Learning How to

Cook Italian

Cuisine

By: Jaime Roberto Simon

Why Cooking ?

-In this growing world and

population, knowing how to cook

is not important anymore. Being

from a family of no cooks it

brought my attention and

interest, since it can help me

anytime.

-Teaches me about other

societies and their culture.

-When people share a common

taste they can relate better to

each other.

-I am a passionate food lover.

Why Italian

Cuisine?

-It´s is one of the world’s most famous types of food.

-I have been interested in Italian cuisine since I was a boy, because I was influenced by its taste.

-My mom knows many Italian chefs that would always offer their help and service.

-I have visited Italy on several occasions.

-It is my favorite type of food, and have been fortunate enough to eat it in renowned restaurants around the world

Italy: Unitary parliamentary republic

Location: Southern Europe

borders France,

Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia

Language: Italian

Currency: Euro

Capital: Rome

Major Cities: Florence, Venezia, Milan, Capri, Sicilia

Population:59,943,933

GDP: $2.148 trillion

The Vatican is its own city-state inside of Italy.

ITAL

Y

Italian Culture

- Home of the world’s best Fashion and Labels

-Architecture

-World Class Gastronomy

-One of the world’s most important histories: Ancient Rome

-Home of the Catholicism Religion

-More than 20 million tourists per year

-Ice Cream inventors

The Start

For me it was difficult to find the right

cooking teacher that would be

available throughout the year. A

teacher that would only teach me

Italian Cuisine and that understood

me. My first goal was to find a tutor

who would be 100% committed to

help me learning.

My first choice was the Chef School

here in Guayaquil, which has several

courses to choose from. Though it

was not what I expected because of

my schedule and the teacher’s

availability.

Mentor Search

After leaving the chef school my mom introduced me her friend Gioconda Gallo. A

native Italian cook who has been helping her parents at their famous Italian

restaurants here in Guayaquil.

She would meet with me every Monday for one hour, also on Tuesday’s and

Thursday’s for two hours. Unlike other teachers, she was very committed to our

class and very helpful.

We would practice cooking and techniques, as well as the history of the food.

My Mentor

Signora Gioconda Gallo

Age: 48 years old

Occupation:

Partime Chef/Housewive

Hobbies:

Cooking, Traveling, and Reading

Experience:

•Native Italian

•Speaks Italian, English and Spanish

•Family owned italian restaurants

•Studied International Business at Boston

Universirty and Chef degree at Apicius:

The Culinary Institute of Florence

Schedule

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

4:00 – 6:00 4:30 – 6:30 4:30 – 6:30

Test days(since Jan ‘14)

Cooking with

Mentor

Cooking with

Mentor

5:00 – 6:30 5:30 -6:30 7:30 – 9:00 5:30 -6:30 3:30 – 4:30

History

Classes with

Mentor

(first month)

Edit Journals

Homework

Practice Edit Journals

Homework

Practice

Italian Foods

Thanks to my mentor I learned most

of the information of Italian Cuisine. I

learned that Italian Cuisine is divided

into three parts.

1. Ristorante

2. Trattoria

3. Osteria

Because of my mentor I also learned

about the existence of Italian-

American Cuisine. Its differences,

evolution, taste, and economy. I was

also taught about their most

traditional foods, and the most

common ingredients.

Research Paper

I changed my original topic which was “Impact of Italian Cuisine to the

World” because apart from being too broad it was going to be almost

imposible to get correct answers. My mentor was the person who gave

me the idea of my paper since because of her I learned that there is

something called Italian-American Cuisine.

“Difference Between Italian and Italian-American Cuisine ”

Learning how to cook:

Expand your horizons

Increases your knowledge and skills

Teaches you of a new cultures

Gives you new interest

Can get you new friendships

Give you new financial opportunities

Objectives

Since the beginning of the year I hoped I could learn to cook

and have a successful dinner party. In order to do this I had

to be perfect the following aspects of the topic:

-Skills

-Basic History

-Comprehension

-Know how to cook

-Basic knowledge of Italian culture

Teacher’s Dinner April 2, 2014

DifficultiesMy main difficulty while learning how to cook was my

commitment. Apart from having to meet my tutor for two

hours, I had to study by myself and keep a well-organized

schedule that would not interfere with my daily school

work.

Achievements

Apart from learning how to cook I was also emerged in its culture and gave me a differenet perspective than before.

I learned how to:

-Use the correct utensils

-Create Sauces

-Make fresh pasta

-Make Bread

-Desserts

-Pizza

At the end I was really happy that I was learning very fast which made me remeber every time that I will be succesfull with this project.