Salone del Gusto 2012 -- Come and Gone Again

Delectable cured meats and cheeses 

What happens when you gather approximately 1, 000 vendors together in one place to show off their distinctively exceptional culinary wares for all the world to see and sample? Well, I'd say there would be a whole lot of sampling and chatting going on, and, I would be right.

This past October 25 -29, 2012, brought together an extraordinary gathering of people to present, sample, and discuss what has come to be known as "Slow Food".   Every two years "Slow Food International" puts on a food extravaganza they call "Salone del Gusto", which roughly translates to halls of taste, or an exhibition of flavor.  We live in the mountains of Italy's Piedmont region, in the heart of the Slow Food Movement which was born 1986 in Bra, Italy, just slightly over an hours drive from our mountain perch. 

Tomini cheese with a slice of black truffle

That is one of the reasons this movement is so near and dear to our hearts. The other reason is its lofty goals of promoting genuine food that is produced in a way that does minimal damage to the earth, encourages, biodiversity, strives for fair wages for the producers and food that still tastes phenomenal. Pretty easy for us to get behind this movement. I have written about this movement and biennial event on numerous occasions, but it's just too festive an occasion to let it pass without sharing a few photos and some stories about this years ninth event. If you want to read some of my other posts about this event, you can read about it here, here , here and here.  If you want to know more about about the organization do go to their website, "Slow Food," as it is a wealth of information about many wide reaching projects around the world. Consider becoming a member in a local chapter where you live or adopt one of their myriad projects, like supporting a vegetable garden in Africa, in their latest project, A Thousand Gardens in Africa. I guarantee you'll find it an interesting read, and it just might even change someones life, possibly your own. 

Bernard Elxirs, featuring Genepy

The event for us is an opportunity to see old friends and make new ones.  One lovely Canadian chef I met one year, kindly brought me a bag of dried cranberries two years later as he remembered me mentioning my longing for cranberries that are not available here. It was a wonderful surprise that we enjoyed for quite some time!

Gabriele Bonci , famoux for his Roman style pizza made from Marino Mulino flour from nearby Cuneo

This year I was especially delighted to get to taste some of Gabrielle Bonci's famous pizza. It lived up to the hype and I was honestly impressed how hard he and his coworkers worked during this event. There was nearly always a line to taste his focaccia style pizza made famous at his "Pizzarium" restaurant in the Trastevere area of Rome. I try to catch his television segments on our local "La Prova del Cuoco" cooking show, as I love his style. He uses Mulino Marino organic flour, that is a local brand that I have loved for many years. The Marino family have been committed to stone ground organic flours from their family milling business for at least 3 generations.  

Gabrielle Bonci and me, Marla

Another thing that really impressed me about Gabrielle, was the fact that he shopped every morning in the exhibition hall from his fellow exhibitors, supporting their businesses right on the spot, and giving the  hungry pizza eaters a taste of the possibilities of the food being presented there. And lastly, at the end, of what had to be at the very least, a 12-14 hour, day, when he had been on his feet all day, selling his pizza, and, chatting to the masses; he cheerfully indulged me with a photo together and a little "bread making shop talk." Thanks to my Fabrizio's outgoing nature, I got to meet this icon of modern pizza. What a charming experience for me all round. Grazie mille, Fabman.

Fabbrica della Pasta always has a unique display for their unique pasta

I never tire of going to this event as it is just so fascinating with people from all over the world bringing along not only their food but their culture as well.  Also, running simultaneously at this event is "Terre Madre" (Mother Earth), an international network for food communities. This brings many diverse food communities from all over the world to discuss and look for solutions to common challenges as well as network for getting their foods out to a larger market.  Many people wear their local traditional clothing and some times perform their music as well, making for plenty to see and do.  I hope you enjoy these collages I have made. Perhaps we'll see you here in 2014.

Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, in the center of the collage 

Turin Lights and a Bicherin to Ring in the New Year

Today is one of those blustery kind of days, where all you want to do is burrow in a cozy spot with a good read. I find that a special coffee drink can do wonders to elevate the mood. These short days of winter can leave you longing for  a bit of color and merriment and it seems like this long holiday period this time of year is  in fact a time of lights and merriment and feasting on all of the wonderful foods that have been put away for this very time of the year. The harvest and  hard chores are done for now and so, why not a bit of holiday cheer? One of my favorite ways to dispel the mood and bring a bit of occasion to an ordinary gray winter day is to make a Bicerin(Bee-chair-reen). What in the world is that, you are probably asking, unless you have visited this part of the world and have partaken of one of Turin's specialties.  

Il Bicerin ...photo by Regione Piemonte

Turin or Torino has a long standing love affair with chocolate and coffee. They have a choclate festival for a month in late winter and if you wander around the core part of Turin, you will find many pastry shops and cafes with chocolate as a main feature. Gianduja chocolate or chocolate hazelnut milk chocolate shaped into a gianduiotto shape, dates back to 1865 and has been said that it came about due to Napoleon's blockade and the need to make the chocolate stretch a little farther and this taste sensation was born.  Lavazza coffee hails from Torino  as well as many other local roasters not so widely known outside of Italy. Caffe Al Bicerin was established in 1763, but it's famous coffee concoction didn't really come together for a few more years down the road after a bit of experimenting. The Bicerin as it came to be known consisted of layers of coffee, chocolate and milk and syrup. The original cafe guards it's recipe protectively, but anywhere you go in Torino you will find a myriad of variations. Oddly enough there is a bottled chocolate hazelnut liqueur call the Bicerin, which the original recipe never calls for hazelnut, but the liqueur is delicious and goes together very well in this drink. I made mine today with the bicerin liqueur in the bottom of the glass, a layer of espresso next and topped off with some slightly whipped heavy cream. Oh yes, it lifted my spirits, not only because it tasted so good, but because it looks delightful as well. It's easy enough to make at home and who cares if it is slavishly authentic to the original, experiment around with chocolate or chocolate hazelnut, espresso and whipped cream and you will find these winter afternoons aren't so desolate after all. In fact it's a great special drink to make when you have someone to share with as well. I'm giving you a recipe for two with a chocolate milk base, to vary as you like. You could very easily drop a hazelnut chocolate in the milk too for the Bicerin liqueur effect.

My home style version of Il Bicerin

Il Bicerin

Serves 2

Warm together

• 1/2 c (150ml) half and half or whole milk, with a bit of heavy cream for rich version
• 3 oz (90g) semi sweet chocolate, chopped fine, do use a high quality brand

As I don't have a double boiler, I usually put the chocolate and milk/cream together in a small metal bowl and set it over a smaller metal bowl with hot water and melt it together this way. Whisk together when hot and melted. Remove from heat and let stand over the hot water to keep it warm, but not boiling.

**I just used my Bicerin, chocolate hazelnut liqueur today instead of the chocolate mix as an easy alternative.**

• Brew 2 cup pot of espresso or make two shots of espresso
• Whip some heavy cream (1/2c/ 100g) to thicken but not to full peak for your top layer. You can sweeten the cream it if you like, although I didn't as the liqueur was plenty sweet.

To assemble

Heat your clear glass cups or glasses with hot water to keep your drink warm and not break it when adding hot liquids.

Pour the water out.

Divide the chocolate mixture between the 2 glasses for your bottom layer.

Slowly pour half the espresso over the back of a spoon to get the layer effect into each glass.

Add your cream to the top and serve with some of those cookies you have hanging around the house for a appealing pick me up from old world Europe. Now imagine you're in a cozy cafe and the spell will be complete. 

Turin Advent calendar and Nativity scene

Buon Anno and Happy New Year to you my dear readers. My wish for everyone is a brighter 2012!

