masterwork chorus
What would get me into NYC on a rainy mid-December Tuesday night until 10:30pm? Not much – except, the prospect of taking a class with Nick Malgieri at ICE on Italian Christmas Baking! And so my friend, Maria and I trekked in, both equally awash in a heady nostalgia for our Mother’s and Grandmother’s Italian Christmas kitchens and the chance to walk down a very special memory lane. (my Grandmother’s and Aunt Madeline’s Struffoli were to die for.) But, I was there for something more – a night of reminiscing about my own pastry school days………
We hastily parked the car, grabbed a quick bite to eat at the bar at Eataly and tried to make a quick visit to NY Cake – but ran out of time.
It’s hard to believe I hadn’t been back for a classroom jaunt since my old days – that being June 2011. Really? Could it be so? I can’t believe it had been so long. But return I did, back to the 5th floor of 50 West 23rd Street and I felt a stream of happy energy flow through me as I stepped off the elevator. All seemed quite the same, and comfortingly so.
I spied Chef Sim Cass, my bread instructor, founding baker of Balthazar Bakery and bread-maker extraordinaire right away in the lobby area. I didn’t think he would remember me, but he did! I would love to do his intensive bread class (and I just might). Anyway, it took me right back and I found myself yearning to return to this environment where everyone else in the room is there to talk about and immerse themselves in hours of making special, baked treats. I was in my happy place (well except for Italy and France). I spent some time walking around the floor, remembering that Toba Garrett was always just across the hall from us in her master cake decorating classes. I spied a cooling rack of items just outside our door, all labeled “Chef Geri”. I took a moment to walk next door and spy on Chef Sim’s class and wished I could transport myself back to mod 2.
I had never actually met Nick Malgieri before, but had seen him often around the kitchens and floors of the school. I have all of his books and surely know of his storied experience and expertise (and watched him on Baking with Julia). And, for me, being taught by someone who is as passionate about baking and in this case, Christmas baking, was just so, well, ethereally wonderful. Such is who I am. Chef Malgieri is a comfortable, masterful and knowledgeable baker. I loved to see the ease and nurture with which he handled the massive expanse of Panettone dough. This dough was so exquisite that, after he scraped it out of the bowl it seemed to have a life of its own on the work table, and, of course, it did. Alive and gorgeous, puffed and intoxicatingly-fragrant, dotted with fruits, it is totally the essence of the best of Christmas.
It was great to hear Chef Malgieri talk of the specially-engineered equipment made to ensure that commercially-made native Italian Panettone cool, like an angel food cake, upside down – to coax out the ultimate loft. Visions of being in a massive baking facility with upside down Panettones danced in my head. Honestly, it is visions such as this, combined with imagined aromas, that attach me, and addictively so, to this artistic endeavor and the people who dedicate their lives to it. This little story of Nick’s was enough to send me into a long swoon and in a quick instant, satisfied all my hopes for this class – even before we ever mixed our first batch of dough…… I had to shake myself out of this haze of enchantment and return to what he was now saying – I didn’t want to miss a beat. How great it would be to have a tour of these continental facilities and examine this equipment (not to mention to eat copious amounts of Panettone)? I want to know all about it. Mental note – go here, do this. And, can you imagine the fragrance in such a place? Total nirvana.
Let’s just say I would sign on, in a minute, to walk in the footsteps of this man – former pastry chef at Windows on the World, the Waldorf, author of some of the best books on baking and head of the Pastry program at ICE. In the meantime, I was there to be a sponge – the source itself of the beautiful Panettone – as myself, I cherished, every moment of being in the kitchen with Nick – for me, as in “Saint”, in this particular case. (I had a little flurry of groupi-dom again as I did when I spoke with Alice Waters.)
There is no pretense with Nick, as he had written on his own name tag. Gee, should I call him Nick or Chef Malgieri? In school, we didn’t call any Chef by their first names. Anyway, Chef Malgieri is a fountain of great information and fun stories about his experience and travels. He is someone I would love to know, learn from on a daily basis and be friends with – he’s someone to bake with daily.
Well, being a rec class, we weren’t responsible for mise-en-place or washing our own dishes, a treat that it took me awhile to adjust to. We just got to “do”.
What a great surprise and treat to meet Tracey Zabar, author of “One Sweet Cookie” and she was in our group. Gee, wouldn’t I like to spend more time with her to talk all about the world of baking in her family!!! http://www.zabars.com/one-sweet-cookie-cookbook-by-tracey-zabar/B1100V1.html
Here is the list of items we got to prepare and take home:
Panettone
Struffoli – covered in a caramel, which Nick prefers
Calzoncelli (sweet ravioli filled with Chestnut and drizzled with Vino Cotto),
the art of the Buccellato – a large ring of dough filled with figs, other fruits and spices),
Infasciadedde – cookies filled with almond filling and drizzled with honey – yum
Pizza Natalizia Calabrese – a tart filled with little rolls of fruit and nut rolls,
Italian Cocoa Honey Spice Cookies
Amaretti
Seriously ? What could be more fun? I could have stayed for weeks!
I got a chance to briefly discuss my upcoming trip to Vienna with Nick. He couldn’t have been nicer about offering his tips and recommendations to me. And so, when I arrived home at 11:30 pm, I happily sent off an email to him as he instructed me to do. I can’t wait to see where he says to go.
What a great evening at ICE. I was sort of torn about the news that they are moving the school out of the West 23rd Street location and down to the Financial District. While the facility here is clearly in need of update, there is something cozy and natural about its current spot – tucked away on a few floors of an old building – sort of liked some sweet and spicy filling tucked away in a perfect batch of Pasta Frolla.
Will I ever step foot in a classroom on W 23rd again? I hope so. It feels like home.
Ruth Reichl wrote, “Comfort Me with Apples”. For me, it would be, “Comfort Me With an Extra Drizzle of Honey.”