Ristorante Il Caminetto Cooking Class

One of the best perks of living in Europe is having the rest of Europe at your fingertips.  I've had the good fortune of cashing in on this luxury many times in my life.  In 1997 (my first time overseas), three friends and I extended our month-long German Exchange Program to spend a week with my relatives in Vienna, Austria.  In 1999, my Study Abroad roommate and I spent our 2-week break in-between summer sessions backpacking through Spain.  In 2000, while completing a summer Accounting Internship in Frankfurt, Germany, I would head to the train station straight from work with an overnight bag that I had thrown together that morning, and look over the schedule to see where I would head that weekend.  Thanks to that method, I had the pleasure to explore Munich, Cologne, Paris, and the Italian Riviera. By 2004, when I was getting my Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate in Barcelona, discount airlines had popped up all over Europe, and I discovered that I could hop on a RyanAir or EasyJet flight to any number of European cities for less than $50 round-trip.

Soon after moving to Cluj, I started stalking the website of WizzAir, the cheapo airline that flies in and out of our airport.  Turns out that my American friend Jennie, who currently lives in Northern Italy, was doing the exact same thing.  And that's how we found a $57 taxes-included, round-trip flight to Bergamo, Italy and "cooked up" the plan for me to fly in for an Italian cooking class last weekend.

The cooking class did not disappoint!  From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Jennie & I, plus another dozen tourists, thoroughly enjoyed every technique, story, and tip that Chef Moreno shared with us at his little family-run Ristorante Il Caminetto in the adorable little Lake Como town of Varenna, Italy.  He discussed the importance of sharp knives and the differences between Northern & Southern Italian Cuisine, told stories about his parents, grandparents, and the nine generations of his family that had run that same little restaurant for centuries, described his philosophy on the use of garlic and spices ("use in small quantities"; "porcini must be the star"), allowed us to smell and touch at various stages of the cooking and taught us how to stuff our own tortelloni, and wowed us with his knife skills and the artistic way that he maneuvers a rolling pin to transform a pile of dough into some of the most delicious pasta I've ever tasted.  The day flew by as we drank a bottomless glass of red wine and watched intently as Chef Moreno prepared a three course meal made up of the following dishes:

1.) Tagliatelli with a sauce of tomatoes, pancetta, gorgonzola, cream, olive oil, garlic, and eggplant.
2.) Tortelloni stuffed with butternut squash, crushed almond cookies, freshly ground Parmigiano-Reggiano, and spiced jellied fruit, with a garlic, sage, basil, butter, tomato puree sauce.
3.) Bocconcini di Vitello (Veal Stew) with a mouth-watering Porcini Risotto.

And then, as if the day weren't already perfect, WE GOT TO EAT IT ALL.

Before hopping on our train back to Jennie's apartment, we caught a beautiful sunset over Lake Como-- just the right opportunity to reflect on how fortunate we are to have unbelievable European opportunities like this one right here at our fingertips.