Bra DOP, yes it's a cheese ;)

Bra cheese hard and soft

Bra DOP (cheese) takes its name from Bra, the Piedmont town where the Slow Food movement was born in the 1980s. It is one of the municipalities within the Cuneo province, in the Roero wine district, where many of the high quality ingredients of the Piedmontese cuisine are from. This is definitely an interesting area full of medieval hamlets, castles, vineyards, truffle grounds and amazing restaurants :P 

A citta' slow or slow town, Bra is where every two years Slow Cheese, a whole event about organic and local cheese takes place!

Wine Wed with Grignolino DOC!

Grignolino DOC yearly Festival

Grignolino takes its name from "grignole" which in the Asti dialect means "many pips" or seeds.

Ampelographers or vine botanists believe this grape is originally from the Monferrato Hills, between Asti and Casale.

Ksenia Skvortsova guest post!

Today we're publishing Ksenia Skvortsova's interesting guest post. Since 2009 Ksenia has been the author of Saffron and Honey which she started while working as a business consultant in London. Her passion for food took her back to New York, where she grew up, and in 2011, she graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education. 

the evocative power of food

Raschera DOP

                                                           Squared Raschera DOP

Today we're presenting an artisanal cheese, Raschera DOP in its two variants: regular and d'alpeggio or alpine pasture. This is a traditional cheese of the Cuneo mountains and it can include cow, sheep or goat's milk. It is produced all year long and it can take two shapes: round or squared.

It takes the name from Lake Raschera at the foot of Mt. Mongioie and its origins date back to the end of 1400, in fact, a legal document of that time states that shepherds in the Pamparato area, one of the communes where the cheese is produced, were supposed to pay their rent with Raschera wheels.

In Roccaforte Mondovi' a fresco by Giovanni Mazzucco portrays local monks making cheese.

WineWed with Favorita DOC

Favorita DOC label

For a change, this week we're talking about a white wine: Favorita DOC, a fresh and fruity wine to keep in mind for the hot summery weather. This wine is the essence of conviviality!

The grape we call Favorita is grown exclusively in the Roero area, in Piedmont and apparently, Ligurian oil merchants brought it here over 300 years ago. 

Sanam Lamborn guest post!

Please, enjoy this guest post by Sanam Lamborn, publisher of My Persian Kitchen, a website dedicated to the cuisine of her birth land, Iran. As a passionate and creative cook much of her inspiration comes from having lived in Iran and Italy. She believes that the best meals are prepared with fresh and healthy ingredients. Sanam holds a BA and MA in English in addition to a Professional Cooking Certificate. While not cooking in her kitchen or blogging, Sanam teaches college level writing and oral communication classes. 

Crocus Sativus

Toma piemontese DOP

                                         

Toma is a typical cheese from Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta and it is one of the most famous Italian cheeses too.

It's made of cow's milk and it can be soft or semi-hard.

Toma in general can come in different variants, each one carrying the name of the area where the cheese is produced.
All toma cheeses are good with jams, honey and in all the traditional mountain dishes. 
                                                                                                                                                              Toma Piemontese                                 

Wine Wed with Barolo DOCG

Barolo the wine of the kings & king of wines!

Barolo wine takes its name from Barolo, a little town in the Cuneo provice, where it is produced. Barolo, the town and its surrounding are a real treasure chest with a breath-taking landscape, many culinary events, the wine museum and the picturesque corkscrew museum.

Food Revolution Day 2014

Yes, we'll celebrate Food Revolution Day in Turin too, thanks to Marcela Senise, aka la food sitter, who is Food Revolution ambassador in Turin and who will be our guest in September.

This will be the third edition of Jamie Oliver's global event. Jamie chose May 16 to celebrate his food education project for kids worldwide thanks to the all his ambassadors's help.

Food Revolution Turin ambassador Marcela Senise has been organizing this event since the very first edition through her blog Mangia che ti fa bene bimbo! - or eat, baby, it's good for you!

Castelmagno DOP

Castelmagno with bread and wine

Castelmagno is the king of the Piedmontese cheeses and it's been produced since at least the 12th century, even though the first records date back to 1277. It takes its name from the municipality in the Grana Valley,  located in the Cuneo province in SW Piedmont, where it's produced. 

This is an amazing cheese, covered in a wrinkly and brownish rind and with an ivory creamy interior. Its paste is dense and crumbly and its mild flavor gains power as it ages, becoming sharper and spicier.

WineWed with Freisa!

Freisa Festival every Spring in Chieri

The history of Freisa vine started in 1500, back then these wines were considered exquisite and much more refined than other average wines. In 1600, Giovan Battista Croce, royal wine buyer of the Savoy family who ruled Piedmont, described it as produced by a rustic and enduring vine because it resisted dry hot summers and chilly springs. This is why Freisa is cultivated on the hills and it's considered a typical Turin wine.

Wendy Lange-Faria guest post!

Starting this week we're hosting guest posts about food!
Read the following post by our friend, Wendy Lange-Faria who has a real passion for food and food tourism and you'll immediately feel teleported in the Canadian North!

Have fun!

                     Black Bear

Why food travel and tourism? Someone asked me this question the other day and it gave me pause to think when and why my interest began!

My earliest recollections for one reason or another revolve around food - given that we as humans all have to eat and drink to survive, there are few people I know who wouldn't have at least some stories to recount around the table! Growing up in Canada's Yukon let me share a couple of tales with you.

Robiola di Roccaverano DOP

Roccaverano in Piedmont

In general, Robiola is a soft-ripened cheese, typical of the Langhe area in Southern Piedmont but it is also produced in Valle D'Aosta and Lombardy. According to where it's produced and the kind of milk used (cow, goat, sheep), its taste and look vary (round or square shaped) a lot. 

WineWed with Malvasia di Casorzo DOC

Original Label

Happy Wine Wed!!

Today we're talking about Malvasia di Casorzo d'Asti a DOC red wine produced in the Asti and Alessandria areas, in Piedmont!

The legend has it that that the name Malvasia is due to a miracle asked by Nus, a Valle d'Aosta villager, who was bringing the mass wine to the priest. As his landowner saw him carrying the bottle, he inquired about what kind of liquid it contained. The villager answered "mallow juice" making the man curious to try a sip. Afraid he could get angry at him, the villager prayed God for a miracle and said "che Malva sia, per favore, Dio mio" (My God, please, let it be mallow)
The mass wine turned into mallow juice and it kept the name of MALVASIA!