Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GOURMET PIEDMONT
Arguably Italy's most culinary progressive region, Piedmont has challenged the hegemony of the na-
tion's pizza and spaghetti monopoly in recent years and come up with some gourmet alternatives. The
Slow Food movement (founded in Bra) now has chapters in over 150 countries, Oscar Farinetti's
Eataly food market (from Turin) is hugely successful in New York, while artisan ice-cream maker,
Grom (also from Turin) has branches in Tokyo, New York and Paris. Then there's the region's ever-
expanding stash of acclaimed Michelin star restaurants, which has practically formed a constellation.
Eschewing the habits of their southern cousins, the Piedmontese have always had a different ap-
proach to food. They have long preferred risotto over pizza, butter over olive oil, and egg pasta over
durum wheat spaghetti. Gastronomically, favourite dishes call upon precious local ingredients (white
truffles, Arborio rice, hazelnuts and Castelmagno cheese among them), and are supported by a
weighty wine culture (the region nurtures two of Italy's finest wines: Barolo and Barbaresco).
Classic trattoria dishes in Piedmont include
agnolotti al plin
(meat ravioli in beef broth and butter),
risotto al barolo
(sometimes served with sausages), and
vitello tonnato
(cold veal with a tuna-fla-
voured cream topping). Sitting improbably alongside them are the high-art hipster offerings of the
new breed fanned by a mixture of international influences, the locavore traditions of Eataly, and the
molecular gastronomy of Spaniard Ferran Adrià. Ristorante Piazza Duomo in Alba serves a dish
called 'salad 41' named after the number of different leaves it contains, while Davide Scabin at Tur-
in's Combal Zero offers a plate called 'virtual oysters' (it tastes like oysters but is made from water-
melon, anchovies and almonds), and another called 'hambook' (prosciutto and melon gel served in a
hollowed-out book). Weird, playful and intentionally funny, it's a long way from Neapolitan pizza.
TOP OF CHAPTER
The Milky Way
Neither a chocolate bar nor a galaxy of stars, Piedmont's Milky Way (Via Lattea) consists
of two parallel valleys just west of Turin that offer top-notch skiing facilities. The more
northern of the two,
Valle di Susa
, meanders past a moody abbey, the old Celtic town of
Susa and pretty mountain villages. Its southern counterpart, the
Valle di Chisone
, is pure
ski-resort territory. The valleys hosted many events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and the
facilities and infrastructure are state of the art.
Sights
Brooding above the road 14km from Turin is the
Sacra di San Michele
(admission €4;
9.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm Tue-Fri, 9.30am-noon & 2.40-6.30pm Sat & Sun Apr-Sep, closes earlier in
winter)
, a Gothic-Romanesque abbey that has kept watch atop Monte Pirchiriano (962m)
since the 10th century. Look out for the whimsical 'Zodiac door', a 12th-century doorway
