Our origins: Piemonte and Asti

Piemonte, the Cuisine - Piemonte is a region where food and drink are taken very seriously. It has been said that its cuisine offers strong flavours, yet delicate pleasures and encompasses a sense of fantasy within its dishes.
During the autumn months white truffles, or tartufi, king of all Piemontese products, are collected during the night by a secretive breed of men known as “trifolau”. Accompanied originally by pigs, but now by mongrel dogs (which are frequently ugly little animals), they comb the wooded areas and sniff out the elusive underground tubers. The results of their work reward them with a delicacy that is both delicious and very versatile, and gourmets flock to eat them in profusion.

From the Novara area come a host of wonderful rice dishes. One of its most famous is Panissa, a wholesome dish of rice, vegetables, beans, salami, pork liver, lard and wine which is often served on Sundays. Likewise, rice features prominently around Vercelli, where a traditional dish is rice and beans, but equally popular is rice with frogs. More widely known are the Piemontese dishes of Bagna Cauda and Bollito Misto. Bagna Cauda is a popular dip and is frequently served at social gatherings. It is a hot mixture of garlic, anchovies, and oil, which is often placed over a small stove in the centre of the table and used as a hot dip for raw vegetables such as peppers and cardoons. Bollito Misto, sometimes known as the connoisseurs dish, is a selection of boiled beef cuts, with just enough fat to make them tender. It is served hot with a wonderful emerald green parsley and anchovy sauce known locally as bagnet vert (literally green sauce), or with a red sauce, a tomato and pepper dip known in the region as bagnet russ.

It is the ideal comfort food! Generally meat is very popular in Piemonte. Highly seasoned dishes and rich roasts of beef, partridge, pheasant and venison are commonly featured. For years many small farms kept at least one pig and consequently a variety of inventive recipes were developed to cater for every conceivable part.

Aside from its savoury cuisine, the region is also famous for its sweet delights. The art of chocolate making was born in Turin in the late seventeenth century when this “food of the gods” arrived from America. Today, amongst the most popular creations are Gianduiotti, triangular hazelnut chocolates, and Torta Gianduia, a cake made with hazelnuts, chocolate cream, cognac and apricot jelly. From the brittle hazelnut and honey nougat or Torrone, through Baci di dama (kisses of ladies), round nut and chocolate cookies, to Amaretti and soft choux pastries filled with cream, the list of sweet things is seemingly endless. Amongst the best known is Piemonte’s famous Zabaglione, made from ingredients readily available on the farm – eggs, sugar and Moscato wine. It is quite simply irresistible.

So many of these culinary delights can be found in Asti, as the restaurants take pride in serving the specialities of the region. Particularly worth seeking out are bagna cauda (already mentioned) and agnolotti. Agnolotti are small ravioli stuffed with meats and herbs, which are served with melted butter or roast beef juice. Even today this pasta dish maintains its characteristic of being the traditional “feast dish”. The high standard of Piemontese cuisine extends to the region’s cheese and wines. There are various top quality DOP cheese which come from the different geographic areas. From the plains: Bra; from the hills: Robiola di Roccaverano and Murazzano; from the mountains: Castelmagno, Raschera and Bättelmatt.

Perhaps even more well known are the region’s wines which are heralded as amongst the finest in Italy. There are many famous DOC and DOCG wines from Piemonte. Amongst the most memorable are Barolo, with its smooth, velvety flavour and ruby colouring that tends towards orange after it matures, Barbaresco, and the must-bementioned Asti Spumante, the world’s best selling sparkling wine.

The cuisine of Piemonte is second to none. Whether it is wild mushrooms or truffles, rich meat or trout from the mountain lakes, fine cheeses or the ever-popular polenta produced on the farm, the region’s food is a delight.

Saclà and Asti

Saclà, the well known Italian producer of pesto, pasta sauces, olives and antipasti, was established in Asti, a medieval town in the Piemonte region of north west Italy, in 1939.

Today the Company continues to make authentic Italian recipes from Mediterranean vegetables and herbs. Saclà Pestos and stir-through sauces are known worldwide thanks to their quality and peculiar characteristics. Saclà olives are a staple in all Italian kitchens.

September is the pick of the gourmet season in Piedmont, and Asti celebrates it with its Festivals: the “Festival delle Sagre” takes place in Asti on the second weekend of September each year and is an example of Italian regional cooking at its best. The city is invaded by country folk and the main square of the town, the Campo del Palio, is turned into what has been described as the “world’s largest open-air restaurant”, as representatives from each of the local villages cook up their own special recipes for all to sample. It is indeed a spectacular festival which provides much enjoyment for both the locals and visitors to the region alike. The following morning, there is a great parade of country life. Local people in traditional costumes, hand–made floats drawn by horses and vintage tractors make a procession through the streets, each one depicting a different event of ancient country life and traditions.

As if this wasn’t a sufficiently grand festival for the month, it is followed on the third Sunday of September by the “Palio”. This traditional horse race dates back to 1275 when the inhabitants of Asti ran the Palio around the walls of the enemy town of Alba. Today, the bitter hatred has subsided but the passion and enthusiasm for the event is as strong as ever.

The day starts with an historic procession of over twelve hundred people in Medieval costume, led by the previous year’s winner of the race. The race itself then takes place in the Piazza Alfieri, when horses representing the local “rione” (neighbourhoods) are galloped bare–back around the square. Further pagentry follows, with the presentation of the prize for the Palio, and then a victory feast which lasts late into the night. It is Asti’s oldest tradition and offers a spectacle of colourful revelry.

In the same period it takes place the “Douja d’Or” – literally the gold jug – a National Exhibition of Selected Wines, considered one of the most important Italian oenological events. It was created in 1967 and takes place every year in September. During this Wine Festival, you can taste the award-winning wines selected by the jury of Sommeliers, learn about the best wine labels, meet the wine producers, attend art exhibitions and concerts, savour the refined menus of Italian and international chefs. The Douja d’Or obtained the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy thanks to its importance for the promotion of local economy, as well as for the development of the territory and its products.