Out there somewhere.

The Giglio Cooking School in Florence

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by

Laura
in ,

For our first evening in Florence we had the honour of participating in a private cooking course at the Giglio Cooking School, located a few minutes walk from the city centre. This wonderful experience was a gift from our friends Christine and Mike, whose wedding we are attending later this month on July 25 in northern Italy. Thanks so much you two! We had a wonderful time and will draw upon our lesson for years to come. I can’t believe how easy it is to make gnocchi and how labour intensive it was to make a dish our teacher referred to as “the green children”, which was a zucchini baked puree pastry.

Florence Cooking Class-1807

Florence Cooking Class-4490

The class started at 6:00 pm and we sauntered our stuffed bellies out of Marcella’s around 9:45 pm.

Chris making his way to the entrance of the Giglio Cooking School.
Chris making his way to the entrance of the Giglio Cooking School.

The menu consisted of: gnocchi with pesto sauce, veal chops stuffed with cheese, zucchini souffle and tiramisu for desert. Of course everything was made from scratch, from mashing up the basil leaves, slicing the veal chops in half and stuffing them with Fontina cheese, to dipping the lady fingers in espresso.

One of my goals during this trip was for it to be gastronomic tourism. I LOVE food. Sadly though, over the last few months, perhaps due to being self-employed, I have been grabbed by the clutches of our preservative-laced processed foods in Canada and have made far too much Kraft dinner of late. I was hoping Italy would revitalize my spirit and passion for cooking great meals once again. Without a doubt, it is doing just that.

Marcella, the Chef and owner of Giglio Cooking School, said to us, “Start with desert, then set your table, then start cooking.” While she had already set the table, we followed her first piece of wisdom and started with desert: tiramisu.

Florence Cooking Class-1866
The menu: (Top Left) Gnocchi with pesto. (Top Right) Veal with cheese & zucchini pastry (Bottom) Tiramisu.
Marcella, the Chef and owner of the Giglio Cooking School works with Chris to make the "sformato di zucchini passati" (zucchini pastry) or as referred to by Marcella, "the green children".
Marcella, the Chef and owner of the Giglio Cooking School works with Chris to make the “sformato di zucchini passati” (zucchini flan) or as referred to by Marcella, “the green children.”
Florence Cooking Class-1835
Besides cutting up zucchini, onions, and celery as a base soffritto for the “sformato di zucchini passati”, the dish also required grated Parmigiano and olive oil.
Marcella prepares "the green children" (zucchini pastry) in a water bath before placing them in the oven for 30-minutes.
Marcella prepares “the green children” (zucchini pastry) in a water bath before placing them in the oven for 30-minutes.
Basil for making fresh pesto.
Basil for making fresh pesto.
To make pesto, you need a special kind of Olive Oil, this type to be exact. It is light in colour and delicate in flavour.
To make the best pesto, you need the best Olive Oil, “Taggiasca” to be exact. It is light in colour and delicate in flavour.
Marcella, the Chef, told us: You can use a mortar and pestle or a hand blender to make pesto. However, the order of ingredients changes due to the fact that electronic kitchen tools heat up.
Marcella told us: You can use a mortar and pestle or a hand blender to make pesto. However, the order of ingredients changes due to the fact that electronic kitchen tools heat up and will damage the basil leaves if they go in too soon.
Marcella shows me how to cut a veal chop so that it can be opened like a butterfly and stuffed with Fontina cheese after a bit of tenderizing. We used a few toothpicks to hold the veal closed before flowering both sides.
Marcella shows me how to cut a veal chop so that it can be opened like a butterfly and stuffed with Fontina cheese after a bit of tenderizing. We used a few toothpicks to hold the veal closed before flowering both sides and pan frying it in butter and olive oil.
It was outside to Macella's fresh herb garden to pick our spices of choice for our veal chops. We choose, pineapple sage, rosemary, and bay leaves. I think this was the first time in my life I'd seen a fresh, living bay leaf! I had also never heard of pineapple sage, so I definitely wanted to use that.
It was outside to Macella’s fresh herb garden to pick our herbs of choice for our veal chops. We chose pineapple sage, rosemary, and bay leaves. I think this was the first time in my life I’d seen a fresh, living bay leaf! I had also never heard of pineapple sage, so I definitely wanted to use that.
Making gnocchi: Marcella had pre-boiled the yellow potatoes, which we easily pealed before we squished them thru this magnificent tool.
Making gnocchi: Marcella had pre-boiled the yellow potatoes, which we easily pealed before squishing them thru this magnificent tool.

Taking the “worm-like” 500 gram potato pile, we mixed it with 1-egg, 150 grams of flour and a pinch of salt (my pinch was minuscule compared to what Marcella considered a pinch – ha,ha) and then using what Marcella called “Zombie fingers”, we squished the ingredients together, but only until they first mixed. If you do it too much, your gnocchi will be chewy.
We put some flour on the table and rolled our dough into multiple 1-centimetre diameter worms before cutting them into “gnocchi-size” pieces. IMPORTANT note: Don’t pile your gnocchi pieces on top of each other. You don’t want them to stick. Give those little dudes some personal space and a splash of flour. The final touch was using a wooden paddle with groves to create the gnocchi design.

Florence Cooking Class-1853

Florence Cooking Class-1858

Florence Cooking Class-1861

I was placing the raw gnocchi into the boiling water while Chris would used a slotted spoon to scoop out the cooked ones. They float to the top when they're done.
I placed the raw gnocchi into the boiling water while Chris used a slotted spoon to scoop out the cooked ones. They float to the top when they’re done and only take a couple of minutes.
That's it. Buon appetito.
That’s it. Buon appetito.

Marcella was an absolute delight to learn from, unsurprising given her 30+ years as a chef, instructor, lecturer, restaurant manager, etc., etc. She was also warm and friendly. She knows her stuff, and adapts her teaching style to all levels, from tourists like us to professional students and visiting chefs. If you are looking for a culinary experience here in Firenze, don’t hesitate to contact her.

Florence Cooking Class-1875

Comments

2 responses to “The Giglio Cooking School in Florence”

  1. Erika Avatar
    Erika

    I look forward to the dinner party you will undoubtedly have upon your return! Right? That’s planned, right? And I’m invited, I’m pretty sure. Excellent. What a great plan.

    Reply
    1. Chris Avatar
      Chris

      Yes, and yes! That is a great plan.

      Reply

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