Wednesday, July 04, 2012

A TASTE OF THE EAST

As my friend Katia Amore of loveSicily says, Sicilian cookery owes much to the flavours of the Middle East and North Africa so it is right for today's Sicilian cooks to explore the fusion possibilities open to them by looking further afield.  Therefore I was delighted to be invited by Katia to participate in a La Prova del Cuoco cookery lesson entitled I Profumi dell'Oriente at the loveSicily cookery school on Saturday evening.

La Prova del Cuoco is a lunchtime TV programme which takes its format from the BBC's Ready Steady Cook and it is immensely popular in Italy.  Our lesson was conducted by the director of the La Prova del Cuoco Schools, Palma D'Onofrio.

First, participants got to know each other whilst chatting and taking refreshments on Katia's balcony, which affords stunning views of Baroque Modica:



Then, to get us in the mood, we were offered breaded prawns flavoured with lime and served with a sweet soya sauce:



Next, Katia [left] and Palma got down to business:




Palma cooked:



beef fillet with peppers and lemongrass



fried chicken with ginger, pink grapefruit and Marsala



stir-fried vegetables using the best of Sicily's beans 
and flavoured with a Balsamic vinegar sauce



and Cantonese rice with eggs, ham and peas.

After the lesson, we all repaired to the balcony again to enjoy more tastes and a feast prepared by Katia







whilst basking in the Modican twilight:



I've even got a La Prova del Cuoco certificate!



Grazie per la lezione e la bella serata, Palma e Katia.

6 comments:

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Wow Pat, what a great opportunity, looks fab.. I bet it tasted soooo good. Looks YUMMY. :-)

jams o donnell said...

Delicious! Oriental food with an Italian twist. Sounds great!

Whispering Walls said...

Prawn recipe please!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Anne. Yes, it was. Hi, jams. A happy combination, I think. Hi, WW. I'll see if I can get it.

Liz Hinds said...

Looks fantastic!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

And it was, Liz!

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