Italian cook shares flair with students at Harper
By Sally Eyre
Daily Herald Correspondent
The cooking classroom where I met with Pieranna Fanella, our Streamwood Cook of the Week, was deceivingly quiet.
We were sharing coffee during the lunch hour in Building A at William Rainey Harper College where Pier teaches cooking for Harper's InZone program. InZone is a children's summer camp where kids crisscross the campus green on their way to unique classes. Many of those kids are the proud bearers of plastic containers filled with goodies they made themselves under Pieranna's supervision: cupcakes, muffins or homemade pasta.
Pier has been with InZone for many years, but she has been with Harper for even longer as a teacher of Italian. In fact, it was the knowledge that Pier is Italian that encouraged the program supervisor of InZone to approach her about teaching cooking.
"When I asked why me, he said, 'well, you're Italian aren't you?'" Pier says.
The assumption that Italians are good cooks was right on the button in Pier's case, and though she grew up cooking with her mother and always loved it, she credits her cooking expertise on the fact she married an Italian. The way she met her husband is an international affair.
Pier was born in Canada to Italian immigrants.
As a young adult, she moved to Italy where she perfected her language skills, taught English and worked in her sister's restaurant. It was there she met her Italian American husband, who swept her off her feet and brought her to Chicago, and as a newlywed she really delved into Italian cooking. To say Pier is Italian is a bit of misnomer, however, as she actually has triple citizenship as a Canadian, Italian and American.
Pier once thought she would like being a chef and owning a restaurant, but her years spent working in the restaurant in Italy changed her mind.
It can be no surprise to learn that Pier's favorite food to cook is Italian. Her husband loves her spaghetti and meat sauce, or her homemade pasta, while her favorite is traditional chicken Parmesan.
"It's what I like the most, especially flavor-wise, and it's easy to make." Pier is also skilled at cooking seafood, an important component in any Italian holiday meal.
"I cook seafood several different ways - shrimp with white wine or red snapper on the grill," she says.
Although Pier says she cooks the "Italian" way without recipes, she does occasionally enjoy reading them. But once cooked, she never needs to look at a recipe again.
Except in two cases: Pieranna uses recipes when she is baking (today she shares her recipe for a unique chocolate and vanilla Bundt cake) and when working with students. She always gives young chefs carefully written, step-by-step instructions.
The first order of business in Pier's cooking class is safety, closely followed by an emphasis on hygiene.
"They know to get their hair out of the way first and wash their hands afterward - and if they touch anything, especially raw food, they know to keep their hands washed."
Pier also teaches her students how to move about in the kitchen safely, especially when carrying knives or hot food. Then, they get to the fun stuff, cooking and, of course, eating their assignments.
Our momentary respite was about to end. Any minute and the kids would come swarming into the basement kitchen, eager to whip up whatever Mrs. Fanella had planned for them. The coffee was delicious, so odds are they are in for a treat.
• To suggest someone to be profiled here, send the cook's name, address and phone number to food@dailyherald.com.