This is a picture of that delicious hard bread I was talking about with salami and mozzarella cheese melted on top of it. Now, I love butter, so I also buttered the bottom of the bread before putting it in the oven so it wouldnt stick to the pan or burn right away.
I don't remember how long I left the bread in the oven. I just went to check on it every couple of minutes or so. When the cheese was clearly melted then I took it out.
But, this wasn't fancy enough for me. It was good, but I had been craving something better. In light of this, I started working with vegetables, fungi and, of course, a different kind of cheese.
This is a place of sautéed tomatoes and mushrooms topped with Tronchetto cheese this delicious goopy Greek cheese and my current favorite cheese of all time. You're going to have to use your hands to tear off pieces though because it's very hard to slice and dice.
From this experience I learned that I don't really like sautéed tomatoes. They drain all of the juicy flavor from a fresh sliced tomato. So, then I added the egg.
This was my first ever attempt at making an omelet. There are a couple eggs in there plus the mushrooms, red peppers, onions, and melted cheese. I added tomatoes last so they wouldn't get too hot.
This was delicious and I thought that maybe the egg would be the answer to my search for the most delicious hard bread appetizer. It could also be a nice, easy snack to make when I get a little hungry. Then, I incorporated the egg in two separate attempts.
This dish doesn't have the salami and melted cheese, just fresh tomato slices, sautéed mushrooms and egg over medium. It was delicious, but a little heavy.
I also missed the taste of the spices in the salami when completing the bite out of the bread. So I decided to go back to the salami and melted cheese as seen in the next photo.
But, with the tomato and a whole egg on top of the bread, the tomato would constantly want to slide of the bread. Then I was led to my favorite and perfected after several other trials. (There was never really bad trials. The plate was licked clean every time.)Sarah Becks/Collegian
This final product was far and away my favorite. I have the salami and melted cheese, but I put the bread in longer and just waited until I could smell the cheese being cooked.
When I finally pulled it out of the oven, it was bubbling with flavor over the salami. I made sure to have a little cheese hang off the edge so that it melted the salami. Then, I put on the fresh tomato slices and, then, bits of the tronchetta cheese, which I made the executive decision to not hold back on. And then basil. How had I forgotten that before?
Step aside Julia Child — there's a new chef in town.
Most the time, I enjoy eating out in Rome, but that only gets me so far. I do have a budget, after all. So, every now and then I'll cook myself a meal or two.
When I first went into a grocery store, I panicked a little. There are no aisles. There are kind of just rooms with one aisle. There's one freezer section that's smaller than the cereal section back home and the eggs are near the bread. The first time I went to the grocery store, I got two kinds of items: ones with names that I both understood in Italian and knew how to cook, and ones this man I followed around was picking up. I found the most delicious hard bread that way so there's method to the madness.
I’ve eased myself into the whole cooking thing. (At home, I mostly “cooked” breakfast food or food made for the microwave.) Oh, I should mention that there are no microwaves or toasters where I’m living. I also have an old gas stove with stovetops and an oven that needs physically lit.
In light of these complications, the dishes I started out with are above.
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Just like my hard bread appetizer, my life is full of trial and error here in Rome. You live and you learn, just like anywhere else. And, I think I've learned a lot.
I’ve learned that I'll save three euros if I order a tequila and orange instead of a tequila sunrise. I’ve learned that if you just try to speak Italian to the native people, even if you fail, they'll appreciate and teach you.
I’ve learned that I will always feel lost walking the streets because they all look the same most the time, but I then I realize I actually do know where I'm going and I need to trust my instinct.
I’ve learned that the things I miss most about home aren't things at all. They're people. I don't ever wish I was home, but I wish they were here. I can show them what I've learned. But, there are some lessons I still have to learn on my own here in Rome.
My next cooking adventure: perfecting the salad.
My next learning adventure: I guess I'll wait and see.
