Foodies on Foot

picnic at Porta Palazzo

With its location near the alps, the food in the Piemonte region combines French refinement with rural comfort cooking. This region gave birth to the Slow Food movement, and is rich in white truffles (fungus, not chocolate), cattle for beef (commonly eaten raw), happy dairy cows that produce incredible cheese, wild boar, hazelnuts, chestnuts, rice for risotto, corn for polenta, grapes for world-class wines, and countless other delights.  I feel like I've died and gone to food heaven. 

Last weekend we did a fantastic Torino food tour with chef Abram and bubbly Giada.  Our tour started with coffee as a way to welcome us and break the ice.  I am not a coffee drinker, but I played along.  This was a revelation and THE BEST coffee I've had in my life.  It set the bar high for the tour and for future cups of coffee. 

waiting patiently for a treat from the butcher

Our next stop was the crazy, sprawling Porta Palazzo market to collect ingredients for an indoor picnic, complete with prosecco and plenty of ambience.  We then sampled fresh white truffles and an assortment of products made with them.  Truffle honey, truffle butter, truffle cream, truffle balsamic... and a pickled immature peach as a palate cleanser.

white truffle sampler

We were just getting warmed up!  From here we visited a gastronomia/deli for a plate of 3 local specialties -- plin (small pinched pockets of pasta filled with 3 types of meat), bagna cauda (warm anchovy/butter/garlic dip for veggies), and vitello tonnato (thinly sliced veal with tuna & caper sauce).  



The finale was hot chocolate, Torino style -- warm bittersweet chocolate with a dab of whipped cream.  It was the perfect end to a great day wandering the city and sampling its fantastic food!!  

... and I'm happy to report that my clothes still fit!

Until next time~
Peggy