It was bright and cheer full, and they had some snacks and drinks set up for us before the class actually began.
This was the set up for our demonstration. We were learning to make Arancini, a very typical Sicilian food. It is made with sticky rice, a thick ragu sauce and then coated and fried. It is an all in one meal that travels well, which is why it was a favorite long, long ago. We were to learn how to do 2 different kinds, one with the traditional ragu and one with pistachio cream inside.
It is a time intensive process. You have to make the rice and the sauces a day in advance. So they had done that well before we arrive. On the right you will see the pistachio sauce in the upper left and the ragu sauce in the lower right.
We all donned some gloves and got ready. First you grab a bunch of rice and make it into a ball. Then you shape that into more of a bowl, where you then put about 2 tablespoons of your sauce inside and then tightly pack the rice around the sauce.
After doing that, you take a mixture of flour and water and coat the outside, and then roll it into breadcrumbs.
The typical shape is the cone shape, on the left. We did our ragu one in a cone (the chef came and perfected it for us) and the pistachio one round. This made it easier to tell which was which when they were served.
We got to bring our arancini into the kitchen where Andrea explained the cooking process. You first deep fry it quickly and take it out. Later, you have to deep fry it again in order to warm all the inside up. I forgot to say that in addition to the sauces, we also put some cheese inside the arancini.
Getting ready for the first fry.
After the arincini we learned how to make a crispy rice pastry thing. It is a seasonal kind of treat around here.
Here is Andrea and our hosts, explaining and showing us what we need to be doing.
Again we started with previously cooked and cooled sticky rice. You grab a bunch and then add a couple tablespoons of flour and mix it until it looks more like a dough than rice.
Then you shape it into fingers. The skinnier they are the crispier they are.
Again they get fried.
The finished crispy rice things.
Finished arancini
After we were done with our work, we got to sit down for our meal. You would think that one arancini would have been good enough, but we each had 2 that we could eat, more than enough. However, this is an all you can eat pizza place, and they brought out all sorts of pizza, and they kept it coming, it was crazy!
Before anything else, we got some all you can eat french fries
Then our arancini came out
The pistachio
and the ragu
Then the pizzas started......
Those are just a sample of some of the pizzas. They had all sorts of crazy toppings, including one with red sauce and tuna. We had some many pizzas, that some no one touched. They allowed us to bring some home, and Tommy was very thankful!
As if we hadn't eaten enough, then we got our crispy rice things for desert.
This is what they look like to start.....
then the chef ladled on a ton of honey. I think he easily coated them with 4 or 5 ladles of honey.
Of course you needed all the honey so that the powdered sugar will stick!
I ate one and brought several home for Tommy. He heated them up the next day (actually I heated them up for him the next day) for breakfast.
Certainly the cooking class and meal, which also included all you can drink wine and soda, was a bargain at 20 euro, but that was not all.
The restaurant also had a bowling alley. So they let us play a game and they put on the music videos and the disco light! They also have a 5D theater, whatever that is. It was a lot of fun and really good food! My favorite class so far!
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