This is the End...for the short course

So here in Costigliole there has been two section of English speaking students here at ICIF. There was the short course, an accelerated program that will end at the end of this week and the Master Course which I am enrolled in. So My brothers will be leaving and it will be me and my girls.


The short course consisted of Ido a chef from Israel, a very nice fella who confirmed for me that all of the Hebrew stereotypes in You Don't mess With the ZOHAN were in fact true. This guy has a passion for food and the photography of food. He takes a great picture, I have to say. Then there is Fernando, though he is in the English course he is from Brazil and his English ranks on a par with my Italian. But he has been in Italy for the last two years studying the language and speaks fluently the small conversations that we have had though let me know that he's alright by me.

There is also John, a guy from Cleveland who is direct and to the point he doesn't sugarcoat anything. But aside from his gruff facade he is a talented chef and a nice guy as well. He tells it like it is and doesn't take shit from anyone all great qualities in a chef. Last there is Dominic, the New Yorker who is fast to make friend with anybody, easy to laugh and also a caterer before he started this program. He knows his shit and amongst the short course the aside from Fernando speaks the best Italian. A funny guy to say the least.

But they will be gone to their externships by next Tuesday and our group of nine will pair down to five. Buon Viaggio amici.

As for the rest of us there is Alice, the blond haired blue eyed self admitted Klutz. Her passion is pastry, this was proven this week when we were in charge of preparing lunch for the school and she leaped at the opportunity to make the dessert, then with tears forming in her eyes she says, they want me to use this powdered vanilla to flavor the creme brulee, and they won't let me make a sugar cage to garnish said brulee. I had to laugh a little but it show gumption. Jessie, the self proclaimed former tomboy from Arizona is the greenest of the bunch but only because she hasn't been to Culinary school. She also is easy to laugh even at the crudest of the jokes in my repertoire. Thank God for that. But she know her stuff as well it's just the classical techniques that she needs to get down, a small step.

Rosa is a mother from California who also knows her way around the kitchen. She won't do her externship in Italy but has worked out a position in California that will work out for her. She is a nice lady and you can tell that, aside from coming half way around the world, she really like to cook. Rocio is the Peruvian she speaks fluent English, Spanish, and pretty spot on Italian too. She is our liaison when we don't have an interpreter, truly a stand up lady and a great chef. She reminds me of many of the great women chef I have come across in my life, full of piss and vinegar and knows how to cook great food.

So these are the chef I will be cooking with when my brothers in food take off for their various restaurants of externship. It's gonna be a smooth ride and it seems like the program is going to pick up a bit more for a true Masters Course. Cant Wait. Stay tuned