Autumn in Piedmont, Musky Truffles, Rich Barolo and Family Memories

One of my favourite regions in Italy is Piemonte - not just because one of my granddads came from there - but also because Piemonte has quiet and elegant cities, many historical Royal residences and fifteen UNESCO sites. Besides, Piemonte is, along with Emilia Romagna, one of the best foodie regions of Italy...

Visiting the region of Piedmont in Autumn can really enhance your experience of this beautiful region. Almost half of Piemonte is made up of stunning mountains and the remaining territory is a mixture of plains and rolling hills. I have already written about my love for the Alps and you will find fabulous peaks here, from Monviso, which is called ‘the Stone King’, where the long river Po originates, to Mount Rosa, which is the second highest peak in Europe. It is here in Piemonte that you will find the National Park of Gran Paradiso, which is made up of 173,715 acres of alpine terrain and is home to the alpine ibex and other endangered species.

Patchwork Quilt of Fields in the Langhe region, Piedmont

Foggy Evenings and Truffle Laden Tagliatelle

The half of Piedmont which is not mountainous is made up of plains and hills which are famously covered by vineyards producing the wines of Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Barbera and Dolcetto. Here, as you look around, you will see a colourful patchwork quilt of fiery reds, golden yellows and amber oranges which is simply stunning in Autumn. Also, dotted here and there you will see many ancient brick built castles and medieval looking villages.

For me a real treat is going for a walk either in the morning or late afternoon when a misty fog softens all colours and contours and gives the landscape a magical appearance. The fog, nebbia in Italian, is the reason for the name of the most popular grape here, Nebbiolo, from which those celebrated wines are made. The foliage of both Nebbiolo and Moscato vines turn to a vivid yellow, whilst the foliage of Dolcetto vines are bright red and look incredible. Instead the leaves of a Barbera vineyard are dark and maroon, almost a sombre purple hue.

The locals say that nothing beats a foggy evening spent in the comfort of a local osteria eating truffle-laden tagliatelle washed down with a good bottle of wine. In fact, this southern part of Piedmont isn’t just home to fine wines, but it is also famous for Alba white truffles, wild mushrooms, game and prized cheeses, such as Castelmagno, Robiola and Tomino.

If you are a ‘buongustaio’, or foodie, you are really spoilt for choice. The castles I mentioned earlier often have a restaurant where you can dine like a king in palatial rooms.

Alba, the city of one hundred towers

The last time I visited this area was last February, so not Autumn, but we still got that misty fog in the early morning before a blazing sun rose up above the clouds by lunchtime. It was just before lockdown and Ian and I concluded a visit to my parents with a few days in Langhe area and Turin.

I wish I could say what the highlights were but, in all honesty, I could not choose as I loved everything.... As always I find Turin and its magnificent palaces utterly fascinating, but I also love the Langhe area, the rustic osterias, the castles and the hunting lodges of the Savoy family. Well 'lodges' hardly describes them as they are more like royal palaces. I am talking about the Venaria and Stupinigi which were hunting lodges to start off with but became sumptuous manor houses.

Alba itself is utterly charming, with its dusky pink coloured buildings and towers. Nowadays you can count ten towers in the centre but in the Middle Ages Alba was known as ‘la città dalle cento torri’ - the city with one hundred towers.

The famous white truffle, which can be found in this area, may have given Alba its name since Alba means ‘white’ in Latin. But this is far from certain as little is known of Alba before it became a Roman city. It may even have Celtic origins.

In October and November Alba, along with its surrounding area, becomes extremely busy, since it hosts the famous Truffle Fair. Thousands of visitors arrive from all corners of the world and the scent of truffle, which is like a very intense mushroom aroma, permeates the air.

So, what is the difference between white truffles and black truffles? White truffle is eaten raw, and its thin shavings enrich pasta, egg dishes and risotto. Black truffle instead should not be shaved, but grated and cooked. I personally love them both.

Alba, the city of one hundred towers

The last time I visited this area was last February, so not Autumn, but we still got that misty fog in the early morning before a blazing sun rose up above the clouds by lunchtime. It was just before lockdown and Ian and I concluded a visit to my parents with a few days in Langhe area and Turin.

I wish I could say what the highlights were but, in all honesty, I could not choose as I loved everything.... As always I find Turin and its magnificent palaces utterly fascinating, but I also love the Langhe area, the rustic osterias, the castles and the hunting lodges of the Savoy family. Well 'lodges' hardly describes them as they are more like royal palaces. I am talking about the Venaria and Stupinigi which were hunting lodges to start off with but became sumptuous manor houses.

Alba itself is utterly charming, with its dusky pink coloured buildings and towers. Nowadays you can count ten towers in the centre but in the Middle Ages Alba was known as ‘la città dalle cento torri’ - the city with one hundred towers.

The famous white truffle, which can be found in this area, may have given Alba its name since Alba means ‘white’ in Latin. But this is far from certain as little is known of Alba before it became a Roman city. It may even have Celtic origins.

In October and November Alba, along with its surrounding area, becomes extremely busy, since it hosts the famous Truffle Fair. Thousands of visitors arrive from all corners of the world and the scent of truffle, which is like a very intense mushroom aroma, permeates the air.

So, what is the difference between white truffles and black truffles? White truffle is eaten raw, and its thin shavings enrich pasta, egg dishes and risotto. Black truffle instead should not be shaved, but grated and cooked. I personally love them both.

Family Memories

My Piedmontese granddad was a very tall man with a wicked sense of humour. His parents had run a restaurant when he was a child and, after the untimely death of his father, his mother Angela managed to continue running the business.

Angela was a strong personality and my granddad equally stubborn and the two had a big falling out when, at the outbreak of WW1, he expressed his wish to enrol in the cavalry, since he could ride, but she forbade him saying that it would be too dangerous. He ended up fighting in the infantry and, luckily survived, but apparently he refused to write to her for a whole year.

Despite these disagreement Angela must have thought that she could get on with him more than with her other children because, when she sold the business in 1920, she asked him if she could move in with him in his newly bought house with his newly wedded wife, who was my grandma Lisa. Lisa, short for Maria Elisabetta, was from Bergamo and very different from Angela. However, mother and daughter-in-law got on quite well, probably because my grandma was extremely easy going and cheerful.

Angela taught my grandma many lovely Piedmontese recipes and these were then passed on to my mother. Fennel, pancetta and creamy cheese risotto is always a favourite in our family, as well as crostata cake, which is a cross between shortbread and jam tart but it is lemon scented and utterly delicious.

Do you know what we Italians say of ourselves? We say that, no matter what is the topic of a conversation, we always end up talking of food. Which, of course, is what I have just done!