Notoriously Beautiful

16

The Invention of Rice Balls

(Two weeks later)
Whoever invented rice balls deserves a huge thumbs up. When they are warm and you bite into one, oh my it's delicious. Ham and fresh mozzarella on the inside, surrounded by a thick layer of buttery rice, then fried! Who thought of this? It's spectacular, it's like tasting a tiny bit of something greater. Today me and Marco are going back to the pizzeria. I'm meeting him there,
(I drive ten minutes or so)
I get out, and park right out front. I see his brother making them. I have only tried one rice ball in my lifetime. I had heard of them from cooking shows, but never tried one, not like the ones Vito is making. I open up the door, and again I hear the bell clack against the door, and everyone looks up from their conversations and food.
"Vuoi provare, Katerina? Li ho fatti oggi" (Do you want to try it, Katerina? I made them today)Vito says.
"I would love to, they smell amazing," I answer.
I take one into my hands, they are warm, but not hot. I get a napkin from the counter and motion Marco to come follow me as I walk to a table. I bite into it, at first I have just have a piece of the rice because I haven't bitten into the center, I bite again.
"Wow," I say.
"That's literally the only word to describe this, just wow," I say again.
"I'm glad you like it bella," Marco says.
I ask Vito if he could teach me how to make them after I ate that one. He says yes, he'll teach me on one condition, I can't eat them all, I have to save two for him.
We are all laughing, Marco's brother Vito is very nice. He might talk extremely loud, and use physical force to play around, but Tomasso and Marco made it seem like he was crazy. He has a wife, they got married not too long ago, she's pregnant now. He'll make a great father, as long as he doesn't burst his kids ear drums. I'm only joking.
"I know how to make them too. I can teach you if you'd like," Marco says.
"No, I think your brother should teach me this. I feel like he wants to teach me, and I want to learn," I say.
"Alright then, I'll go see how Mario is doing in the back," Marco says.
Marco went into the back room and Vito and I were left to make the rice balls. I can tell Vito really likes me for some reason.
The first step to making the rice ball is boiling the rice, it has to be a sticky brand of rice so that it holds together. Next, drain the water from the rice and put some butter in there and continue mixing it over a flame. When that's done you have to let the rice cool for one whole day! Vito taught me that, but I didn't get to see any of that be done because when Vito explained that part of the process rice had been cooling from the previous night.
I tie my hair back, and wash my hands. What should I do? I ask. He shows me the fresh mozzarella he had made that morning.
"Cut this small," he says.
I cut the mozzarella in small cubes, then I have to wrap the cubes in sliced ham cold cuts. The next step was the hardest. Get the rice in a circular shape around the ham covered mozzarella. I manage, with the help of a great teacher I create something wonderful.
"Arancini," Vito says.
That's the Italian word for rice balls.
All I had to do at the end was dip the balls into a coating of egg, breadcrumb and flour. Vito put them in the fryer, and boom! That was it, it took an hour or so, we made twenty or twenty two of them.
"Marco, come," I shout, there is so much noise in the pizzeria that no one even realizes I was talking loudly.
"I'm coming bella, one minute," he says.
He comes and looks at them when they are all done and ready.
"Can I try one?" Marco asks.
"These are only for me and your girlfriend Marco," Vito says, joking.
"Ha...ha...ha, I'm having one anyway," Marco says.
"Can I take two home, one for my mom, and one for me, for later," I say.
"Of course," Marco says.
That was a good lesson to learn. I'm not sure if I could make them again, if I don't have someone to help, but I remember the steps, and with that, there's always a way to figure things out.
"I have to go, grazie Vito," I say.

*** I get home with the small container.
"What do you have there," my mom asks.
"Don't worry I got one for you too," I laugh.
She opens it up, and pops one in her mouth. Mom loves the rice ball, they are perfect she says. The only thing is, she doesn't believe I made them.
"I cook things all the time!" I say.
"You've never made anything like this though, how did you learn so quickly?" She says, arms crossed. She looks like a person who knows they are being lied to.
"Ask Vito yourself then," I say.
"Vito who?" My mom asks.
"That's Marco's brother, you should meet him. They own a pizzeria together, and he taught me how to make these rice balls, I swear," I say.
"Now you have to teach me!" She says.
Learning is a gift, without it, you stay as an infant. A blank sheet of paper. Simple lessons of kindness, of strength, of learning how to cook, or of learning to play basketball, they make you see things differently. They make you grow, Nonna Katerina was right, she's always right, she's always teaching, and learning. If I had to guess what she's doing right now, I'd guess she's taking lessons, learning how to fly from the angels, and she's teaching the deceased how to sew, and how to give warm hugs.
I wonder if I'll learn enough by the end. If my soul will reach a peak of faith and strength.