CULINARY DELICACIES OF THE PIEDMONT
The Northern Italian region Piedmont is home to the Italian gourmet cuisine! It has an above-average number of premium restaurants and dishes like the famous white truffle with Pasta and roast veal braised in Barolo wine, stand for the superior quality of the ingredients.
Highlights of the Piedmontese cuisine
Great emphasis is placed on regional products – from the handmade Grissini to the coffee of the Turin roasting house Lavazza, everything is really Piedmontese!
The usual basic ingredients of the Italian cuisine, like olive oil and spaghetti, are less used than butter, risotto and Tajarin, the Piedmontese version of tagliatelle. From the neighbouring region Liguria, the anchovies came to the domestic cuisine. And the neighbour France has left its traces in the Piedmontese cuisine as well. Some of the dishes even have French or Italian-French names.
In the Alpine valleys with their juicy meadows, the excellent milk of the happy cows and sheep is used for the delicate mountain cheeses; like the cream cheese “Robiola di Roccaverano” from the area south from Asti and the “Murazzano,” a savoury sheep cheese. The famous “Toma Piemontese” is a cow milk cheese, offered in many variations. The delicious Gorgonzola cheese partially has its roots in the Piedmont as well. The mild Gorgonzola dolce from Novara is particularly worth mentioning.
Famous wines of the Piedmont
The three famous wines of the Piedmont are the Barolo, the Barbaresco and the Barbera; they are said to be the best wines that Italy offers! For many wine connoisseurs, the Piedmont comes before the Tuscany regarding the quality of wines. In the luminous green hilly landscapes of the Langhe and Monferrato with its centres Asti and Albi, everything revolves around wine.
More than 75% of the Piedmontese wines are produced in a DOC or even DOCG cultivating area, where mainly regional grape varieties, especially the regional Nebbiolo grape, are cultivated. The grape achieved its large fame in the beginning of the 19th century, when the Savoy King Carlo Alberto, selected the Nebbiolo from Barolo as his favourite wine.
At the end of the 19th century, the Barbaresco rose into the premium class of the European wines; the Barbera grape became one of the top grape varieties in the last decades.
Turin – home to the traditional Italian “Aperitivo”
In the regional capital Turin, the famous Italian Aperitivo was invented, and this is officially certified! A man named Antonio Benedetto Carpano mixed a secret herbal mixture to a normal white wine, and the first Vermouth was born. Its name derives from the bitter wormwood, which is also used to produce Absinthe. The Carpano Vermouth can still be bought, but the mixtures of the world-known company Martini & Rossi are more famous today. It has its headquarters before the gates of Turin.
The Aperitivio is very popular to the “Torinesi” – every evening from 6 p.m., the bars and restaurants fill with crowds of people to enjoy the late afternoon snack before dinner. Besides Vermouth, a glass of wine or Spumante, or even a classical cocktail, a large variety of tasty delights is offered. For example, you can enjoy Grissini with bacon, marinated vegetables, olives, sardines, risotto or pasta and pleasantly bridge the time to dinner!
Booking and further information
Enjoy the Piedmontese delicacies on a customized culinary group tour or learn how to prepare the Piedmontese dishes on your own on a cooking trip to Italy! We will be please do provide further details regarding travel schedules and price information. We are looking forward to your no-obligation request via our contact form, e-mail or telephone at +49 611 945879 42.
Piedmont - Wine, alpine, cuisine.
Culinary delicacies
Festivals in Piedmont
Geographical location
Hiking in Piedmont
In and around Turin
Mountains & lakes
Provinces & capitals
Rice growing
Slow Food in Piedmont
The famous wines
