Piedmont

Famous specialties of Piedmont and Torino
Bagna Cauda
Translates as "hot sauce". Its ingredients are olive oil, chopped garlic and anchovies, butter, and sometimes sliced tartufo bianco (white truffles, another Piedmontese edible ecstasy). Into this heated sauce the diner dips a wide choice of cold raw vegetables. Red wine is the traditional accompaniment.

Fonduta
It's made by melting Fontina cheese (from the neighboring Val d'Aosta region) with milk, butter and eggs. The cook tops the resulting "fondue" with sliced white truffles.

Bollito Misto
Literally, "mixed boiled". Meat is the prime ingredient.

Agnolotti
Piedmont-style ravioli. Widely popular.

Grissini
Long, thin, crisp breadsticks. Originated in Torino. Now found globally.

Chicken (or Veal) Marengo
Created in Piedmont to help Napoleon celebrate his victory at Marengo.

Piedmont cooking philosophy
Traditional
The region has Torino, Italy's most modern and industrialized metropolis. However, the approach to food in Piedmont remains reasonably loyal to yesteryear's principles of bringing out rather than masking the natural flavors of the cooking ingredients.

More Piedmont and Torino cuisine tips and insights
French influence
Although culinary influences from neighboring France can be seen in the regional cuisine, Piedmontese cookery is nonetheless distinct unto itself.

Wines of Piedmont
Piedmont is without question Italy's finest red wine-growing district, Tuscany and its Chianti Classico notwithstanding. Using the noble Nebbiolo grape, Piedmont produces the great full-bodied Barolo and Gattinara reds and the near-great Barbaresco red, none of which should be drunk younger than five to ten years. There is also a varietal Nebbiolo red, as well as Barbera and Grignolino reds (of lesser breed). Regional white wines are few and uninteresting.

On the sparkling side there is Asti Spumante, more famous than great, and often a bit sweet. Greater Torino is Italy's Vermouth capital.

Best city for gourmets
Torino (also spelled and pronounced Turin) is the top all-around food city in Piedmont.
Criteria: Includes cooking, dining, food markets, cooking ingredients, cooking schools, beverages.