Ever since being in Italy we have realized how crucially important the preparation of food is to the Italian culture. We have fallen in love with the various recipes we have tried at restaurants, and always talked about how we could make these recipes at our apartments on nights in. Thankfully, ISI Florence gave us the opportunity to learn how to make some authentic Italian recipes last night at a private cooking class for students!

In groups of four and five we all stood at different preparation stations with ingredients ready for us. The chefs went around and showed us step by step. First, two of us got to prepare the desert which was “tiramisu”. Eggs, cream, coffee, and biscuits – is all it took to create this delicious, perfectly sweet treat. The other two got to prepare the appetizer which we interpret as an “eggplant kabob” since we could not understand the true name of the dish when the chef told us. We cut slices of eggplant, made a filling of shredded potatoes and zucchini, and layered sliced cheese and olive oil into a nicely placed tier. The chefs put this in the oven and they came out amazing. Thankfully, this is a unique dish that we could easily make for ourselves at home when we want to make something quick. Next, we start the most fun part (in our opinion) which was creating the homemade ravioli. We got to flatten the pasta dough ourselves and make the cheese and potato filling, along with the fresh tomato sauce. The chefs walking us through the steps were so nice and patient with us through the whole process. At the end we got to go downstairs and feast on the food we made with our own hands; it was such a satisfying experience! We got to take away a booklet of the recipes so we can recreate the food in our apartment for the rest of our roommates! Thank you ISI for providing us with this unique and enjoyable experience!