Just call me Chef Anna! Yesterday, we went to the Italian Chef Academy and it was one of my favorite field trips that we have taken so far. We had a 5-hour Italian cooking course, which included: fresh pappardelle with wild boar ragu, homemade ravioli, salad, and tiramisu.
All 22 of us had our own individual cooking stations so it was really hands-on and interactive. We split into 2 groups and each group had our own chef teaching us how to make the dishes. We started off with making the dough for the noodles and ravioli. I couldn’t believe that we were actually making noodles from scratch! Oddly enough, it wasn’t as complicated as one might think; however, there is a very unique and specific technique that we had to use when doing it. After that, we made the tiramisu and the salad. It was hard not to lick the spoon when making the tiramisu! At last, we ended the class with stuffing the ravioli with the homemade basil, ricotta cheese, and lemon zest filling.
It was so intriguing getting to see the chef demonstrate how to make all of the food. They truly view cooking as a form of art. Now that I have personally made ravioli, pasta, and tiramisu from scratch, I appreciate it so much more than I did before. I now know all of the hard work and time that goes into making one single pasta dish.
I am looking forward to being able to make some authentic homemade Italian pasta for my family when I get back home! Cooking is a lifelong skill and I will forever cherish learning these Italian cooking techniques that I will be able to use for the rest of my life. Buon Appetitio!
Anna Messerly

Top left: salad
Top right: tiramisu
Bottom left: pappardelle with wild boar ragu
Bottom right: ravioli