Characteristic products and eating habits
Among local products, it's impossible to miss the Alba white truffle(tartufo bianco). Sought-after by the courts of Europe since the 18th century, this incomparably fragrant mushroom is one of the most prized in the world. This rarity comes at a price: between €2,000 and €7,000 per kilo, almost ten times the price of a black truffle. The thick forests of Piedmont are also popular with locals for picking mushrooms, such as ceps and morels, which are prized by gourmets.
Piedmont, like Lombardy, is known for its long tradition of rice-growing, and these two regions produce almost 95% of Italy's rice. The province of Vercelli is considered Europe's rice-growing capital. Varieties include carnaroli, vialone nano and arborio. Riso di Baraggia Biellese e Vercellese has a PDO. Polenta - cornmeal - is also widely consumed.
Meat is an important part of the local cuisine, and Piedmontese beef is a breed known for its excellent meat - lean, tender and very tasty. Other meats include veal, poultry (chicken, duck, etc.) and, of course, pork, especially in the form of cured meats. These include Prosciutto Crudo di Cuneo PDO, a succulent cured ham produced exclusively in south-western Piedmont, and Bra sausage made from beef and pork fat. Unless you prefer mortadella Bologna IGP or salamini italiani alla cacciatora PDO, produced more widely in northern Italy.
Although it has no coastline, Piedmont is nonetheless richly irrigated by a vast network of rivers and Alpine lakes, offering a profusion of freshwater fish such as the Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino, with its firm, delicate flesh.
Last but not least, local cheeses abound, thanks to the cattle raised in the vast pastures of the Po plain and surrounding Alps. There are many D.O.C. cheeses, such as Grana Padano, Taleggio and Raschera in square shapes, the famous Gorgonzola from Novara, not to mention Bra, Castelmagno, Toma Piemontese, Murazzano and Roccaverano Robiola in the form of more or less mature tommes. Butter and cream are used generously in Piedmontese cuisine.
In terms of eating habits, Italians generally eat a modest breakfast(colazione), often a pastry and a cup of coffee. Lunch(pranzo) can be more or less generous: sometimes a simple sandwich is enough, unless you prefer a more substantial meal in a trattoria (brasserie), pizzeria or osteria (bistro). At the end of the day, aperitivo is a sacred moment for Italians. The traditional dinner(cena) is rather hearty, often consisting of an appetizer, followed by a primo and a secondo with side dishes. Even so, it's common to eat lighter in the evening.
The classics of Piedmontese cuisine
An Italian meal will often begin with antipasti (appetizers), also found during aperitivo, combining cured meats, cheese, vegetables and pickled mushrooms with a variety of sauces. All this is often accompanied by breadsticks, emblems of Piedmontese cuisine, said to have been created in 1675 on the orders of Victor Amédée II of Savoy's physician, who had trouble digesting breadcrumbs.
Among these sauces is the inratable bagna caoda, a rich preparation (olive oil, anchovies and garlic) similar to our anchovy paste, in which a host of vegetables (tomatoes, radishes, carrots, celery, etc.) are dipped. Alternatively, try bagnet ross (tomato, onion, garlic, chili pepper, olive oil) and bagnet verd (parsley, cooked egg yolk, anchovies, vinegar, bread crumbs) best served with bread or as a condiment. Tomino in salsa verde, a small fresh cheese, is topped with this green sauce.
Alternatively, there's pizza al tegamino or al padellino. Typical of Turin, this small, rather thick pizza is cooked in a pan. The dough and toppings are quite similar to the classic Neapolitan-style pizza. Alternatively, devour a tramezzino. These triangular sandwiches on crustless sandwich bread are prepared with infinite care and feature a wide variety of fillings: meat, cold meats, cheese, cooked mushrooms, raw vegetables, seafood, fish, etc.
We then continue with the primo or first course (pasta, rice or soup). While pasta is more common in southern than northern Italy, in Piedmont you'll enjoy agnolotti, rectangular ravioli stuffed with veal, beef or pork. Agnolotti del plin are served with sage butter (burro e salvia). Gnocchi al Castelmagno - made with potatoes - are topped with a creamy sauce of milk, butter and Castelmagno cheese. Sugo d'arrosto is a buttery meat sauce made with the juices from roast pork or veal, topped with vegetables and herbs. It can be served with stuffed pasta or tagliatelle. In Turin, choose tajarin, a local pasta halfway between spaghetti and tagliatelle.
