Cooking Made Easy in Montreal’s Little Italy

16Oct09

Published November 22, 2007 by The Sherbrooke Record

Learning the tricks of Italian homecooking

Favourable reviews of Elena Faita’s Italian cooking classes had whetted my appetite for quite some time. But since all her classes were sold out several months in advance, I only recently got the chance to set foot in Mezza Luna’s homey kitchen on Dante Street in Montreal’s Little Italy area. There, each week night Faita passionately passes on the recipes of her mother Teresa Venditelli to an eager crowd of Italian food lovers.

The green entrance door of Scuola di Cucina Mezza Luna, one in a row of six, is so unassuming and lacking any obvious sign, that I wonder whether I’ve got the right address. But once ajar, enticing smells of herbs and garlic lure me towards the cozy kitchen in the back of the house, where pots and pans hang from a large rack on the ceiling above a demo-island in the middle of the room. On two rows of chairs facing the island, roughly twenty students are with much anticipation awaiting the specialty of this night: antipasti. Some are newcomers, but the majority of them are regular followers of Faita’s culinary classes which cover a large variety of traditional Italian dishes and foods: gnocchi, pizza, focaccia, risotto, polenta, fish and seafood, veal, and home-made sausages, pesto, tomato sauce, and pastas.

Soon all our senses are in overdrive. We watch the preparation of a ciambella alla salsiccia e formaggio, a magnificent bread roll in the form of a crown filled with Italian sausage, dried bacon, and provolone cheese. We learn how to properly roast red peppers for the bruschetta al finocchio selvatico con pepperoni: never cutting them before roasting, leaving out any oil, and covering them directly with saran wrap for about 15 minutes as soon as they come out of the oven.We discover how a whole bunch of unpeeled garlic cloves, wrapped in foil that is left open on top, together with all kinds of fresh herb sprigs added to slightly incised eggplants make all the difference in the world to the heavenly smelling bruschetta con caviar di melanzane. And we find out that even in Faita’s kitchen, where fresh produce is an absolute must, dried oregano can be used successfully if only one rubs the herbs between the fingers first to get their flavour back. Last but not least, Elena insists on chopping parsley with the famous mezzaluna, a curved blade with a wooden handle on each end.

While we are taking it all in and frantically add the many useful tips to the recipe sheet handed out in the beginning of the evening, Faita and assistant Nathalie deliver a flawless show of cookery, cooperation, and presentation. They blow us away with effortlessly conjuring up at least five of their delicious recipes simultaneously, all the while explaining the steps animatedly in French, English and Italian, inviting students to participate in the cutting and rolling, showing the final products in their pots and casseroles, patiently answering questions without displaying any sign of rush, and even succeeding to keep their zinc and cooking table clean during the whole process. Here are true aficionados and experts at work!

Elena Faita-Venditelli, second daughter of emigrants from San Vittore del Lazio in Central Italy, would not have dreamed of teaching culinary classes earlier in life. When her older sister married at age sixteen, Faita was taken out of school to work at home, taking care of her younger siblings while her mother Teresa worked in a stand at the nearby Jean Talon fruit and vegetable market to supplement the family income. Having the future of her offspring in mind, mom Teresa managed to save up money for a hardware store around the corner, that had originally belonged to an uncle. When Faita, her sister Maria, and her daughter Christina eventually took over the store in 1981, they decided to give it a boost by importing namebrand kitchenware straight from Italy, not yet to be found elsewhere in Montreal. That proved to be a smart move and brought them fame throughout the city, especially thanks to their machines for making fresh pasta, which was a novelty at the time. But because many of their patrons still feared that preparing their own pasta would be too complicated, they started to give demonstrations on Saturday afternoons in their hardware store. These demos were often accompanied by free pasta recipes which Faita had learned from her mother and was eager to pass on. When more and more people got wind of these simple but delicious home-cooking recipes and the demand kept growing, the idea of a cooking school was born.

Since Mezza Luna’s inception in 1993 with just a handful of students and one class a week, Faita’s light has been rising steadily. Her repertoire has expanded and there is no need for advertising. She has become a regular guest cook on various French TV food channels and has been featured in renowned magazines such as Chez Soi and Gourmet. She also co-owns the fabulous restaurant Au Pied de Cochon with Martin Picard, one of Montreal’s most promising chefs, she regularly hosts Italian wine tasting sessions or classes with other prominent chefs in her kitchen, and she has become one of the leading figures of the rapidly growing Slow Food Movement in Canada. To top it all off, one can still find her daily in the hardware store around the corner, selling the very cookware she uses at night in her classes.

Asked for the magic formula of her success and the source of all her energy, Faita speaks of the incredible work ethic and sense of responsibility she has had to grow up with from a very young age. On the other hand is the ability to remain the same modest person she always has been, continuing treating everyone with honesty, directness and respect. Add to this her obvious knack for preparing tasty dishes, her passion for the simple, rustic Italian kitchen, and her strong belief in fresh home-made food, and…. ecco fatto!

By the end of the evening, after our mouths have been watering for more than two hours, the long-awaited moment is finally there: we are invited to sit at the long dining table to test all the dishes prepared by Faita and Nathalie, accompanied by a glass of red wine. Judging by the many second helpings, this antipasti course is clearly a hit all around, and the saying “you are what you cook” definitely holds true. Faita’s culinary tricks and treats are a reflection of her own down-to-earth yet enigmatic personality: simple, unpretentious, straight-forward, yet high in quality, generous, colourful, fresh, and full of surprising combinations. Is it a wonder then, that I too succumb to joining the ranks of loyal followers that keep flocking to Elena’s home kitchen in Little Italy? And guess what….making my own fresh pasta and tomato sauce will be next!

Scuola Di Cucina Mezza Luna

57 Dante Street, Montreal, H2S 1J8

Tel. 514 272 5299

mezzaluna@chezdante.com

Costs: $60 per evening class. Gift certificates available.

Closest metro stations: De Castelnau and Beaubien

 

ELENA PURCHASES ALL HER INGREDIENTS AT OR AROUND LITTLE ITALY’S JEAN TALON MARKET:

• ALL VEGETABLE/FRUIT STANDS
• LA FROMAGERIE HAMEL, 220 Jean Talon E, tel. 514 272 1161 for cheeses including fresh ricotta (goat) cheese
• MILANO FRUITERIE, 6884 St. Laurent, tel. 514 273 8558 for freshly made pasta, olive oils, and high quality fruits, vegetables, and meats
• PREMIERE MOISON, 7075 Casgrain, tel. 514 2703701 for crispy baguettes and country breads suitable for bruschette
• POISSONNERIE SHAMROCK, 7015 Casgrain, tel. 514 272 5612 for fresh fish and seafood
• BOUCHERIE DU MARCHE, 224 Place du Marché, tel. 514 270 7732 for superb meat including home-made sausages

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