When you consider
Italy’s foodie
hotspots, you
might think of
Emilia-Romagna
with its ragùs,
hams and cheeses; Tuscany with
its olive oil, bread and chianti; or
Puglia for its seafood. But how
about Piedmont, in the foothills
of the Alps? As I discovered, it
has a good claim to be the king
of them all. Here’s why...IT HAS BEAUTIFUL
HILLTOP VILLAGES
Those in the know call Piedmont
‘Tuscany without the crowds’. In
most villages you’ll find at least
one good trattoria where you can
enjoy the region’s classic dishes,
such as egg-rich tajarin, the local
golden ribbon pasta, with sage
butter; vitello tonnato (see p136);
and carne crudo, which
translates unsexily as ‘raw meat’
and is indeed a chopped pile of
veal, adorned merely with olive
oil, a squeeze of lemon and salt
(so how come it tastes so good?).
Of course, you need to
accompany these favourites
with casually brilliant local
wines – try Trattoria Antica
Tor r e (anticatorrebarbaresco.
com) in Barbaresco for the
complete food and vino package,
after enjoying the panoramic
views over green hills at the top
of the tower it’s named after.THE SLOW FOOD
MOVEMENTSTARTEDHERE
Local, seasonal, made with care
by small producers... Before
these were etched on every food
lover’s checklist, they were part
of a radical idea that started in
the handsome town of Bra in
Piedmont and spread around
the world. The movement’s snail
symbol supposedly developed
from an illustration of a curled
Bra sausage. Producers,
restaurants and trattorias →deliciousmagazine.co.uk 133
hungry traveller.
CLOCKWISE FROM
THIS PICTURE
Peaches are
a local speciality- as are snails;
Piedmont’s
hillside vineyards
are spectacular;
the small town of
Barolo uses
nebbiolo grapes
to make big wines - and there’s
plenty of pasta too