foodies' basic necessities

Some weeks ago we talked to you about Chiara and her nonna's dairy, Latteria Bera founded in Turin in 1958.

Now you may think that any dairy is the same and all you can get is just dairy based products. Sure, they may differ locally, but it's always cheese, butter, milk, eggs and yogurt, and that's basically it.

Well, that's not the case with this historic latteria that is more to be considered like a gourmet dairy and a small production specialty shop 😎 

Today we would like to share with you what Chiara's basic necessities bag contained for us... just in case you needed some culinary shopping ideas when in Turin 😉

The whole content of Chiara's gift bag what carefully selected for our Italian needs and taste, read: posh, super high quality organic Pasta Cocco. Trust us, your stomach and intestines will recognize the organic flour used to make these bronze-wire drawn and sun dried spaghetti, just like in the old times! 

Enjoy this video to see how they are made:

As pasta gets sad when left alone, Chiara provided us also two homemade-like pasta sauces by San Cesareo 😜 

To be fair with you, if you like your store bought pasta sauces made outside Italy, most likely you will not like these natural ones because ... they just taste natural and homemade! 

The larger one is pure strained tomatoes, without anything added 😆 Just like when you make it in the summer, after picking your own up the tomatoes from you garden and then can them in your kitchen.

The smaller one is a cherry tomatoes pasta sauce where you can see real cherry tomatoes!!

Needless to tell you that like King Giorgio Armani has always taught us in fashion: less is more, and this is especially true in food, where the more you can recognize the basic ingredients and their original flavor, the highest the quality of the food in your plate is.    

Naturally, pasta and her bff sauce can't possibly go alone and need some special EVOO, and this is how we were the lucky recipients of Horticinum, a super extra virgin olive oil by Frantoio Agostini in Marche (central Italy). This mill was awared as one of THE BEST world's EVOOs and it is produced in a family owned, small olive oil mill whose owners believe and practice sustainability, renewable energies and biodiversity!

As Lucia was born in the year of the rabbit, like Winnie The Pooh's friend, Rabbit, she also likes to have her kitchen pantry full of honey jars. And just like Winnie The Pooh, Lucia eats as much honey as a bear which is why Chiara supplied her a precious jar of Sicilian Ape Nera honey by Amedeo Carlo, a Slow Food presidium 😍  

The Sicilian black bee is special as it produces honey all year long; her beehives are 'nomadic' to allow the bees to banquet on a wide variety of flowers. Literally, all of these honey jars contain liquid gold! What a luxury!

That gift bag though also had two pieces of Piedmont artisan cheeses!!

Goat's Quadrotto and the Magician's hat both aged in cave

These are lactose-free vegan allowed cheeses because they come from very tiny goat farms high up on the Piedmont Alps where the goats are super cared for and graze freely and happily. Their productions are so small and artisan, you won't taste the same flavor even within the same cheese piece.

People who are lactose intolerant, yoga and pilates practitioners will love them because they are super easy to digest, won't bloat your stomach, and even just a small amount will provide full nutritional values, a nice full stomach sensation, yet you will be reducing your calorie intake. Ultimately though, they are just delicious 😋

As Quadrotto was more sapid and hard paste, while Cappello del Mago (Magician's hat) was softer and milder, we couldn't help making a very seasonal and local artichoke quiche (turmeric included).

we paired our quiche with Dolcetto

We also made a very Piedmont mac and cheese with organic farro penne pasta. After all, if you can change the pasta shape, you can also change the cheese type for a nice culinary local adventure 😄 

We paired these penne and cheese with Barbera red wine 

... and there was also a 30 month aged Parmigiano Reggiano piece... 🙆 and if you are wondering why the number of the aging months is so key to our very own Parmigiano Reggiano... well the answer is easy: it's all in its texture and flavor!

Because buying cheese is a serious business, like a doctor, Chiara once inquired how Lucia normally used Parmesan cheese: to nibble or to cook??!

She answered: to cook... but also to 'nibble like you used to do when growing up and enjoyed the crumbs fallen off from the cutting of the wheel' (from: THE cheese pioneer) 

In short, this is how our seashell pasta with Jerusalem artichokes in lemon cream ended up generously sprinkled with Chiara's super grainy texture and buttery flavor.

Visiting Latteria Bera is a deeply transforming experience, and a true Italian one too. 

To find out what you really would like to buy, we suggest you to plan a tasting with Chiara in her Via San Tommaso 13 shop, right downtown Turin!

Wait no more and plan you travel over to Turin with us to live our most authentic vidaroyal.

E-mail Lucia to book a private tour and a private class: turinepi@gmail.com