Students fired up for cooking Italian

• A pair of easy and quick Italian regional recipes

By Joan Brunskill
Associated Press

Chef-instructor Ken Arnone works with student Emily Hummel in a kitchen of the Colavita Center of Italian Food and Wine at the Culinary Institute of America. Hummel, 19, hopes to teach one day. Associated Press

But precisely because Italian food is so popular, the influential Culinary Institute of America — where many of the chefs in our restaurant kitchens go to school, or do advanced study after participating in local programs — devotes special attention to teaching new generations of chefs how to prepare it the right way.

Its focus on this cuisine has a precise location: the one-year-old Colavita Center for Italian Food and Wine, which functions as part of the institute's degree programs in culinary arts.

Early on a recent warm spring morning at the center, a team of Italian cuisine students, in crisp toques and chefs' whites, were marshaled at kitchen stations, working on lunch.

The day, which had started about 5 a.m. for most of them, was the first of seven they'd spend cooking for guests at the center's Ristorante Caterina de' Medici.

"Work in the restaurant is the capstone of study for the students," said Victor Gielisse, the institute's associate vice president and dean of culinary, baking and pastry studies.

In popular eating choices, "Italian, Chinese and Mexican today are THE cuisines in the United States," he said.

Kelly Coggins, 19, of San Antonio, was making gnocchi on a marble-topped working table, with guidance from chef-instructor Ken Arnone.

Arnone worked the dough, showing first-timer Coggins how to do it, slapping and turning the floppy mass, feeling the texture, sprinkling a handful of flour over it — "there should be a little tackiness."

The dough was shaped into long rolls, then cut into short pieces to form the little dumplings.

Gnocchi typically are made with potatoes, farina or semolina flour, sometimes mixed with ricotta, spinach or eggs, Arnone explained.

"At this season we're making potato gnocchi." The restaurant's menus change season by season.

Coggins' goal is to be a food writer, he said.

"I always wanted to be a chef, but when I came here, I started to do some writing, and that changed the direction of where I want to go."

Emily Hummel, 19, from Cleveland, was making pansoti, little stuffed pasta triangles — "really easy," she murmured.

The pansoti filling includes salumi, the Italian term for all cured pork products.

"I just learned that today!" Hummel exclaimed delightedly. She had commented on the word as written on an instruction sheet, supposing it a misspelling of salami; her instructor explained the correct meaning.

Hummel, along with the others in the day's Italian-cooking student intake, had completed about one-and-a-half years of the culinary arts curriculum at the institute, with about another nine weeks' study still ahead to complete her associate degree program. Her goal: to get her bachelor's and master's degrees, then go on to teach.

Byron Wilson, 27, of San Diego, was making pasta sauces, pesto and fresh pea purŽe — "You've got to watch out for friction in the processor. It can turn the puree dark," he said, sounding like an old pro.

After he's finished here, Wilson says, he'll go back to New Hampshire, where he's been working as sous chef in a hotel. But he's set his sights on a career on the West Coast — "as executive chef at some old established, historic hotel in California."

Another group of students was starting on the Italian center's seven-day program of learning the skills of waiting tables. A new curriculum scheduled to go into effect in the winter will double students' stints of cooking and serving study to 14 days each.

In a quiet classroom, instructor Mauro Sessarego is taking the service class through their first paces before they go out to serve lunch in the restaurant, where they'll learn how dining room and kitchen staff function together.

Tables in the restaurant are set with flasks of olive oil. But, Sessarego tells the students, when they are serving bread, "Ask the guests first if they do want oil — remember, some will prefer butter."

When you hand guests their dishes, he suggests, say something about each dish, make sure you tell them what the dish is, perhaps to help explain its Italian name. It may be something unfamiliar they've just picked from the menu.

"Sometimes they don't know what it looks like," he reminds the students. "They've never seen it before. Did you know what pansoti were before you came here?"

Learning the language of food clearly is a part of learning the job.

"There's no denying the importance of Italian cuisine — hence its importance on our campus," said Tim Ryan, the institute's president. His office is in the main building, which is located beside the Colavita Center, with the same scenic view over the Hudson River Valley. "You find its influence in so many different kinds of restaurants."

The aim of the institute's programs is to teach students "the proper flavors, the proper ingredients, the proper techniques," he said.

Many will go on to work in Italian restaurants, and with their training here they'll know the right way to do things, he added.

Students in the institute's degree programs, as well as in education programs for industry professionals, study Italian food, wine and culture at the Colavita Center.

Lectures on the fundamentals and evolution of Italian cooking alternate with kitchen and dining-room work, where students taste and work with a variety of regional dishes and styles.

Simplicity is one of the things that makes classic Italian cooking so great, Ryan said.

"For home cooks, it is very popular in terms of what people will make in their own kitchens — it's inexpensive, it's easy to do, uses fresh produce."

The Colavita Center's classrooms, kitchens and restaurant are housed in an 18,000-square-foot building that's conspicuously different from others on the college's campus.

The center has the air of a Tuscan country mansion, with traditional architecture, warm ocher walls and tiled roof.

The restaurant areas are decorated with terra cotta and metalwork details, glazed tiles and Venetian glass chandeliers.

The Italian style taught and served at the Colavita Center is more authentic than the Italian-American style that has developed in the United States, Gielisse explained.

The institute's basic curriculum is based on French technique, Gielisse said.

"But there are so many variables in Italian cuisine, it exposes students to so many different ingredients and techniques," he said.

That's a key reason it has its place in the college's curriculums.

"The simplicity and freshness of the ingredients is something we try to highlight," Gielisse said.

And the teaching focuses more on techniques than on recipes because, he added, because "if you know the techniques, you can execute any recipe."

A pair of easy and quick Italian regional recipes

HYDE PARK, N.Y. — Classic Italian dishes from a variety of regions are the stock in trade of the Ristorante Caterina de' Medici, the student-staffed restaurant that's central to study programs at the Culinary Institute of America's Colavita Center for Italian Food and Wine:

Bistecca alla Florentina (Tuscan Grilled T-Bone Steak)

• One T-bone steak, cut 2 inches thick (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper as needed
• 2 garlic cloves, minced to a paste
• 1 teaspoon minced rosemary leaves
• Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat a grill to make a hot fire. Brush the steak with a bit of the oil and season generously with salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary.

Grill steak for about 10 minutes on the first side; turn, and finish cooking on the second side, allowing another 10 to 12 minutes for rare (with an internal temperature of 125 degrees on a meat thermometer). For medium doneness (135 degrees on the meat thermometer), increase the cooking time to 12 minutes per side; for well done (145 degrees), increase cooking time to 15 minutes per side. Move the steak to a cooler area on the grill if necessary to avoid overcooking the exterior, or finish cooking in a 350-degree oven. if preferred.

When the steak has reached desired doneness, transfer to cutting board or large platter. Drizzle the steak with a bit more olive oil, and finish by sprinkling with lemon juice. Let the steak rest for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Makes 2 entree servings.

Olive Siciliane al Forno (Sicilian Baked Olives)

• 8 to 12 ounces brined, cured green olives (preferably Atalanti), drained
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons aged red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sicilian oregano
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If using a wood oven, cook slowly in very front of oven area.

Rinse and drain olives. Place in shallow 8- to 10-inch baking dish. Add white wine and half of the olive oil. Bake the olives, stirring 3 or 4 times, for 30 to 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and lightly prick with tines of a fork.

In processor or blender, add remaining oil, garlic and parsley; puree. Place in bowl. Mix in vinegar, oregano, pepper and pepper flakes. Toss olives in this mixture and let stand at least 2 hours before serving. Makes 8 to 12 ounces.