TurinEpi day 2 and cooking class

For our second day of Turin Epicurean Capital 2014, the facilitator, Paolo Rigiroli requested a table to enhance the round table and food atmosphere. It was definitely a great idea since the interaction among all the speakers was so sparkling; in fact, at some point, even the interpreters were involved in the chat as you can see above.

Mara LeGrand, Andrea Levine, Walter Dang and Gian Luca Ranno shared their points of views about the influence of technology and the way we experience food today, their memories and what food means to them.

Andrea told us about her mom's cooking passion and how today her cat cafe' is a way to make her late mom's dream of owning a restaurant come true. Walter Dang shared his first food epiphany and the vivid memories of his father tending to his pristine vegetable garden wearing a suit. Gian Luca Ranno pointed out how today's kids have a food consciousness and how since a young age, they wonder why we eat animals and what foods are good for us. Following her Ayurvedic studies, Mara LeGrand shared her food philosophy saying that to her food is Prabha: energy for the whole human system, not just fuel for the body.

In the afternoon we all met at Citta' del Gusto - Gambero Rosso to attend Benedetta Oggero's Piedmontese cooking class. Among the participants there were some of our speakers, some Italian food bloggers and some visitors from the US and Scotland, who happily joined us because, like the round tables, Benedetta's class was in English!

Benedetta's cooking class was possible thanks to the partnership with Citta' del Gusto - Gambero Rosso who allowed us to use their instructional cooking room - including the kitchen tools, dining room and even some ingredients, for free!

We are also thankful for the great collaboration of: 

- Assopiemonte who provided riso Sant'Andrea and the Castelmagno, Toma, Bra Duro and Raschera cheeses

- Ilaria Gallio and her husband of Scoiattolo Rosso who provided the hazelnut flour, chopped hazelnuts and a whole hazelnut sample for all the participants

- Mr Armando Accossato from the Roero wine district who provided the Madernassa pears and the peaches.

Benedetta designed the cooking class menu around all our locally sourced ingredients:

- a Martini Zen with typical Piedmontese fresh mint leaves (and yes, Martini is from Turin)

- hard Bra cheese lollipops

- Madernassa pear and Raschera cheese bruschettas with honey and chopped hazelnuts

- Castelmagno cheese risotto sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts

- grilled peaches with chocolate sauce

The participants were put into couples to help and support each other, split their tasks and have more fun! Half of the class was composed of skilled cooks and the other half of skilled eaters.

The time did fly by, as always when you have fun, and when we all sat down at the table the symphony of flavors made everybody hestatic.

The food, the wine and people who share their love for food, basic ingredients we have plenty of here in Turin!

Now you know it, mark the Turin Epicurean Capital cooking class 2015 and if you are based near Turin, contact Benedetta to know when she offers her cooking class in English again!