I grew up with a mother who could cook. Not just for survival but as an art. But, for some reason, I did not inherit that trait. I can make an egg dish to keep myself alive and I believe I can sometimes follow a recipe, but forget about making pasta from scratch. That was until chef Fabricio Daros came into our lives.
My mom was on the hunt for a course that would be as easy as it was fun. Using the “spoonful of sugar” method to get me in the kitchen — anything to get my cooking gene to wake up. Nothing sounded more perfect than the L’OCA’s Hand-Made Pasta: From Grain to Plate course. Who doesn’t like pasta?
When we walked into the glass room at the Sherwood Park location — where most of the classes are held — we expected to jump right into crafting. But Daros had a different plan for setting the mood before we got started.
Placed in front of us was a charcuterie board, featuring — among other delicacies — a wedge of double-cream brie, tender cured prosciutto, sweet fruit preserves, and toasted baguette, all paired beautifully with champagne. (All products easily found on the aisles of L’OCA).
As we enjoyed our appetizers, he took the time to introduce himself. He talked about his background and explained his teaching process, making every step sound so elevated.
This ended up feeling almost like a private lesson. Only four of us showed up out of 15 spots (I’m blaming the weather). With such a small group, everything felt more personal, especially when he spoke to my mom and me in Spanish throughout the whole class. And as if two languages weren’t enough, he also speaks Italian.
As much as I wanted to keep relaxing and drinking the complimentary bubbly, the learning had to start.
Daros gave us the option of two recipes: the Semolina Pasta Dough or the Egg Pasta Dough Recipe. My mom and I chose to do one each.
If you know your pastas, this might be obvious, but for the rest of us semolina pasta is about as straightforward as it gets: semolina flour, water, salt and olive oil. For the egg pasta recipe, you need egg yolks, egg whites, flour, olive oil and salt. No water, surprisingly. (Well, it was surprising to me but I guess I was wrong.)
The mixing part was easy, it was the kneading of the dough that was a full workout. The recipe did say to do it for three to five minutes — it ended up being over 10 and my arms could feel it. We got our well-deserved break while we let the dough rest, but with a quick sip of our drinks, we were back at it.
I would love to take credit for flattening the dough, but the KitchenAid did most of the work. With the pasta roller attachment, we fed the dough through a few times, thinning it out until, as Daros says, “You can get it as thin as possible without breaking.” Then it was time to cut.
There are attachments that can do the cutting for you, but Daros showed us how to do it the old-fashioned way — with a knife. We folded the pasta into a loose roll, then sliced it into ribbons, as thick or as thin as we wanted, as long as they were consistent.
Once the pasta was cut, all that was left to do was drop it into boiling water.
While we hovered nearby, Daros handled the real hard work, making the two sauces we’d test our pasta with: carbonara and puttanesca.
Once he finished plating our meals, my mom took a moment to admire what we’d made. She was such a fan of the experience that — spoiler alert — she got a KitchenAid pasta roller attachment as a gift.
As for me, I was devouring the fettuccine puttanesca. I am a sucker for a savoury anchovy sauce.
If you read about my experience attempting latte art last month, you probably would have expected me to completely lose it at another food-related class. Surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. Maybe it was Daros, maybe it was having my mom there for emotional support. Maybe it was the champagne. By the end of the class, I walked out fully confident in my ability to make pasta from scratch.
L’OCA Quality Market
340 Baseline Rd, Sherwood Park | 587.871.5622
Parkview | 9106 142 St NW, Edmonton | 780.490.3737
loca.ca