Of course, it's impossible not to mention risotto. One of the best-known is the simplistic risotto alla piemontese, with white wine, onion and Grana Padano, unless you prefer risotto al Barolo, with red wine. There are also variations with porcini mushrooms(porcini), morels(spugnole) or squash(zucca). Panissa piemontese is a type of risotto with kidney beans and sausage meat. In Piedmont, risottos and pastas are often garnished with a few slices of white truffle. Soups are also traditional favourites, such as zuppa alla canavesana, a kale and bacon soup with toasted bread and Grana Padano.
The secondo or main course (meat or fish) in Piedmont is usually prepared with beef, veal or poultry. Classics include brasato al barolo, a beef stew with pancetta, baby vegetables, cinnamon, cloves and red wine. Or try the ever-popular vitello tonnato, thin slices of poached veal, served cold and topped with a tuna, anchovy, olive oil and caper cream. Carne cruda all'albese is a veal tartare topped with Grana Padano cheese and sometimes white truffles. Created during Napoleon's battle of Marengo in June 1800, pollo alla Marengo (chicken, tomato, mushroom, white wine) is sometimes replaced by veal. A festive dish, anatra farcita alla novarese is a recipe for duck stuffed with a mixture of risotto, sausage meat and baby vegetables.
Piedmontese cuisine honors offal. For example, fritto misto alla piemontese contains beef or veal offal (brains, liver, etc.), sausages, polenta croquettes and zucchini slices, all deep-fried. Bollito misto is a combination of beef or poultry cuts - meat and giblets - with sausages and vegetables, cooked in a court-bouillon and served with green bagnet. Finaziera is a dish based on chicken meat and giblets, including cockerel crest.
Meat and fish are not automatically served with a side dish. You'll need to order a contorno, often with vegetables or mushrooms. Note that pasta and rice are dishes in their own right and never served as side dishes.
Dolci, cioccolato e caffè
Piedmont boasts an ancient and delicious pastry-making tradition. These include the delicate panna cotta, usually with a red fruit coulis, or the zabaione (sabayon), an airy Marsala wine mousse served warm, often accompanied by savoiardi, better known in France as boudoirs or spoon cookies, created in the 14th century for the Savoy court.
You'll also find baci di dama or lady's kisses, a small cookie consisting of two chocolate-filled hazelnut shells, or krumiri from Casale Monferrato, butter shortbread in the shape of a caterpillar. And don't forget margheritine di Stresa, canestrelli-like vanilla-lemon cookies in the shape of a flower. Bonèt is a flan made with cocoa and amaretti powder (bitter almond cookies), flavored with rum. Torta 900 was created at the very end of the 19th century, and consists of two layers of airy sponge cake enclosing a chocolate mousse.
As you'll have gathered, chocolate holds a central place in Piedmont, and Turin even prides itself on being Italy's chocolate capital. Emmanuel-Philibert of Savoy is credited with introducing cocoa to Turin in the 16th century. A product often sublimated with a nut of which Italy is the world's second largest producer: the hazelnut. Piedmont hazelnuts even benefit from a PGI. Not surprisingly, the Ferrero group, which produces Nutella, was founded in Alba in 1946. The ancestor of Nutella is gianduia cream, and with it gianduiotti, small triangular chocolates reminiscent of the hat of the commedia dell'arte character, Gianduia.
But you can't stop in Turin without trying a bicerin. Coffee, hot chocolate and milk cream - what better way to warm up than inside a beautiful Turin café? The city has dozens of them. Otherwise, cappuccino, espresso, macchiato or corretto are everywhere and generally excellent. The Lavazza group was founded in Turin, while Bialetti, the company behind the moka coffee maker, was founded in Omegna on Lake Orta.
Wines and vermouth
Piedmont's wine production is among the best in the world. Barolo, Nebbiolo and Barbaresco are powerful-tasting reds, ideal for red meats and the region's hard cheeses. Dolcetto and Barbera are lighter and more versatile. A wine that goes perfectly with bagna cauda is grignolino rosé, while favorita, gavi and arneis are whites perfect for fish dishes. For aperitifs, choose spumante d'Asti, the famous Italian sparkling wine, and for dessert, muscat de Monferrato.
Another Piedmontese pride, vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with various aromatic plants and spices, whose modern recipe was created in Turin in 1786, based on a German aperitif recipe using wine and wermut (German for wormwood). Martini is a brand of white vermouth used in Martini Dry, along with gin and an olive. Red vermouth is preferred for Manhattan (whisky, cherry cocktail), Negroni (Campari, gin, orange peel) or Americano (Campari, sparkling water, lemon slice).
