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The SITS Girls

The Secret to Success is Support

Let’s Take a Trip: Food & Wine Tour of Italy

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Gianna is helping us to wrap up the work week with a food and wine tour of the Piedmont region of northern Italy. {Sigh.} There’s something magical about eating and drinking your way through a foreign country.

Summer is coming. Let’s take a trip together…

For the meat-craving types, it’s the Salsiccia di Bra (sausage). For the wine enthusiasts, it’s the Barolo or Barbaresco vintages. For me and all others who covet sweet creations, it’s the Gianduja chocolate.

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When asking people which foods they appreciate most from the region of Piemonte (Piedmont) in Northern Italy, responses will differ as much as when you poll bloggers on which blogs they prefer to read (besides their own of course). Spending time with people who deeply regard food, opinions are even more diverse. In my case, it is because of these varying preferences that I became acquainted with the regional foods of Piemonte. As gastronomy students, my comrades and I ventured to understand Piemonte’s food by visiting small shops, speaking with locals and sampling the homegrown fare. Each person’s specific interests and tastes influenced meals centered around an array of traditional foods, never with the same combination of ingredients from one table to the next. By the end of my time living there, Piemonte’s food had become my own.

Part of making Piemonte home meant getting to know my surroundings. Piemonte is located in the northwest part of Italy. Bordering France, Switzerland and three other Italian regions, it never reaches the sea. The mountains of the Alps carve out the terrain in the north and west and the Apennines lay to the south. Although its name typically remains hidden behind Italy’s other renowned regions, such as Tuscany or Perugia, its reputation does not fall short.

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Piemonte is the home of Carlo Petrini’s beloved Slow Food movement (hence why my university is located there) and its regional capital of Torino (Turin) hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006. In this description, let us not stray too far from food though. The land and climate of Piemonte make it a sanctuary for agriculture. Grape, chestnut and honey production thrives in the valley of the upper Po River. In other fields, fruit, vegetables and grazing animals, such as the indigenous Piemontese cattle, adorn the landscape. Combining all these characteristics of Piemonte yields the regional foods that I found on my plate.

The tour of local foods began in the town of Bra, where I was living, with Salsiccia di Bra. Veal and pork fat are blended to create this fresh sausage requiring no aging. The sausage is commonly eaten raw as an appetizer, but it also seamlessly integrates into sauces and stews. Departing from Bra and heading east toward Alba, I arrived in tartufo (truffle) territory. Every fall, Alba celebrates these sacred fungi through the International White Truffle Fair. Since white truffles are the most valued, the event recognizes the harvest gathered during prior months of dog-sniffing expeditions and unspoken foraging locations.

Besides truffles, Alba is situated in the middle of Piemonte’s notorious vines. Surrounding Alba are the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco from which come red wines made using the Nebbiolo grape. Due to these and many other wines produced in the area, Piemonte is the region with the largest amount of world-recognized wines.

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Stepping away from wine, a food tour would not be complete without dolce (dessert). Gianduja chocolate has been a staple of the region since its introduction in the 19th century as a result of the lack of cocoa available during the Italian Independence Wars. The substitute for cocoa was and continues to be hazelnut in the form of a paste. Gianduja’s arrival at the end of the meal is undoubtedly something to anticipate.

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As I quickly realized, there are enticing products, ingredients and dishes to satisfy all tastes in Piemonte. It was clear that the diversity of preferences reflected the variety of regional foods. Without people’s distinct preferences, however, I wouldn’t have uncovered the food that I did. People consistently represented the mode of passage into the Piemontese food scene. Whether residents, producers or friends, there was never a problem finding someone with whom to share a plate, glass and piece of my Italian home.

A bit more about this girl…

you are what you eatGianna Banducci is studying gastronomy through the Food Culture and Communications Master program at L’Università di Scienze Gastronomiche in Northern Italy. Her year-long program has entailed visits to European producers, involvement in Slow Food’s 2010 Terra Madre conference and a stint on an organic farm in Tuscany. She is currently writing and preparing her thesis in Berlin, Germany. Prior to her time abroad, Gianna worked in marketing for Thomson Reuters. She attributes her Italian American family with inciting her ardent appreciation for food.

