Found: "La Dolce Vita" London Part 1

We went, we conquered, we came home!

The swirl of London and the activities of the "La Dolce Vita" expo has already started to fade, but left behind are some sweet remembrances of a few days spent sharing our valley's well known and loved "digestivi" of our friend, Enrico Bernard.

The gathering of over 200 food, wine and property sales people took place in Olympia Exhibition hall over four days. The first couple of days were rather quiet, although on the Press day I did meet a few interesting food and wine bloggers as well as some people looking to do a bit of importing and check out what all was available here. It certainly was an interesting mixture of offerings, from culinary demonstrations and wine tastings, to all sorts of olive oils and specialty foods not to be found in the main stream of London I don't think. I was surprised with one quick spin around a giant Tesco store close by to where we stayed in Earl's Court that there was quite a selection of Italian products along with quite a few other nationalities being represented under one roof. Nothing, of course, that could compare to to the quality and range of the cured meats and cheeses from Tuscany represented by I Toscani, that was on one side of us. On the other side we had tiny red aubergines and round white beans from the Parco di Pollino situated in the deep south between Calabria and Basilicata. The aubergines were most unusual. When I first looked at the pictures I thought they were tomatoes. There are pictures of them here. To be honest I didn't get many pictures, because I was either running around London dropping off samples of our Genepy and Barathier for potential customers or we were busy in the stand education the London crowds on what our mountain flower and herbal infusions were exactly. Unfortunately for many of the vendors, their English was limited or non existent, making it hard to explain their products properly to make that much needed sale.

There was a lot of sampling and a fair measure of baffled looks. Most people thought the digestivi were Grappa or some type of amaretto or something familiar to them. When they are indeed something quite different to what most people have tried unless they have spent some time in the Alps or other countries where infusions of liquor are quite the norm. I first came across similar herbal fire water when I worked in Slovenia and Austria, the warming drinks of the mountains. Hence we did a lot of talking and everyone else did a fair amount of drinking. There seemed to be a spilt in tastes of those who like Barathier, Enrico's great grandfather's recipe of 7 mountain herbs and flowers, and those that like the other offerings of Genepy Blanc, Genepy des Alpes, and Serpoul.

Along with our market stall we also had Torino Province well represented in the Provincia booth around the corner from us with several Paniere producers selling their wares.
Wine from Val Susa was represented byFranco and Carlotta of Vini Carlotta
Toma Cheese from Lanzo Valley represented by Anna Zedde (011 1950 4154)
All things Peppermint from Menta Pancalieri brought by Mirella Chiottone
Grissini by Panificio Collia went very nicely with the Toma cheese
and the typical wouldn't be complete with out a chocolate representative and that was taken care of by Stroppiana Chocolate of Torino

It was a good show, although from the viewpoint of the vendors it could have been better organized. Most disappointing for Enrico Bernard was that his web site was misspelled beyond recognition, in the printed brochure making for a very expensive mistake that the organizers only response was, sorry. Not very professional nor responsive to making their mistake right. I personally felt the hall also lacked music and the vivacity of an Italian festival. I think the most telling point is that most of the vendors were there for the first time this year. This is the 5 annual event and most of the people that we met and interacted with would probably not return next year. I think it is a great event that could be even better if the organizers were more open to suggestions from the vendors.

London is already becoming a bit of a fuzzy dream as we listen to the steady downpour of rain here. The good news is that the steady drip of rain is finishing off the last big piles of this winters white stuff. My bulbs are making a valiant effort to push up in the cold, so there is promise of spring green and flowers up here. The photo below was from the plane window as we flew over the alps and very little of theses majestic spires were showing. There was a blanket of clouds covering most except the biggest peaks poking up through the cotton blanket. The range in the background just to the left of the plane wing is the massif of Monte Bianco or the more recognizable name of Mont Blanc. There are clustered many other of the big names in European alps. It didn't take us too long to touch down after this as we are not so far away from this range of peaks.

Part 2 will be about where we stayed and places we ate.

Finding "La Dolce Vita" along with an Artichoke filled Foccacia

This time next week Fabrizio and I will be in London's Olympia Hall finding "La Dolce Vita".
No, I'm not talking about Maryann's wonderful blog by the same name, I'm talking about the London's 5th annual "most influential Italian lifestyle event" . There will be cooking schools, travel, property, food and wine, just to name a few of the attractions. We are going with our friend Enrico Bernard to help him hawk his superb elixirs, that feature the mountain flowers and herbs from here in Val Chisone and Germansca. You will find us in the Market area at stall M4. We'll be singing the praises about why you need to come and visit us here and try the famous and somewhat mythical "Genepy". We will, of course, have plenty of Barathier, Genepy and Serpoul on hand to sample, in hopes of enticing you to take some home. Fabrizio and I will of course be trying to entice you to bring yourselves over the pond to our "Bella Baita Italian Alps Retreat" for some mountain therapy.
Untill then why not make yourself a fresh artichoke filled focaccia and sit back, put your feet up and watch the original "la Dolce Vita' or perhaps "Il Postino" or some other such Italian movie.

Artichoke Focaccia

2 fresh artichokes, cleaned and sliced thinly
I cut up from the base to the tips of the leaves, discarding tough leaves as needed.
1/2 red or yellow onion
1 garlic clove minced
mixed dried herbs, I like oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage
Olive oil
white wine to deglaze pan
Optional
Fresh mozzarella
small tart tomatoes, Camarone and Costoluto, are coming in here from Sardinia and Sicily at the moment.
2 large focaccia squares, I made my own, but of course you can purchase them easily enough.
If you're looking for a focaccia recipe there are plenty of them out there. I don't always use a recipe and just wing it. I had topped this with black pepper and rosemary.

Saute your onion, garlic and artichoke slices in a small amount of oil for a few minutes till onion softens. Add the herbs, stir and cook a little more. You can deglaze your pan with a little white wine if you like. After it evaporates, add enough water to cover and cook the mixture covered till the artichokes are cooked all the way through, 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings with a bit of salt and pepper.
I only had a small piece of mozzarella so I chopped it into pieces and sprinkled it over the mix, just long enough for it to melt.
Slice your squares down the middle. I cut mine just big enough to fit in my toaster and lightly toasted them before piling the artichoke mix on one half. I didn't have any at the time, but some tart little tomatoes would add another depth to the yumminess..