Damanhur, Torino's secret 8th Wonder of the World

At last, I have finally laid my own eyes on the actual spot here in Torino province, what has been called by London's Daily Mail, the 8th Wonder of the World.  You can read the story of how the temples of Humanity came to be in the Daily Mail's 2007 article on Damanhur on the above link. Having said all that, I didn't actually get to see the actual sight itself. Quite the shame, but it means we'll just have to return another time. We arrived late in the afternoon after having been a little further up the road to visit a cantina in Carema, that is part of our Strada Reale dei Vini Torinese associtaion. We're visiting our greater neighborhood of Torino Province while we stock up on some of our small wine producers goods for our summer season to delight our guests and tickle their taste buds. That part of the trip is a different story coming soon. 

Probably not surprisingly, it took a bit of an effort to locate the actual site. We're pretty good with directions, but these are small country roads and there isn't a yellow brick road leading to the temples. After a few fits and starts and getting some interesting stories about working with Damanhur from people  that live close by whom we stopped to ask directions of, we arrived to a fairly modest welcome point. Modest, although abundant colorful paintings and flowers did help you realize that you had indeed arrived. When the friendly woman at the entrance enquired what it was that I was seeking. I found that I hadn't really thought about it enough to give a non stammering answer, especially in Italian.  Well, ah, umm, ah, hum, I don't know and finding it pretty difficult to articulate. 

Damanhur Welcome Center and Forestiere

I had read about Damanhur a a couple of years prior to the 2007 Daily Mail article when I was searching for something on the internet, and found it all quite intriguing. A while later I met some people in London whom had actually visited it and I didn't realize until the Mail article that it was so close to us. We had guests a couple of years ago who visited while they were here as they were from Findhorn community in Scotland and were interested in Damanhur, as it is an intentional community. In their own words, "Damanhur, is an eco-society based on ethical and spiritual values, awarded by an agency of the United Nations as a model for a sustainable future." Their web site is here. It is quite an extensive site now compared when I first ran across it when I was searching out organic foods and other types of food that were difficult to find when I first arrived in Val Chisone.  After chatting with the welcome lady, we went on up to the Crea, which is a kind of community and business center further up the road. I have been fascinated by this community and it was wonderful to place it in my minds eye. They are a multifaceted community that have fit themselves into a part of Torino province, that at one point, was abandoned due to local dynamics of the Olivetti plant all but shutting down and people moving on to find work and livelihoods somewhere else. I didn't know what to expect, but we were delighted to be greeted by Kiwi, a local resident who was the greeter at the door to the Crea. Walmart greeter she was not, "Hello and Welcome".  She explained what the center was about and invited us to join in on a evening of Spanish food and dancing if we'd like and have a look around. Unfortunatley we arrived too late to go into any of the shops, but the window peering was interesting and the €10 plate of Spanish themed organic food was tasty and fun. We sat out doors where we were eventually joined by Kiwi and another visitor from Holland and the people who ran the natural food store and a former Carabiniere and his son who is currently a working officer for a lively and animated dinner. There was a crowd of people all scattered about on a casual Saturday night out with food and friends. A small gang of small fry tore about making good use of all that energy. We took our leave just as the dancing was about to commence as we still had a journey home, arriving at midnight, we did. I really would have loved to have stayed and joined in as it really was a pleasant atmosphere with a number of languages spoken. We noticed in the parking lot on our way out, that there were a variety of nationalities represented on the license plates, Germany, Spain, Slovenia. Fabrizio and I both enjoyed the people and the place and look forward to visiting again one day, as I really would like to see these temples and learn more about their life there. There truly was a peaceful, pleasant welcoming spirit to a place that seems to always be welcoming strangers that turn up at their door. Perhaps that is why we felt so at home. 

One of the underground temples
Photo courtesy of Hotel-Erbaluce

Visit to the "Shroud of Turin" or "Santa Sindone 2010" di Torino

 Ever since I ever had any recollection of Turin or Torino (as is known in Italian, Turin is the local Piemontese dialect name, pronounce Tour- reen) I've always associated it with the Shroud. Over the years I have read the differing opinions on why it is or is not authentic.  All quite plausible, but the fact of the matter is that whether it is medieval or prior to that it, is fairly difficult to be definitive about, but it is indeed old and quite a fascinating relic, at least to me. To have a simple stained piece of cloth survive hundreds of years is in deed quite astounding.  Wikipedia claims "The Shroud of Turin is one of, if not the, most studied artifacts in human history."  This site makes the case for the Shroud's authenticity. A compelling mystery indeed. 

