Santa Claus has a distant relative in Italy called Babbo Natale. I was surprised to see the Italian version of Santa Clause shimming up drainpipes, hanging off balconies and sneaking into houses all over the countryside. It is not uncommon to see gangs of Babbos hit an entire neighborhood all at once. They seem to be leaving with more loot than they are delivering.
Read More......christmas, Italy, Italian
The
Centro Nazionale Studi Tartufi is housed in the same building as the
Alba Bra Langhe Roero tourist office. I never really knew what these guys did until this year when they started offering truffle classes. The smell of a good truffle is one of those things that once you get embedded in your brain, you know it. It's like for most of my adult life I am sure I drank more than my share of corked wine, but once I had someone point out what that really means, I can pick out a corked wine with the best of them.
With truffles, there is a smell that (because of the nature of smell) is hard to describe, once those synapses fired in my brain, I would describe as earthy, hay, slightly garlic with maybe a hint of honey. At least for the variety here in Alba When I smelled a too ripe specimen a slightly ammonia smell prevailed. A fresh truffle should be firm and a too ripe truffles will have a little give when pinched. Too young, you might as well be eating dirt, so we won't go there.
So what does this have to do with truffles in America?
Well, December 8, 2007 was the first International Fiera del Tartufi symposium where they invited people to represent the countries where truffles grow. Hungary, China, France and America. For various reasons (not the least of which was the people they really wanted were busy and I live here) they invited me to represent America.
Read More......Truffles, Piedmont, Piemonte, 45th parallel, Italy, Italian
When we invited our friends over for our holiday called Thanksgiving in Italian it translates to Giorno d' Ringraziamento (day of many thanks) they were thrilled. I did all of the calculations for what looked to be a 20 pound turkey and didn't overextend myself on the side dishes; for John - squash with hazelnuts, for me - brussels sprouts with pancetta and to give thanks to the guy who deserves the most I would make Aldo's favorite version of potato... mashed. Read More......Italian, Italy, Thanksgiving, Festa del Tacchino
There are 10 D.O.C.G. wines in the Piedmont and about 40 with D.O.C. designation.
D.O.C. - Denominazione di Origine Controllata - M
eans that the wine is made from grapes grown in a recognized and unique wine growing zone.
D.O.C.G. - Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita - The
"G" means that the quantity of wine production is controlled. Ever notice those pink labels wrapped around the neck of a bottle, they hand those out to wineries based on the acreage (hectars) of grapes grown.
The best source of information on the local wines for a particular area is the Enoteca Regionale of the region where you are going. Remember the D.O.C/D.O.C.G. name does not necessarily tell you the name of the grape, but the name of where the wine was grown. Think Barbaresco and Barolo... both are made with 100% Nebbiolo grapes but because they are grown in different areas (only 12 km apart), the wine that is produced from each region is truly unique enough to have its own name.
D.O.C.G.
Asti,Barbaresco,Barolo,Brachetto d'Acqui,Gattinara,Gavi,Ghemme,Moscato d’ Asti, Roero, Roero Arneis
D.O.C.
Barbera (d'Alba, d'Asti & del Monferrato, Piemonte)
Dolcetto (Langhe, d'Acqui, d'Alba, d'Asti, di Ovada, di Diano d'Alba, di Dogliani, Dolcetto delle Langhe Monregalesi)
Grignolino (d'Asti, del Monferrato, Piemonte)
Nebbiolo (Langhe, d'Alba,
Albugnano, Alta Langa, Boca, Bonarda, Brachetto, Bramaterra, Carema, Cisterna d'Asti, Collina Torinese, Colli Tortonesi, Colline Saluzzes, Cortese dell'Alto Monferrat, , Erbaluce di Caluso o Caluso, Fara, Freisa d'Asti, Freisa di Chieri, Gabiano, Grignolino d'Asti, Casalese, Langhe Rosso, Langhe Chardonnay, Langhe Favorita, Langhe Bianco, Langhe Freisa, Lessona, Loazzolo, Malvasia di Casorzo d'Asti, Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Pelaverga, Piemonte Cortese, Pinerolese, Rubino di Cantavenna, Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato, Sizzano, Valsusa, Verduno
...D.O.C.G. , D.O.C., Italy, Italian, Barbaresco , Barolo