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Piedmont Part VII

As we prepare to wrap up 2010, the Keeper Team is taking a look back at the many great trips we’ve taken over the past twelve months – all with the goal of giving you, our faithful readers, firsthand accounts of the culinary scene around the globe. Where in the World has Keeper been? We’ve wined & dined in Piedmont, Barcelona, New York, Charleston, Burgundy, Austin… It’s been quite a year! In fact, we’ve enjoyed so many outstanding meals that we didn’t have the opportunity to share them all with you at the time. So, we’re closing out the year with a few “bonus posts” – stories of experiences so delicious that we’re still savoring them months later! And, since this week marks the one-year anniversary of our memorable trip to Piedmont, our first flashback post recalls our bittersweet last day in this awesome corner of Italy.

Our last day made us sad; we didn’t want to leave Piedmont. Where did we go for our last morning coffee and pastry? Barolo of course. While so close to the fresh pasta shop that had been closed for several days in Barolo, we zipped by to find it finally open. It was interesting to see that the pastamaker’s shop did not have as many different types of his own pastas as there were in the small Pasticceria in the nearby town of La Morra!

It was time to go back to the Scavinos in Castiglione Falletto for a tour and tasting with Winemaker Elisa Scavino. We tasted 2005 Carobric, Cannubi, Bric del Fiasc, and Bricco Ambrogio, along with a 2003 Rocche dell’Annunziata. Then we tasted a vertical of Bric del Fiasc 2006, 2007, and 2008 with 2005 for comparison. Elisa then offered a blind tasting of 2008 Bricco Ambrogio that had been aged with three different fermentation methods in casks – one as fermented in old time casks, one in new casks for 7 days and then another in new casks for 23 days! What an interesting comparison.

Our group then went for lunch in the Alta Langa at Trattoria La Coccinella in Serravalle Langhe.

What a wonderful place with three brothers, Alessandro, Massimo, and Tiziano, who run the restaurant.

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Brothers

One manages the front of the house, one oversees service, and one is the Chef! The food was very good and offered some different types of food than what we had been served during the week so far. They use fresh seasonal local products, complimented by a large, well-versed wine list. We had an antipasto and then 5 different courses, with our favorites being a Veal Carne Cruda with White Truffles (see top of post),

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Porcini Pasta, and a Pork Tenderloin with Pumpkin Sauce.

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Pork with BBQ Sauce

And we of course had to wrap up the meal with several amazing desserts!

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Something special for you devoted Keeper followers; we saved the best for last. We ate our weight through Piedmont in Vitello Tonnato, so we want to share the recipe we brought back jotted down on a note pad straight from Italy to you. Ciao!

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Vitello Tonnato

(Serves 8-10)

800 gm lean veal, well tied into a roll, 1 medium onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 clove garlic, 1 bay leaf, parsley, 2 “glasses” dry white wine

Sauce

2 egg yolks, 250 cc olive oil, ½ lemon, juiced, 100 gm tuna, 2 tablespoons washed and salted capers

Vitello Tonnato

Put onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and wine in pot. Heat to boil. Put meat in a braising pot. Bring to a boil for 90 minutes. Cool to room temp. Slice thin for serving & sauce.

Sauce

Prepare mayonnaise with egg & oil & lemon. Chop tuna & capers. Make into paste. Mix tuna and caper paste into mayonnaise.

Serve mayo on sliced meat and garnish with parsley.