Food and drinks
Piemontese cuisine: an exquisite blend of subtle flavourings, herbs and spices, complementing the inimitable tastes of superb Piedmontese products, prized by connoisseurs around the world. Simple classic cooking methods and seasonings serve to enhance, not mask, the quality of the main ingredient, the typical products of the land: fresh vegetables, fruit, and some of the finest quality beef in the world. Not to mention our wonderful cheeses, salami and cured meats.
Rare delicacies are the lamb from the Sambucano sheep, bred in the the Stura Valle, the veal of the Piedmontese Vitello Fassone beef herds, or the chicken from the Saluzzo Gallina Bianca (white hen) breed. And Piedmont has no need to envy Bologna: the Mortadella produced in the Ossola Valley is as good or better. These classic foods of ancient tradition should be accompanied by wines like Barbera, Dolcetto, Grignolino, Nebbiolo, or by Barolo or Barbaresco, which can all now be found at major international wine auctions, where they fetch prices equivalent to the prestigious Burgundies and Bordeaux that have been leaders in the world markets for decades. To taste Piemontese wines you can go directly to the producer, or better still, try one of the many wine bars and enotecas, where you can sample the wines of the best wine makers in Piedmont: from the full bodied reds of Angelo Gaja e Luciano Sandrone, to the lightest of white wines.
Wine fairs are a paradise for wine lovers. Here are two you must not miss: the Fiera del Bue Grasso (Fattened Cow) in Carrù and the Sagra del Cappone (Fair of the Capon) in San Damiano d’ Asti.
Not far from Alessandria, in Gavi, where the superb Cortese grapes are grown, producing excellent white wines, the Sagra del Raviolo (Raviolo Fair) is a yearly event. As is the fair in Calliano, held at the end of summer, where crowds come to see the donkey races.
Who can guide us as we explore this unknown planet of flavour and fine foods, both traditional and innovative? None other than the experts at Slow Food, which has recently founded the University of Food in Pollenza. The Slow Food movement and its founder Carlino Petrini have managed, in a few short years, to inspire the whole world with their philosophy of careful conservation of high quality food products. This they have accomplished through information campaigns, promotions and the resounding success of events like the Salone del Gusto food and wine fair in Turin and the International ”Cheese” fair in Bra.