The House of Savoy, Italy's former royal family whose kingdom stretched from France through Piedmont and Valle d''Aosta, acquired the shroud in the 15th century, and brought it to eventually reside in Torino since that time.  In 1983, upon the death of Umberto II,  owner of  the shroud, bequeathed it to the Pope and his successors, with the proviso that it stay in Turin.

Living in the province of Torino I have been quite fascinated by this relic and naturally wanted to see the real one as I have seen the copy numerous times when friends and relatives have come to visit. The Duomo (or cathedral) is rather modest by Italian standards, even overshadowed by the many grand cathedrals scattered though out the core of downtown Torino.  I am always struck by the somewhat casual atmoshpere of this particular church, whenever I have visited. There is a permanent display on one of the side chapels although it is still in the main part of the church and they have people stationed there to help you with information and to help you to remember to keep a respectful silence when you are visiting the shroud, although I have also visited when there has been weddings taking place along side all of the visitors milling about. It's just not so reverential as one might expect.

This visit was quite different. I rolled up to Piazza Reale about 9am noting all along my stroll under the covered porticos from Porta Susa train station how clean town seemed and definitely with a bit of a buzz.  The round about in front of the train station had numerous buses spinning around mostly sporting Italian plates, with some Austrian and German plates as well. Hadn't really seen this much activity since the 206 Olympics. It was rather exciting.  As I made my way toward the Duomo, I noticed  groups of tourists scattered about taking in all the different angles and sites in of the heart of downtown Torino. It warmed my heart, especially as it was so early and the high street stores hadn't even opened yet.

Rocking up to the front of the Duomo I was surprised at how low key it was as far as people and no checking tickets, just lots of emergency vehicles, a few Carabiniere(police), and Alpini military guys(the mountain edition) to keep the peace on a beautiful spring day.  I sauntered on through the front door, no one even asking about a ticket, to find myself in central part of the softly lit church facing the Shroud, front and center, elevated up high enough for all to see. I made my way forward and only then realized that there was a moving line wrapping around the perimeter of the church and across the center affording much closer viewing, but not accessible from this part of the church. Ah ha, there is a different line for the closer viewing. There quite a few people around me, but not crowded. Most were respectfully observing and a good portion were earnestly praying. It did not have the feel of seekers for miracle just perhaps seeking some connection to the divine. I'm not really quite sure. I could have easily finish my journey there, but felt compelled to get a closer look. I had my free ticket, which I booked the night before on the well organized, multi-language site that was quick and easy. I was quite surprised it was completely free, as were other friends and family members who had paid to visit it on other occasions when it has been on display.

 So off I set in search of the line to make my passage closer to this object of great interest. It was a bit of a stroll around the back of the palace gardens to find the serpentine line snaking around through the back gardens. As bus after bus pulled up to deposit or pick their passengers, I realized it was set up to accommodate great throngs of people that have come on a pilgrimage. The people that had been missing from the front were all here in the line snaking around the grounds and through the old Roman ruins before you made your way into the church.  The day was nice, the ground were lovely the views pleasant and canopied walkways made the time spent making your way into the church pass quickly in a line that steadily continued along. The atmosphere was calm with quiet conversations going on between teachers and their pupils and priests and their parishioners, small groups of family and friends and a few solitary individuals like myself moving along the path. I wanted to query people about where and why they had come, but it just didn't seem like the thing to do.  People were in good spirits,  quietly reflective it seemed, not necessarily speaking about the usual mundane things we often find ourselves chattering on about. There was just a pleasant reverential mood.

There were a variety of posters  of religious art depicting Jesus at various times surrounding his Crucifixion , that helped to set the mood as well. We passed though some underground passageway, where there were back lit busts on display and Gregorian chanting, creating a mood so peaceful and lovely, it begged for you to linger, but we continued on our steady progress. Pellegrini. Pilgrims progress. 

