TuttoToscana Brigade Profiles: Baking and Pastry Part 1
By Brenna Boone, Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise
Get to know the 2016 TuttoToscana brigade! We start with part 1 of our Baking and Pastry students.
Auðbjörg Jörundsdóttir – Iceland
Auðbjörg Jörundsdóttir was born and raised in Iceland. She grew up on a farm where her family raises horses, and her mother owns her own fishing industry, which provides 1% of the cod imports to the US. She originally attended FUA for Culinary Arts, but fell in love with the Baking & Pastry course and switched over. She is now enrolled in the Master Program and continues to prove herself in her passion for the industry. She hopes to one day open up a restaurant and hotel on her parents’ farm, perhaps first obtaining a business degree to solidify her education.
Cara Liotta – USA
Cara Liotta is a member of our pastry team that is a local to New York. She is from Long Island, New York, Farmingdale. She attends Suffolk County Community College and is in their culinary arts program. In her program they require an internship and the students are then allowed to choose if they want to intern at the university, or in Italy; as an FUA alum, clearly, she choose the latter. Throughout TuttoToscana she hopes to learn some new technical skills, learn new recipes, and meet new people. There are many connections that can be made at the events featured in TuttoToscana, and she hopes to take advantage of that. One dish that she is quite excited to make for Saturday’s JBF dinner is the rosemary focaccia. She has made it at home and enjoys making and eating this recipe. In the future, Cara would love to own her own restaurant. Her father and her have dreamed about owning their own pizzeria/bakery and she wants to make that dream into a reality! When she isn’t in the kitchen, she enjoys bowling. Growing up, she was even on a high school bowling team! She also loves outdoor activities. She enjoys camping, hiking, and walking her dog outdoors. Overall Cara is very excited for the new experience that TuttoToscana will be, and can’t wait to see how all of the dinners, and dishes turn out.
Lynn Patterson – USA
Lynn Patterson is another local member to New York. She is from West Babylon, Long Island. She got connected with FUA during her internship program at Suffolk County Community College, where she got the change to study abroad in Italy. She hopes to complete the masters program that is offered at FUA. She got her interest in pastry because she has always worked with the savory end of cooking. She wanted to expand her area of interest and return to school to complete FUA’s one-year Career Certificate program in Baking and Pastry arts. During TuttoToscana, she hopes to learn even more about the culture and tradition of Italian baking and cuisine through this program. She enjoys learning about more in-depth research and recipes of Italian baking. After she is done at TuttoToscana she does hope to peruse a career in baking and pastry arts. Outside of the kitchen, Lynn enjoys going to the beach, church activities, and fundraising to feed the hungry. For TuttoToscana, Lynn is very excited for all the baking and desserts, and most excited about the various desserts that she has had a chance to make before and can perfect here.
Photos by David Weiss