Tuscany 101 at New Jersey City University
By Mayte Almada
Photo By Isabela Elizondo
The TuttoToscana team is focusing on its other event locations this week. We have the opportunity to represent the theme “Florence: A City of Many Appetites” at one of the most diverse university campuses in America, New Jersey City University, on Wednesday October 23rd. Chef Andrea Trapani has created a menu worthy of a gala dinner for the students and faculty members of NJCU. Our team has recently tried two of the recipes and at the end of the testing there was nothing left on the plates!
The first recipe was the polenta from Mugello with mushrooms. Mugello is located to the north of Florence and is famous not only for its racing circuit but also for its earthy flavors so guests are in for a treat with this delicious traditional dish enhanced with mushrooms. Mushrooms happen to be a great fall flavor thanks to plentiful rain an dampness in the air. The other dish we tried was a duck thigh stuffed with lard, raisins, and green swiss chard flavored with orange shavings and rosemary. The dish will be accompanied by a pumpkin coulis. We have high hopes for our guest feedback and hope that they will enjoy it as much as we did during our recipe testing session.
What we want to demonstrate with this event is how simplicity and diversity, when managed in a balanced way, can be very harmonious. Florentine food is based on simplicity with high quality products that interact and allow one another to stand out. The menu for this specific event, as it will be held at a university campus, was designed as a primer to Florentine cuisine. This will be demonstrated by the lecture-style (but fun and interactive!) of the seated tastings featuring a 101-approach to cuisine and wine.