Next, 300 hundred of us at a time were given a brief slide show pointing out the markings on the shroud, accompanied by titles in 8 languages with sacred background music. It definitely helped you absorb what you were actually seeing when you finally arrived at your brief moment of contemplation in front of the Shroud. After the slide show you were asked to proceed in silence. What was before a quiet murmur, now became a reverential silence. The hundred or so, 10 year old children in front of me were completely quiet. Everyone was. It was quite amazing, only broken a little later by a few of the volunteers chatting about going to lunch and seeing each other tomorrow.  I think they were a little hard of hearing. Then when we finally entered the hushed atmosphere of the Duomo I was surprised to see women covering their heads, like I remembered from so many years ago, but had forgotten that it was ever done, as it is seldom the case anymore. Then we were grouped into three lines that made their way in front of the Shroud on three levels so there is excellent viewing on each level. If you make sure you are on the far left, you will find yourself closest to the shroud. 

Once you are there, there is someone softly telling you all of the points of the cloth. the face, the shoulders, the hands, the nail wound, the chest wound and so on. I don't know if it is all the preparation, the atmosphere, the energy of the people, or the face and the obvious imprint of a person, but I did feel tears roll down my face. Because for me, no matter what the truth may be about this ancient cloth, there is a distinct human imprint on the cloth and it does look like that person suffered and in that moment I felt an empathy for all of our human suffering focused there looking for release. It was a touching moment that I appreciate having had the opportunity to experience. Perhaps you would find it different, one can never know, as we make our individual journeys together. 

I would say, if you are going to be in the Torino area before the 23 May, you might want to consider booking in to see the Shroud. It took about an hour and a bit more to get through the whole line and viewing, before enjoying the rest of what Torino has on offer.
This exhibition runs from 10 April-23 May 2010 . 7 am -22:15 daily
It is a free event and open to everyone.
You can find the Shroud official site here and the online ticket booking site here.
Here is a short clip about the Shroud going on display

Star Gazing along the Via Lattea

Recently we hosted some very keen astronomers. Folks that work at the planetarium, Parco Astronomico, INFINI-T0 in Pino Torinese, just above Torino.  As I always like to point out,  we have a lot of interesting people arrive at Bella Baita for a variety of reasons and what they all seem to have in  common is that they are all fascinating with quite a range of unusual lives, livelihoods, hobbies and stories. Makes for varied and lively conversations.  This group was no exception to the rule. They arrived to stay up most of one of the darkest nights of the year, searching and photographing stars, planets and nebula. Hmm, I wonder what the plural for nebula is, nebuli, nebulas?  Anyway, stay up they did, till about 4 am, after they had dismantled the command post and sent many photos directly back to the planetarium whilst they hung out gazing at the dark endless sky above us.  We only stayed till about 1 am and got to see some amazing views of fiery Mars and Saturn with its rings. It really was memorable. They had all the equipment too. I figured they would have a large telescope, and they did, no surprise there, but what I wasn't expecting was all the other gear as well. They had biggg binoculars and several computers that when lined up and hooked up to the bigggg telescope, complete with blinking lights and whirring sounds in the dark, it looked like something straight out of the mother ship Enterprise.

 

My camera doesn't really take fabulous night photos so you'll just have to take my word for it, but it was an impressive set up. I was waiting to post this as they were going to send me some night photos, but I'm sure they just got busy and haven't gotten to it yet. I thought I would just go ahead and post this. Why you ask?, ok you didn't but I'm going to tell you anyway. It's because all that snow that they were standing on is gone and spring is underway in our yard, although there are still a few snow piles dotted around the yard, but they are on their way out.

Their visit has whetted our appetite to visit the planetarium one of these days when we can get over to the hills above Torino and take in the museum and one of the shows. A five euro entrance fee makes it quite affordable. It will be quite interesting to see exactly where all of those photos went to that night.

