SARASOTA, Fla. -- He's like his mother. He has her familiar profile, he's a good cook, an in-demand cooking teacher and a best-selling author. He's like his father. He has his dark good looks with black hair that has gone to salt and pepper. He knows his wines, and he's an astute businessman.

	Giuliano Hazan Click photo for larger image. Details: For an application for "Cooking Classes in Italy with Giuliano Hazan" contact: The Educated Palate, 4471 S. Shade Ave., Sarasota, FL 34231. Tel: 941-923-1333. Or visit www.giulianohazan.com. The classes are one-week, hands-on immersion classes and dinners, with field trips and restaurant dinners included.

G iuliano Hazan is the son of Marcella and Victor Hazan, long the reigning ambassadors and educators of all foods Italian.

Hazan, like many other good cooks, learned his craft from his mother. Gradually, as his parents approached retirement, he began taking over the family business. He teaches at cooking schools around the country, and for four years taught at the Hotel Cipriani in Venice.

His first book, "The Classic Pasta Cookbook," is an international best seller that was a James Beard award nominee. It was followed by "Every Night Italian." A third book will be published in 2006.

Hazan works in Sarasota to be near his parents, who live on nearby Long Boat Key. Tonight he is teaching a class in south Sarasota. The class, held in the large kitchen of Casa Italia, an Italian delicatessen, is packed with 20 students, young and older, most of them natives, some of them snowbirds and six of them men.

As we settle onto stools ringing the work table, Hazan introduces his sous chef for the evening, Frank Silvestro, the resident chef in charge of making fresh sauces, stuffed pastas and the appetizers that pack the freezers of the deli. He doesn't know it, but he is in for some lengthy stirring. Pots and kettles are already steaming on the six-burner Vulcan range.

"I like to write about home cooking," Hazan says. "Tonight, we'll cook the sort of meal that an Italian would make at home for the family. Our first course will be an asparagus and shrimp risotto. That will be followed by baked salmon and green beans vinaigrette. Perhaps there would be a salad next, or not. To end a meal in Italy, we usually have fruit or cheese. We don't always have a sweet dessert.

"But tonight, we'll finish with zuppa inglese. In Italy, portions are small and you leave the table satisfied, but not stuffed."

Hazan's voice is deep and slightly tinged with a soft accent, the result of growing up in both Italy and New York City.

Zuppa inglese needs to be made first so that it can be chilled before serving. It is a layered dish of cooked custard and spirit-brushed cake, a first cousin to England's trifle. Hazan separates eggs, letting the whites slide through his slightly parted fingers into the bowl of a mixer. He adds confectioners' sugar and flour, mixes, then slowly pours in hot milk.

Pouring the liquid into a large pot, Hazan hands off the mixture to Silvestro. "You'll need to constantly whisk over low heat until it becomes custard. It takes about 30 minutes," says Hazan. "There is some starch in confectioners' sugar. It will help the custard to thicken. When the foam on the milk subsides, you know that the mixture is about done." The stirring begins.

Hazan turns his attention to a huge tub of green beans that would have intimidated Jack and the Beanstalk. "Italians like their vegetables to be cooked, not crisp-tender, the way many American chefs prepare them. And I remove both ends of the bean because I don't like those tip things," he says, snapping away.

His marinade combines green olives, whole cloves of garlic, herbs, capers, red wine and extra-virgin olive oil, his own brand.

Hazan, like many celebrities, imports a line of olive oil and vinegar under his personal label. He also spends several months in Italy every year conducting hands-on cooking classes near Verona. Field trips, olive orchards, vineyards and restaurants are included.

"Is the custard ready yet?" Hazan asks of his sous chef, who has been humming the Jackie Gleason theme song sotto voce for 20 minutes. "Nope, not even close," he answers. He keeps stirring.

We move on to the risotto. Unlike some chefs who snap off the bottoms of the stalks, Hazan chops off the woody ends of the asparagus evenly and peels the lower third. Placing them flat in a skillet of boiling salted water, he allows them to cook just past halfway.

"They will continue to cook in the risotto," he says. "We'll keep the cooking water and use it to cook the rice."

The custard is finally done. Hazan ladles a portion into a large glass baking dish. On the surface, he places long, thin slices of pound cake, filling in crevices with odd-size pieces as in a puzzle. Then he brushes the cake surface with a red syrup. "I'm using Entenmann's cake tonight. You can use any good pound cake, or make one yourself. The important thing is to slice it thin, about one-quarter-inch thick. The syrup is the one my mother uses. It combines rum, cognac, Drambuie and grenadine syrup for the red color, which is traditional."

He continues to layer custard and syrup-brushed cake, adding melted chocolate to the middle layer of custard. A sprinkle of chopped almonds garnishes the surface of the last layer of custard, and the dish is handed to Silvestro to take to the cooler to chill. He doesn't come back for a long time and we fret that he may have absconded with dessert. It looked that good.

