Weatherwise, last Wednesday certainly wasn’t a night for an outdoor barbecue, but it was perfect for being part of an indoor cooking class at the Loose Produce in Como. With some trepidation a friend and I went along to Class Two of The Flavours of Tuscany where the cuisine specific to the city of Lucca and the region of Garfagnana was being explored. Not being the best cooks in the world we were wondering what we had let ourselves in for. We were greeted at the door by the very friendly Keryn who gave us a brief tour of the premises before introducing us to our host, Ann Meyer. Ann is a person who obviously has a soft spot in her heart for the medieval city of Lucca as she is very passionate about every aspect of the town. She says the Lucchese cuisine is a reflection of the city’s sophistication and simplicity and is very unique to Tuscany. It is really a matter of deriving taste from the quality of the ingredients rather than by adding garlic and other spices trying to produce a nevertheless pleasant, but less natural taste.
The initial fears we felt when we arrived were soon allayed as Ann is a very friendly and personable lady and made us feel welcome and almost part of the family. She is so enthusiastic about cooking in general and the Tuscan region in particular that you cannot help but be caught up in the web she spins. As she so rightly says, a little hint of Lucca will sustain you throughout winter. The best part of the evening is that you get to eat what you cook, so without going into the intricate cooking details which you will have to attend the classes to obtain, let me just tell you what delights we were able to sample. It was an antipasti night and we started off with one of my favourite meals from any region, in any part of the world, mushrooms on toast. I love mushrooms at the best of times but this dish was indeed delicious.
We followed this up with a simple Lucchese Bruschetta which I enjoyed as much as the mushrooms. Then came the Globe Artichoke Hearts cooked in honey. I learnt so much about artichokes, no wonder the family has an aversion to this vegetable. My knowledge of the artichoke and how to choose, cook and serve it, was severely lacking. I am still not sure I am able to choose correctly but there will be some improvement! From here we moved on to the Tuscan Bean Soup which was indeed delicious AND takes three days to make. The class didn’t quite last that long so Ann had already pre-pared all but the final part for us. It was delicious, whether ours would have been as good had we done it all will be something we’ll find out for ourselves this weekend. We were given some to take home for the family and mine thought it was so good they guessed it wasn’t all my own work. By this time I was starting to feel quite full, but still managed to find a little room for the Potato Bread, especially as my friend and I made it. Kneading the bread is quite exhausting so I feel we also had a good workout as well!! Who said bread wasn’t healthy?
Overall the night proved to be a very satisfying experience and I’m not saying this because of the effect the red and white wines we were trying as well may have had on me. You can usually judge something like this by how fast time passes and before we knew it the two hours had come and gone. From there it took us another 30 odd minutes to leave as the shop part of the Loose Produce is an experience in itself and worthy of a visit in its own right. It has everything you could possibly want in relation to healthy cooking, including organic and gluten free products. I couldn’t resist buying a bit of this and that and went home laden with things I’d always wanted but never knew where to obtain. It was still cold and raining as we left, but the night had indeed been a warming experience. Ann was the perfect host. It is difficult not to enjoy yourself when you are around her. She is so enthusiastic about cooking that it is impossible not be caught up in it all. We had a great time and I think the prime thing I learned on the night was that “simple is best”. I won’t give the spices away altogether but from now on I will rely on them less than I currently do. Whether the rest of the family will appreciate this is something I’ll find out soon. If you are after a learning, eating, drinking experience in comfortable, friendly surroundings then I cannot recommend the Loose Produce classes too highly. Like us, you’ll be glad you went along. http://www.cookingwithmeyer.com
