a dirt Roman road, Stresa’s the famous bridge has been the in the piazza. Lush flowers attraction as a holiday town Venetian food shopping center since were everywhere—along the with newly constructed ele - 1097. It’s a great scene of curious lake, in beds bordering hotel lawns, in gant villas, hotels and gardens, soared tourists like me and natives, strolling planters in the piazza, cascading from after the 1906 construction of the through the fish stalls, that glisten balconies and window boxes. Simplon Tunnel Railway. with the bounty from the lagoon and beyond —from squirming live crabs, My low-key schedule took me to Stresa is small and very beautiful. to shrimp, octopus, and sea bream. amazing gardens, to a sumptuous continued on page 4 continued on page 2 Lake Maggiore is 42 miles long. Venice Cooking continued from page 1 Surrounding the fish market are nated in onions, vinegar, and sugar, As I gut the sardines and chop onions, vibrant stands of fruits and vegetables, resulting in an intense, savory flavor. Patrizia tells me how Sarde in Saor orig - overflowing with goodies such as Marinating it for at least a few days is inated centuries ago when fishermen bright purple Treviso cabbage and gold - essential to the recipe. would be at sea for weeks at a time. en mushrooms from Veneto forests. Since there was no refrigeration, fisher - To my pleasant surprise, Chef Patrizia men’s wives invented a way of pre - With our bags full of sardines and veg - unveils a Sarde in Saor she made for serving fish so it would last for their etables, we make our way through nar - me days earlier, so I could taste her husbands time away from home. In the row calle, along canals, over little proper rendition, and then shows me Renaissance, pine nuts and raisins bridges, and past the curvy Santa Maria another version she’s made: Verdure in were added to the recipe to aid diges - Formosa church. Along the way, Silvia Saor, where sardines are replaced with tion and sweeten the breath. turns out to be an excellent guide— sautéed zucchini, pointing out the top cheese shop The kitchen fills with the near the market (“ Casa del homey aroma of onions slowly Parmigiano—I saw Mario Batali cooking in oil. Patrizia hands there! ”), a good pizza place, (“ Cip me toothpaste to wash my Ciap—my husband is Neapolitan and he hands, her clever way to take loves this pizza! ”). away the fishy sardine smell. 3 1 0 2 She helps me notice the differences Our work done, we gather at h c in the winged lion sculp - the table set with pretty lace r a tures that are all over Venice: placemats and floral-patterned M “If the lion is holding an china. The taste of Patrizia’s pre- 2 open book in its paw, that prepared Sarde in Saor is so much means Venice was at peace, richer and more satisfying than the m o and if the book is closed, the one I just made. The class turns c . y l sculpture was made when out to be a tasting/learning/toast - a t i f the city-state was at war. ” ing with Venetian wine experience o m that ends sweetly with Patrizia’s a e r d Finally we land in front of a dessert invention, then caffe, “cor - . w palazzo in the Castello sestiere, rected”, as the Italians say, with a w w and make our way up a zig-zag of potatoes, eggplant, few drops of grappa. stairs to Patrizia’s apartment. Patrizia and peppers. is in her sixties, but has the energy of We linger at the table, in a delightful, an eight-year-old girl, flitting around in “We’ll make both so you learn, but first well-fed haze, as the afternoon light a black mini-skirt and floral vest. Her we’ll start with my dessert—My inven - fades… airy apartment is decorated with folksy tion!” Patrizia says. It’s a brilliant mix Cooking with Chef Patrizia touches: marionettes, framed needle - of mascarpone, raisins soaked in grap - The International Kitchen work pieces and a wood-burning pa, sugar and cocoa, that we set aside www.theinternationalkitchen.com stove. Right off the kitchen is a terrace, to chill in the refrigerator before she (312) 467-0560 (in the U.S.) where students dine in warmer begins my Saor lesson. Rates: $175 per person months, enjoying a lovely view, with The morning class with market visit runs 10:15 the steeple of San Marco in the back - I enjoy practicing my Italian with a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and is available Tuesday ground. Patrizia, who speaks little English, and through Saturday for a minimum of two people. An at the same time I’m grateful to have evening class at 6 p.m. is also available during the When I booked this class, I asked if I Silvia standing by as translator to help summer months. It does not include a market visit. could learn to make one of my favorite when the conversation gets too speedy. Venetian specialties: Sarde in Saor. It’s a With four of us women in the kitchen traditional dish of fried sardines mari - plus Spritz, talk inevitably turns to men and amore, and there’s lots of laughs. Venetian cuisine relies heavily on fresh seafood. Contessa Enrica Rocca “Every meal I had growing up was when we met in the lobby of the Ca served by a butler in white jacket and Pisani, the hotel that had arranged for “I never know what I’m going to cook gloves,” she says. When she was 19, me to take the class. On our walk back until I go to the market and see what is Enrica left Venice for culinary school in and forth to the Rialto, friends greeted best,” says Contessa Switzerland, then lived her every few steps: the jeweler who Enrica Rocca, as we in South Africa, where was repairing her earrings, the glam - approach the Rialto. she opened a successful orous blonde dress designer who knew “You have to know Italian restaurant. her from South Africa days. and understand and use only the best These days she spends a We stopped in to see her colleague, ingredients to eat few months a year in sommelier Lorenzo Menegus at his well. So I don’t teach Millevini Enoteca, where he lined cooking, I teach a up bottles to explain to me the lifestyle, and it has vintages of the Veneto: Prosecco, nothing to do with writing a soave, valpolicella, amarone and recipe down and following grappa. We fueled up with caffe time. When you cook, it is like before our marketing at you are an artist who sits down Vergnano, “The best!”, said and knows his materials. You Enrica, enjoying her cup to the 3 1 0 have to know the taste, the tex - last drop. 2 h tures, before you can put them c r continued on page 8 a together. Then you follow your London, where her M instincts.” cooking classes have attracted a popular fol - dream of 3 The contessa is a powerful, lowing. When in Venice, ® m feisty woman, exuding elegance, even along with her classes, she runs a com - o c .