The Little Foodie Becomes A Chef: Cheese and Pasta...Yup

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with pasta to an astounding and rather unhealthy degree. And cheese. CHEE-EE-EE-EE-SE. Oh how I love you. While living in Italy, I seriously consumed anywhere from 3-5 pasta dishes per day, with perhaps a pound or two of fresh mozzarella/parmigiano/burrata in between (to balance out my food pyramid, of course.) I seriously must have broken some sort of record. It was the only thing I ate, and my classmates were horrified.

After moving back to the United States of American Cheese and Atkins, I fell into a deep, dark depression. It was no longer possible (or acceptable) to behave in such dietary antics. Pasta wasn't everywhere, and cheese was orange and came in zip-lock bags. I was all alone. Sigh. Fortunately, after a few months of reintroducing my body to the other food groups, I was able to get over my lost love and go back to only needing it about once or twice a week.

But now, at the FRENCH Culinary Institute, I am reminded of my depressed days, as no one seems to show any regard for Italian cuisine -- which, to me, trumphs all contenders. However, on one glorious day, we paid tribute to the greatest flavor in the world: cheesypasta (that's right -- one word). We had a cheese tasting, cheese making, and pasta making. I was literally hugging the sheets of dough as they transformed into spaghetti and getting choked up as I hand pulled my mozzarella. Needless to say, flavor cheesypasta is the reason why I am in this industry.