Nonna’s Sauce

Thursday, Jan. 29

I had a big undertaking today as I made my first attempt at cooking Nonna’s zugo con carne. I had built up my culinary confidence over the past couple of days with various meals at dinner time. Also, I really wanted some pasta. So, I was off to town to find a pot that would be big enough to cook Nonna’s sauce. In the apartment we only have small pots for soups and rice and things like that. After a quick lunch in town with Lily I made my way back to the kitchen. I started putting the first wave of ingredients into the pot to sautee before adding the meat when I realized I had forgotten to defrost the ground beef. It was frozen solid in the freezer and with the process of cooking already started, the only quick fix that came to mind was the microwave. I nuked the beef for 3 minutes which was a bit to long because some of the outside pieces started to cook and got all gummy and brown. It was kind of disgusting, but the rest of the meat was fine so I started crumbling the good meat over the pot.

With the meat cooked in with the vegetables, I reached for the tomato sauce and poured the packed into the pot. It wasn’t enough. So I had another small can in the cabinet and added that with some water…still not enough. As a last resort I added a half used packet of sauce that Lily left in the fridge that was about 5 days old. I had no choice I was already in too deep with the rest of the process. Fingers crossed I hoped the sauce hadn’t gone bad. I added some salt and pepper and let it simmer for a bit before tasting.

Lily got home soon after and immediately reached into the pot for a taste. I still hadn’t given it a go and was extremely nervous when she turned to look at me. To my surprise, she said it tasted great. So, I walked over and her assessment was confirmed. Although it didn’t taste exactly like Nonna’s sauce, it was delicious. It was almost a mix between Nonna’s sauce and Mum’s sauce. Not too shabby.

I was so excited and we still had about 3 hours of light left that Lily and I decided to head down to the lake for a quick sunset kayak. We borrowed a kayak from her co-worker Carolina and shoved off into Llanquihue. The lake was like a pane of glass as we sliced through the calm waters in our orange kayak. The water was so clean and visibility to the lake floor was amazing. You could see through to the bottom in over 20 feet of water where the floor was covered in volcanic rock and fresh water muscles. We paddled along the shore looking back at the Puerto Varas city center as the sun tucked behind the rolling hills beyond the cityscape. Michelangelo couldn’t have painted a better picture.

Home again, we sat down for our pasta feast. Lily threw together a quick salad and we poured ourselves a glass of wine. In my humble opinion, this was the best meal yet. The sauce was great, the salad was delicious, and the Chilean wine was excellent. The streak of culinary success continues. Now I just need to get my Spanish up to par.