Culinary Traditions & Specialities

In a sense, the way of life with which I was so familiar is still preserved in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. It is the countryside and its produce that characterise the area - the grape vines for the many wonderful wines, the rich mountain pastures where cows produce excellent milk for the region’s fine cheeses, and the vast damp and fertile Po Valley, stretching from the Alps through Lombardy and Veneto to the Adriatic, where rice and maize (for polenta) are grown. Piedmont is made up of a multitude of little artisans producing exceptionally good things, from cheese to meat, to vegetables, fruits and wines. Each town and village still has its weekly or monthly market, where specialities of the area and the season are on sale. Many of the vendors are small producers, offering foods from their own gardens - perhaps a basket of eggs or courgettes, or bunches of parsley and basil. To me these people represent the soul of good living.