Wonderful Turin and Wonderfuller Cooking Class
We woke up early and walked to a neat specialty shop, Damarco, to meet our market and cultural guide, Virginia at 9:30. She had excellent English was passionate about both Turin cuisine and culture. She provided an excellent tour of the largest market in Europe. The market had indoor and outdoor areas with local and multicultural offerings of flowers, fruits, vegetables, breads, cheese, fish, and meat. I was really envious of the beautiful fresh zucchini flowers, unique cheese like the one with pistachios and Toma Gustosa, giant squash, Casereccio (bread sticks), seafood, loads of salami, There was also a small flea market, clothing, and household goods stalls. The most modern building was similar to the Time Out Market but it was not as popular.
Along the 40 minute walk to the cooking lesson Virginia took us on a short tour of the city center and pointed out the piazzas and historic buildings through Piazza Castello, Via Po, Mole Antonelliana, Piazza Vittorio.
We enjoyed the sites, smells, and sounds of our 90 minute tour!
We arrived at Studiofood33 at 11am and were handed off to Chef Stefano or Sebastian as some people like to call him. Chef had already prepared a charcuterie with cheese, meat, olives, Russian salad, bread, anchovy spread, boiled potatoes, and bread sticks. It was served with Prosecco and a fresh and delicious omelet!
Then it was time to get down to work preparing the veal roast, fresh pasta, shrimp filling for the pasta, clams, and bonet.
Chef Stefano provided us with excellent guidance and instruction while also being the most excellent host and serving us with wine.
After all the food was prepared, we enjoyed the roast veal sliced thinly with Marsala & plum reduction. Then we ate the tortellini shrimp with burrito and pistachios, and clams. We also had tagliatelle and ravioli too! We finished the meal with bonet - a delightful chocolate local dessert with a quenelle of whipped cream.
The entire experience was delightful and the meal was amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Virginia and Chef Stefano!
The boys headed back to the room to chill. Betty and I did some shopping.
We ended up buying the same sweater at a local shop and same tights at Decathalon. Guess it is something in the genes!
Bill and I connected a couple of hours later and toured the Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista aka Duomo di Torino. The cathedral was completed in 1498 and is infamous for being the site of the Shroud of Turin. We also toured the Chiesa di San Michele that dates back to 1784. It was small and simple but had a couple of interesting paintings and statues.
We walked through a few beautiful and massive square, passed beneath countless beautiful buildings such as the Mole Antonelliana (landmark building for Turin).
We came back to the room to freshen up and met Betty and John on the 6th floor Terrace for some delicious drinks and snacks before bed.