About Francesca

Francesca has an extensive background in content marketing, public relations, and social outreach. She oversees all Operations at Sway Group, including our robust metrics capabilities. Prior to joining the online world, Francesca oversaw viticulture and oenology at various wineries in both California and Italy, and managed regulatory affairs and facility approvals at the biotech company, Genentech. Francesca has been featured on CBS Sacramento and Food Blogger Pro’s podcast. She has also hosted an AMA webinar and spoken at Social Media World.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Paul says

    Off to Alba on Thursday for the Annual Truffle Fair – went last year and it was so great that we are going again with friends to experience some fantastic food and wine. Went on a wine tour with http://www.Piedmont-foodandwine.com last time and it was fab. Got to see some amazing vineyards and taste wines that we would not normally have found.
    Julia was an amazing guide and took care of a whole day of tastings.
    Get over to Piedmont…it’s a great way to de-stress!

  2. JoWineLover says

    My 3 most favourite items, listed in this story, food, chocolate and wine. Have always wanted to visit Italy for the food and wine, now another reason the chocolate. Hopefully one day my wish will come true. Thanks heaps for the story

  6. Angie says

    No…this can’t be possible. I missed a chocolate and wine tour????!!! Geez…miss a day and you miss a lot.

  13. Madison says

    Note to self: Do not read “food” post when you are hungry. I think I have some Nutella in the cupboard. I doubt it will be the same.

  16. Kristin Macy says

    You just made me so homesick! I lived in Milan for 18 months and loved every single thing about it. I miss the food and wine and culture. i think my favorite was truffle hunting with the dogs. It is a MUST!!!

  17. Betty Manousos says

    What a delightful post!
    It just put me in the best moods!

    Hope you’re all having a great weekend
    and your lives are nothing but immense!
    Betty xoxo

  18. Charlotte says

    My mouth is watering reading this post…. and it really makes me long for a return to Italy. Such a beautiful country. Wonderful people, good food, spectacular landscapes–what’s not to love?

    I’m curious as to whether or not Turin is the region in Italy with a distinctly recognizable accent. I feel as though I’ve heard the people who live here have a very interesting accent that is a blend of the many neighboring countries? Or maybe I just made that up.

    Either way, fantastic post and best of luck with your Master’s! Happy Saturday to you all. *HUGS*

  19. le chef says

    I had no idea there was such a thing. Being both a chef and a baker I’m beginning to think an extended stay for a bit of continued education is in order.

    Dear Bucket List ….

  23. Grams says

    A trip to Italy is definitely on my bucket list. Now that I know about the chocolate, it’s going to have to be sooner rather than later.

  27. Beth (OMG! Yummy) says

    I love this post! You’ve made my Friday. It’s been a long week and I’ve been scarce around here, unintentionally. Determined to visit today, I looked at the FB and the list of recent posts and was thrilled to see a food post on Italy. I actually started my food blog in large part because of our wonderful trip to Italy in 2008 with the kids – we fell in love with the country – people, terrain, and food – especially one glorious afternoon in Spello in the Umbrian region where we were treated at a local Enoteca like family and ate the most wonderful local food and tasted amazing wines and olive oils. The importance of food in Italy is inspiring.

    I really enjoyed learning about Piemonte in your post. I am so fascinated by the different food specialities of the regions of Italy. Oh those white truffles, Nebbiolo grapes, and Gianduja chocolate are what I hope to dream of tonight! Thanks for sharing and good luck with your masters program – sounds wonderful!

  28. Jade @ No Longer 25 says

    Wow, this post has made me so hungry and also long for Italy! I studied there for some of my masters course but in the south, near Potenza (Basilicata) the food was so good and I loved all the little restaurants. The chocolate photos are making my mouth water.