The meal has almost come together. Now it's time for the risotto. He pours olive oil into a cold pan, adds onions and leaves them to saute until soft. After the chopped asparagus is added, Hazan pours in a measure of risotto rice. Usually, it would be Arborio, but this one is Carnaroli.

Hazan's risotto is notable for what it lacks -- broth, wine and cheese. He uses only the asparagus broth-water and additional hot water.

"A seafood risotto never uses cheese and the vegetable broth gives a subtle flavor," he says. Ladle by ladle full, the liquid is added and absorbed by the rice.

The sous chef returns and resumes his stirring, this time the rice. Stirring creates friction and helps to make the rice creamy, according to Hazan. At the end, he adds pieces of shrimp to cook until they lose their translucence. As he finishes the dish with a swirl of olive oil, Hazan says, "Risotto consistency is not set in stone. Milan likes it drier, Venice likes it nearly soupy."

Dinner is ready. The fish is removed from the oven, and its aroma fills the kitchen when the packets are opened. The risotto is creamy, and the beans add tart contrast. The delicious dessert is comfort food in a bowl. The group applauds.

The demonstration proves that anybody can make a simple Italian dinner on a weeknight. All it takes is about three hours of work, a helper, elbow grease and Victor and Marcella Hazan as parents.

Starting out as teacher's pet

Giuliano Hazan's professional experience kickstarted at age 17 when he was an assistant in his mother's early classes in Bologna.

Students in that first class at "Marcella Hazan's School of Classic Italian Cooking" in 1997 were James Beard himself, Marion Cunningham and Lynne Rosetto Kasper along with two Pittsburghers, Mary Kay Poppenberg and me, plus a half-dozen other students.

International interest in cooking schools was just getting off the ground. Beard was there to promote the program with his stature as the dean of American cooking. Because he was ill at the time and on doctor's orders to eat a low-salt, low-fat diet, Cunningham, his one-time assistant, came along to keep an eye on him and prepare his special food rations.

No matter. Beard sneaked as much Parmigiano-Reggiano and prosciutto as he could get away with. To this day, Victor Hazan refers to us as "that first bad class."

Kasper was just beginning her decade of in-depth research of Italy that would lead to her famous book, "The Splendid Table." Back then, she was one of the rowdy crowd. Victor poured copious quantities of fine wine, Marcella was rarely without a cigarette dangling from her lip. We all ate, drank and sang as we rolled fresh pasta and shaped tortellini for lunch. Giuliano was getting a first impression of his future profession. Cooking classes were very different in those days.

-- Marlene Parrish

RISOTTO WITH SHRIMP AND ASPARAGUS

• 1/2 pound asparagus, bottoms trimmed and peeled
  
• Salt
  
• 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and cut into half-inch pieces
  
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion
  
• 1 1/3 cups risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli
  
• Freshly ground black pepper

Choose a skillet that will accommodate the asparagus, fill it with water and place over high heat. When the water comes to a boil add a generous amount of salt and the asparagus. When the asparagus are tender, lift them out of the skillet. Pour the asparagus water into a sauce pot and place over low heat and maintain it at a gentle simmer.

Put the chopped onions and the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Saute until the onions have turned to a rich golden color.

Cut the asparagus into pieces no more than 1 inch long and add to the onions in the pot. Raise the heat to medium high and saute for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the rice and stir until it is well coated. Add a couple of ladlefuls of the simmering asparagus water and stir. Continue stirring and adding asparagus water to the rice as the liquid evaporates. The rice is almost done (tender but still firm) add the shrimp, which will only take about 2 minutes to cook. If you use up all the asparagus water before the rice is done continue with heated plain water.

When the rice is done, there should be enough liquid left to give it a "wavy" consistency. Add some freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt (usually the salt in the asparagus water will have been sufficient). Serve at once. Serves 4 to 6 people.

"Every Night Italian," by Giuliano Hazan

MARINATED GREEN BEANS

• Salt
  
• 1 1/2 pounds green beans
  
• 12 large green olives
  
• 4 garlic cloves
  
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
  
• 1 tablespoon capers
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Place a pot of water large enough to hold the green beans over high heat and bring to a boil.

While the water is heating, snap off the ends of the green beans and rinse them in cold water.

When the water comes to a boil, add about 2 teaspoons of salt and put in the green beans. Cook until they are tender all the way through but not mushy, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While the green beans are cooking, cut the olives into strips by slicing the flesh away from the pit. Lightly crush and peel the garlic cloves, shred the basil and coarsely chop the oregano. Put the olives, basil, oregano and capers in the salad bowl you will be using.

When the green beans are cooked, drain them well and put them in the bowl with the other ingredients. Add the vinegar, toss, add the olive oil, toss again and taste for salt. Let stand at room temperature for about 3 hours before serving. Serves 4 to 6 people.

Note: The salad can also be made the day before as long as you take it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before serving.

"Every Night Italian" by Giuliano Hazan