Out of the Kitchen

There haven't been any new posts for the last two weeks because I've been enjoying real Italian cooking in Turin and Liguria, and Provençal cooking on the Cote d'Azur.

Manorola, Cinque Terra

Of course there were a couple of pizzas, lots of pasta, lots of local wine, a real homemade tiramisu, spicy sausage, local olives, and the aperitivo.

The aperitivo is a Turin institution featuring a drink and some little bites to eat at around 7:00 pm. In many places, those little bites become a complete buffet of tasty offerings. One of the best places we encountered was at Cafe Roberto where you can pile your plate high and get a drink for the princely sum of 7 euros. It included everything from grilled eggplant, variously flavoured focaccios, fritatas, pastas, and risottos to desserts that incuded tiramisu!

Italians tend to eat late and I have discovered that I really can't make it from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm without something to eat, so the aperitivo was my lifebuoy (and that of my companions. I get extremely irritable if I'm not fed and watered regularly! ) After a long day of sight-seeing, walking, and driving twisty-turny roads, settling down with a glass of wine and a little plate full of goodies was heaven.

Turin from Monte Cappuccini

Heaven also included chocolate and ice cream. Turin introduced us to hot chocolate that was closer to a thin chocolate pudding than the milky cocoa drink we are familiar with. It was luscious and gorgeous. And then there were the world-famous Gianduiotti chocolates, and gelatto from Grom.

Turin is home of the Slow Food movement and has a big food and wine fair every two years. It's such a beautiful city, with elegant spacious piazzas and beautiful baroque buildings, that it might be worth returning in 2012 in time for the Salon de Gusto and Terre Madre conference.