Italy 9: Piemonte 1

Heading to our final destination, the Piemonte region (in English, it drops the "e" at the end and gains an extra "d" - Piedmont). The train from Verona to Milan passes through Brescia. We don't have time to stop and explore this city in Lombarddy, but I am just thankful to be able to travel without being on hemodialysis. 

We pick up a car (stickshift, of course) at the Milano Centrale Station. Driving in Europe can often be a hair-raising experience but thanks to offline Googlemap, a two hour drive from Milan to Alba goes very smoothly.

Alba: the small town in Piemonte swells with visitors during the annual white truffle festival.

Alba: Tartufo everywhere, even in cookies

Piazza Duomo: our little hotel (a B&B really) is just behind the duomo, and true to its name, the renowned restaurant where we are having dinner, is on the second floor (first floor here) in the building on the right

Alba: just before we enter the restaurant, we run into a parade celebrating the opening of the festival

Alba: dignitaries following the performers

Piazza Duomo: the parade of amuse bouche starts. From bokchoi to amaretto (first row, right) to carbonara on a stick.

Piazza Duomo: hearing the music again as the parade returns to the square, I look down through the restaurant window.

Piazza Duomo: the amuse bouche continues, probably the most extensive I have seen anywhere (an edible green sponge with a foie gras nibble). The decor is simple pink with murals by Francesco Clemente.

Piazza Duomo: hazelnut bread (left) - when asked if the hazelnut is from a local crop, the server sounds astonished, "Of course! We make hazelnuts for the entire world!"
A glass of Barolo (Ceretta 2010) has a very reasonable price - a fraction of the cheapest available (Ornellaia) at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence.

Piazza Duomo: the chef Enrico Crippa states on their website "my cooking is deeply tied to the land, more precisely, to the vegetable garden, which over the years has become more prominent in my work." 
This dish is pure uncooked unseasoned vegetables with dashi only at the bottom (which you drink at the end). Who knew these plants could be so fragrant and flavorful. The sheet given to every diner lists over 130 ingredients. Being in the fall, the current version includes "only" 70 or 80 items.

Piazza Duomo: cocoa and coffee powdered risotto. White truffle shavings don't seem particularly generous, but it is just as well since they charge by the gram.

Piazza Duomo: the truffle is weighted carefully before and after shaving on our plates. I like the transparency. I should be the one being weighed before and after this trip! (Scales are not available in small hotels we have stayed this past week.)

Piazza Duomo: the petit fours include hazelnut truffles (chocolate truffle, that is), befitting Piemonte's claim to be the hazelnut capital of the world (Turkey would have something to say about that!) 

Alba: breakfast is served at our B&B, which basically rents out a few rooms above a wine shop (vinoteca), run by very hospitable people.

Alba: Piemonte (more specifically, the Langhe region) is known for wines - all the B's (Barolo, Barbaresco, and throw in Barbera, too) get an A grade by wine connoisseurs (which I am not, so fortunately I don't go gaga over them.)

Alba: the core event of the festival, now in its 86th year, is White Truffle Market, which is already crowded at 11am.

Alba White Truffle Market: all kinds of items are sold by local vendors, including pasta infused with truffle and Barolo

Alba White Truffle Market: there are enough free samples of sweet stuff, especially hazelnut based candies, I need self-restraint not to push up my A1C.

Alba White Truffle Market: I could have stopped at Asti while driving from Milan to Alba. The dessert wine bearing its name is ubiquitous.

Alba White Truffle Market: in a corner of the exhibition hall, you can purchase pasta. Here we order some truffle shavings on the locally popular pasta, Tajarin. 

Alba White Truffle Market: eating tajarin burro e salvia (just perfect with truffles), tajarin al ragu, and ravioli al ragu, while standing up in the busy marketplace, feels perfectly fine. At the next table (not shown), a family of five are busy putting the truffle they just bought on their pasta.

Alba White Truffle Market: on the wall of fame of sorts is the list of celebrity chefs scheduled to participate in demonstrations in the coming weeks. Glad to find Ugo Alciati at Guido's (lunch tomorrow) and Davide Palluda at All'Enoteca (dinner tonight, upper row).

Barbaresco: a 20 minute drive east of Alba takes us to the region famous for its namesake red wine. Kids helping Dad here while on a joy ride.

The town of Barbaresco in view (with a tower): the scenery is nothing spectular but these are the prized Nebbiolo grapes.
As we park at the edge of town, bustling with tourists, the wife gets impaled with small cactus thorns. The tape works pretty well in removing these Glochids but we have to cut the drive through the wine country short today.