Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Turin: Winter Playground or Culinary Heaven?
Yum.
Piedmont, as far as I knew, was just another region of Italy—one with few, if any, well-known cities and almost no tourist attractions. Today the Piedmont area is getting a tremendous amount of press thanks to the previously unknown town of Turin which is now hosting the Winter Olympics.
After the Olympics are over, however, Piedmont will undoubtedly fade from memory while Turin will remain entrenched in everyone’s mind as nothing more than a ski resort.
Piedmont, however, has much, much more to offer.
A tantalizing LA Times article by Catherine Saillant stays clear of the snow-and-ski theme dominating today’s press and focuses instead upon why the area is truly beloved amongst in-the-know Italians: its food.
Saillant signed on to a culinary tour arranged through Culinary Arts International in Santa Barbara. The week long tour wound its way through the region, stopping off for morning cooking classes, three-course lunches, and multi-course dinners. As you might imagine, wine played a dominate role in the trip as well.
The highlight of her travels, however, revolved around the region’s true specialty: the white truffle. Saillant joined a hunting expedition in which a trained dog sniffed out the culinary gems ($300 an ounce) buried in the rich earth. Her favorite meal of the trip, a simple fried egg coated with thin shavings of truffle, speaks to the power this amazing fungus holds among foodies.
If I ever make it to Piedmont, I’m skipping the obligatory tour of the Olympic grounds and heading straight for the restaurants instead. You should think about doing the same.
Filed under: Food and Drink, Italy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andrea Feb 15th 2006 2:17PM
As a native Italian living in New York for more than 20 years, I very much appreciate the attention my native country is receiving thanks to the Olympics. You will forgive me, then if I point out a couple of facts, well-known to most Italians. First of all, Torino is not a ski resport. It is a city, like Milan, Florence, Genova, Naples or Rome. It is rather distant from any ski resorts and it is the capital of Piemonte (Piedmont region) and the former capital of Italy. Second, Piemonte is well known as a major gastronomic destination in Italy. Truffles from Alba (not far from Torino) and excellent wines from the "Langhe" and "Monferrato" area. I cheer the opportunity Torino has to being "discovered" by Americans and foreigners in general. Italy offers so much in terms of art, food, landscape and architecture that it is almost impossible to discover it all. I am glad the Olympics are putting it on the map. And no, I am not from Torino :-)
Mehul Feb 15th 2006 4:00PM
having lived in turin for two years, i can attest that the food in the area is great. being in the northwest of italy, the piedmont region has a unique style of cooking that is often not seen in the u.s. it uses more butter than other parts of italy, similar to its french neighbors to the west. one of the more popular dishes is bagna cauda (literall "hot bath") which is a sort of fondue with anchovies.
one bonus of eating in turin is that the prices are generally lower than the tourist heavy cities like rome, venice, florence, and milan. with the olympics, however, that may change.
tmonkey Feb 16th 2006 8:28PM
I'll also vouch for Torino's food. I just spent 5 months there on an Olympic related project (but I'm home for the actual games duh!) and I cannot report a bad meal. Whether it was a €5 pizza or a 4 course meal everything was fantastic!
Neil Feb 17th 2006 2:34PM
Wow, great to read such wonderful comments supporting such wonderful food. I'm certainly adding Piedmont to my future travel list. Mmmmm.........
Yasmeen Sami Feb 27th 2006 6:07AM
Hello,
I was wondering whether anyone could recommend a holiday package in Italy which would include cooking lessons. I've hear a lot about these types of holidays and would like to find out more.
Thank you,
Yasmeen
Mehul Mar 2nd 2006 6:57PM
Yasmeen,
i don't know if this is too late for you, but i do know that these types package are popular. there are many that are offered in tuscany, but piedmont has quite a few, too, particularly in the wine regions by the towns of alba and asti. i'm not sure how to find them, but one place to start would be the slow food movement at http://www.slowfood.com/ they do have a big presence in italy and piedmont. hope that helps!