failure is inspiring. if that isn’t an existing quote, it should be.

the main reason i took a gnocchi making class was because the only time i was stupid/brave enough to attempt it at home, it turned out to be utterly rubbery gluey dense texture. i’d order gnocchi at a restaurant and it’s all soft, fluffy pillows of flavor. seeing gnocchi on the menu was a constant reminder of a challenge failed. humbled once too many times, it’s finally a chance to ‘putting right which once went wrong’ (to quote Quantum Leap).

i’d identified early on in the class why my first at-home attempt failed – gnocchi is a cross between ‘cooking’ and ‘baking’. Typically ‘Cooks’ are artists who like to experiment, alter the recipe a lot, you can compensate for adding too much or too little of something and still save the dish. ‘Bakers’ follow precise recipes as lab technicians do, with delicate, careful procedures, perfecting the art that is at the mercy of chemistry yet repeated with a finesse that shows mastery of control.

i’m a Cook at heart. when the gnocchi teacher liken the texture to ‘pie dough’, i had a sinking feeling that maybe gnocchi might not be ‘my thing’.

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