the in-between moments

In the process of getting my bearings today I instinctively looked for Table Mountain. After four years of using Table Mountain as a personal GPS, I sometimes find myself looking for it to lead me safely home. When I did not see it, it dawned to me that this weekend marks exactly a year since I 

have seen the majestic Table Mountain. A year since I said farewell to a season in my life called Cape Town to begin an adventure to the seemingly unknown. I remember being asked a version of this- ‘so you’re leaving…what next, where are you going’? A year on that series of questions is still asked by everyone including myself.  No distinct answer has been found but in the process I savour the moments in-between finding an answer to those questions.

Primavera in Italy

One moment is such: driving through the rolling hills of the Langhe Region in Piedmont, trying to find the way back home to not so little Città di Bra. The views are spectacular, breath-taking and all those other adjectives that you could throw in there. Primavera having begun a few days ago the hills are literally alive- there are green budding leaves on trees, pinkish clouds of blossoming trees hovering over the landscape. The vineyards appropriately trimmed for the winter as slowly beginning to awake from their winter slumber. Simply put, the picturesque romanticized Italian life that everyone imagines, even myself.

The rolling hills of Langhe

 At moments like this I feel extremely blessed to be living in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy in this season of my life. When else will my academic calendar consist of actively participating in 15 hours worth of wine tasting lectures? Learning about quality and taste analysis of wine? When else will I say that a day-trip with my friends through Barolo, Barbaresco,La Morra, Neive and Alba can be considered as an academic extra curriculum activity? One to cement in the knowledge of the wine growing regions of Piedmont, and Italy in general. A road trip that allows you to see the towns and villages that are synonymous with some of the finest Italian wines-dare I say some of the best wines in the world. When else will it be possible to walk into a food related shop, say that you are a student at UNISG, have the shop keepers get animated and decide that it is their God given right  to tell you everything about every product in their shop and convince you that it is the best in the world?

As idyllic and picturesque as these adventures all sound, there are grey dark clouds that hoover over the sky line, gusts of wind, thunderstorms, torrential rains, fog, hail and snow storms. Days when the icy rains of reality fall, questions are asked, prayers are sent, and the waiting game is played. On these days navigating through the adventure that is life is nothing short of difficult. Locating my metaphorical Table Mountain is a challenge. In its beautiful nature as my Solid Rock, my Mountain always reappears through the storm, (not that is has actually ever gone anywhere) leading me safely home.

These darker moments are savoured as well, as they are the ones that allow for the idyllic ones to be as wonderful and memorable as they are. None of the ‘good times’ would be as good as they are without the humorous, generous, loving and utterly amazing people who have been a part of the adventure. I am eternally grateful for having these people in the adventure that is life.

Cape Town Farewell with my 2011 housemates

A spring road trip with my 2012 housemates

A Bittersweet Symphony

A bittersweet symphony. Rather poetic is it not? But what is bittersweet? In the past few weeks I have learned that these are two of the five flavours that one can experience when tasting food and drink. It is a desired taste combination especially with regards to chocolate. I speak from first-hand experience since yesterday I had a four hour chocolate lesson. In the class we flew through the basics of the technology behind chocolate, slightly brushed the political economic side of it but did not have time to discuss much about the technology of chocolate.

The actual tasting was quite rushed as well. My preconceptions were that tasting chocolate would be a simple process and rather enjoyable. After eighteen different types of chocolate in the space of an hour I beg to differ. It is hard work and not for the faint hearted, or anyone who really despises chocolate. There are proper ways of tasting chocolate, and then there is the way I had my first chocolate tasting.

Basic steps for a successful chocolate tasting as a UNISG student: 

Have an exam on cured meat in which you taste three types of Salame di Felino and be in desperate need of something to cleanse your palate from the meaty, humid, animal, peppery and umami persistent flavours and taste of Salame di Felino.

Have looming at the back of your mind that you have a chocolate exam in exactly two weeks and you have to pass the exam, so you need to grasp the concepts.

Have at hand: two paper plates with nine pieces of dark chocolate in each plate (some of the finest world class chocolate to be exact and some ‘artistic’ inventions as well) a glass of water to cleanse you palate after each nibble.

Have a great professor with a passion for his subject. Twenty- six classmates all with different levels of appreciation and knowledge of chocolate: a Belgian, a professional chocolatier, some students clueless about chocolate (that would be me).

Have a piece of paper to write down all your taste and flavour sensations.

Now begin: Pick up the little piece of chocolate, probably about 4grams. Observe the colour and the texture and the smell. Now bite into about half of that piece. Concentrate on the way the chocolate melts or does not melt in your mouth. Consider the texture, is it smooth and silky and does it melt in your mouth or grainy and almost a sand like texture. Now what do you taste: bitter, sweet, umami, sour, salt? And the aromas, do you sense the fruity notes, floral ones: maybe raisin, cranberry. Note that as you are tasting all of these chocolates the classroom is not silent, rather everyone is blurting out what they taste, and the aromas they sense and do not sense, the occasional shout of sweet, cauliflower, bitter, and avocado! Compliments are given to those who have deciphered the general idea of the tastes.

Have a sip of water and wash out your mouth.

Repeat this another seventeen times and then have a craving for something extremely umami afterwards. The best way to deal with this is having some of your classmates make dinner for you- well that’s how I fixed my umami craving problem!

Essential for the tasting lesson: An open mind, and a sense of humour.

Umami dinner: Bistecca, Polenta and Burrata

Just incase you do not have all the above mentioned components (especially a dynamic group of classmates) to have a classic UNISG tasting of your own you could always have a tasting in a more traditional way. A great resource for this is www.allchocolate.com.

Enjoy!