Cooking in Roma
After reading the 4 hour work week last year, I was determined to make mini-retirement a reality in my life. The book describes how Tim the author works for a certain time to make money and then takes these prolonged time off to learn something that he is interested in while traveling.
I remember feeling wow I can't believe I'm reading something that validates all the thoughts, ideas, and dreams I've had. I've never wanted the picket fence "American life", but I also have Ethiopian parents (at least now just mom) that wanted me to have the best life and expected a lot from me. So travel nursing became a great carrier choice that allowed me to live a nomad life while taking time to do the things I love
I started out by making a list of all of my interests that I placed in the back seat for a long time (waiting for retirement or the perfect time). This realization of who I am (a person with colorful imagination) has forced me to look deep at my capabilities and do what I love intentionally. I've put my artistic side away for a long time, but now that attitude is behind me. I'm dusting off old hobbies and accepting that my uncompleted dream is part of my untamed journey and not a failure.
The skill I ventured out to learn first is cooking Italian and along the way, I was introduced to sustainable gardening. I didn’t mean to learn about sustainable gardening, it sort of happened. I’m so glad that embarking on this journey to learn how to cook brought me to the heart of cooking and knowing where your food comes from.
Taking time to travel slowly has helped me in more ways than one. Its enabled me to look deeper into myself, accept the challenges that come with the reality of learning things I'm interested in while connecting me with people and allowing for new friendships to flourish.
I've always loved cooking and baking, but I decided I wanted to learn how to cook Italian food after my first trip to Italy. Eating out left my sister and I disappointed in Rome. I concluded that these restaurants have to cater to many non-Italians that serving mediocre food that looks Italian but lacks the authenticity was ok. Anyways I wasn’t fooled and I wanted to learn what makes Italian food so special amongst others.
I set out to be in Italy for longer than two months. This decision rewarded me not only teaching me how to make dishes but connecting me with proud Italians that were willing to share their cooking secrets. This opportunity allowed me to make new friends that introduced me to the world of Italian cooking. They told me the difference that makes cooking unique from one region to the next.
When I took a class to make polenta a dish common in north Italy where it’s eaten during colder months. The mother and daughter duo (and their cute dog) shared this simple hearty dish. This experience made me feel welcome, it was almost like we were long lost friends coming together to cook and eat together. They taught me how to make tiramisu and told me everyone in Italy thinks that their terimisú recipe is the best.
I can’t even say Italian cooking because how wrong that sounds. The same dish can be cooked using different methods in different regions. This was apparent when I tried Neapolitan pizza in Rome and was told this is not really Neapolitan and if I wanted to try authentic Neapolitan pizza I ought to go to Napoli. Suffice to say I did and it was different. It might’ve been a small difference but still, each experience is authentic to its region. Eating in Italy leaves you in awe of how culture makes cuisine diverse.
I started out learning how to make pasta that seemed most appropriate in Rome. I found a cooking class taught by a chef who owned her own restaurant. The experience started after climbing 5 flights of stairs that landed me on the 4th floor ( a concept I had to accept after a few days in Rome, their ground floor is 0, not 1). We made three different pasta dishes using a manual pasta maker machine.
Cacio e Pepe
Making a crater with our flour we placed our egg in the middle. We slowly mixed our flour and egg with a fork. And kneaded our dough using our hands and left it to rise. When it was ready we rolled the dough through the pasta maker cranking the handle making shapes for fettuccini and hand-rolled gnocchi. I was introduced to this idea that cooking Italian food means taking time and using simple ingredients.
A Tavola Con Lo Chef
My second class was making pizza. By this time I had more guts to take a class taught in Italian, but lucky for me the Chef spoke English. Again it was a reminder that simple fresh ingredients make tasty food.
The idea that struck me the most is how fresh and organic food enrich your eating experience. Our taste buds are made from thousands of nerve endings and have the ability to differentiate tastes and aroma to determine what’s real. If you've ever bought a fresh ripe tomato from a farmers market cut it up and ate it you know the taste of real freshness. Even though my initial plan was to learn how to cook Italian food I immediately got interested and introduced to sustainable organic vegetable gardening.
This idea to ask where the vegetables and fruits I consume come from was reinforced inside of me. I wanted to find out what makes this tomato tastier than that tomato. One of the things I love in Rome is the mom and pop grocery stores with their bright colored fruits and vegetables stand in every neighborhood corner. It reminded me about Addis so much, but the difference was that in Addis these fruits and vegetables are organic.
As I began to ask around in my cooking classes where would be a good place to shop for fresh produce I was told that often these grocery stores don’t know where their fruits and vegetables come from. It was also there I was told to get fresh organic produce I have to visit the farmers market. Campo di Fiori is the first one I visited. The original farmers who grew the produce sell to you and you feel a sense of connection with mother earth.
The feeling to care where my food comes from was getting stronger and stronger. I wanted to learn about sustainable gardening from someone who has experience in it. While I was in Napoli I found an experience through Airbnb to work alongside an urban gardener/farmer. I had so many questions about how she managed to grow all her vegetables right smack in the middle of the city with a beautiful skyline of Napoli from the top of her vegetable garden. She really opened my eyes to sustainable gardening and Im forever grateful for planting this curiousity in me. That I hope one day will be cultivated and flourish and become a garden of my own.
Urban Garden in Napoli
The funny thing about traveling is that it makes me think about where I would one day want to settle down. I’m not ready yet, but when I am ready, my hope is to gather these skills and live in a place where I am conscious and intentional about my impact in this world. I want to grow, make, and raise what I eat. It’s a privilege to have a choice, but the responsibilty is mine to be a conscious consumer. I think taking time off from work to understand these primitive concepts is worth it. Granted you don’t have to travel far to learn these lesson, but you can’t afford to stay uninformed about what you consume. The skills I’m learning now are foundations to the lifestyle I desire when I decide to settle down.
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