In the meantime they told us about the very cool site Stellarium, which is an open source planetarium for your computer. There is a free download here for a variety of computer operating systems where you can put your coordinates in and see the sky right on your computer. You can navigate around something like google earth and they will show you the constellations  and excellent illustrations too. Very worth checking out. Their visit has inspired us eagerly look forward to a visit the Torino planetarium as we enjoy our very own twinkly sky every night here at Bella Baita.

Torino's Toro

Recently I've been making a few trips to our provincial capital of Torino or Turin, the dialect name which most visitors know it by.  This stylie bull is the symbol of Torino and found adorning all manner of things. I found this interesting explanation of the origins of Torino's name on one of the city's site.

Turin: According to the legend, it was the Egyptian prince Phaethon to found the city of Taurina (around 1523 b.C., even earlier than Troy) where the Po meets the Dora, in honour of Api, an egyptian god having the features of a bull. Taurines, instead, a population having celtic-ligurian ancestors, established themselves here during the III century b.C. in a village called Taurasia, deriving from the indigenous word tauro, meaning mountain, transformed later into the symbol of a bull by analogy. Between 29 and 28 b.C. the Romans founded here the colony of Julia Augusta Taurinorum, subsequently shortened to Taurinorum, in order to indicate where the Taurines lived. This name was ultimately simplified to Taurinos, and, finally, to Turin. 

Torino never fails to offer up some interesting detail that I didn't know or haven''t seen before and this time was no exception. I've walked around Piazza San Carlo many a time and strolled past the historic and over the top, Torino Cafe without fully noticing the brass bull inlaid in the stone at the entrance to this cafe.

According to Fabrizio the thing to do is step on the brass b_ _ _ _ of this mighty beast for a bit of luck, at least that's what legend has it. It doesn't really surprise me as there is a wild boar sculpture in one of the piazze in Florence who has a similar legend and is quite shiny form all the rubbing. The same goes for the right breast of the Julliette statue in Verona as well. So now when you're doing the passeggiata around Torino on the Kings walk under the covered porticos and you come upon a brass bull, you'll know what to do.

Wine Bash at Martini & Rossi Spiritual Home

It's that time of the year again, the "vendemmia" and the talk turns to the prospects of the wine harvest for the year. Some of our wine making friends say that this years quality is high but yeilds are low. Sounds like good wine at higher prices to me. It was a fitting time to celebrate the start of this years harvest and attend the launch of La Strada Reale dei Vini Torinese, held at the beautiful "Martini and Rossi"(link in Italian only ) original home and muesum in Pessione di Chieri.

This celebration was the culmination of our province's increased effort to showcase our distinctive and tempting culinary treasures of Torino(Turin) province, comprised of bountiful mountains, plains and valleys in this sprawling province. This royal wine road designation draws attention to our territorial wine whose distinct flavor springs forth from the land and tradtional grape varieties that come together with it's hard working people and noble Savoy dynasty history, to secure our place upon the Italian wine stage. Thanks go to Torino's director of provincial traditional culinary offerings, Elena di Bella who has worked tirelessly to bring the long overdue recognition that our local specialties so deserve, and Anna Rinaldi, under Elena di Bella's direction, who has put her full energies into to bringing this wine road project to fruition. Anna organized several wine tastings with a noted sommelier to offer an opportunity for us to discover and familiarize ourselves with our neighbors wines. We participated in a couple of these earlier this summer. Not only was it enlightening and fun, we also met other interesting wine producers of these tasty wines and also innkeepers, enthusiats and supporters of this project. Naturally, there are many of our colleagues involved that will offering lodging and culinary opportunities as this project takes root and flourishes. TEM, (only in Italian at this point) our personal ecological, sustainable, toursim association  is excited to support, promote and collaborate with this wonderful initiative, to put our deserving area on the map and help bring  a bit more prosperity to our "off the beaten path" part of Piedmont. Exciting times indeed.

The evening consisted of time to tour the museum in the bottom of the house that houses a very important collection of over 600 artifacts which tell the history of wine from the 7th century BC until today. There were beautiful ancient Etruscan wine vessels and ornate drinking horns and cups in the first rooms. I particularly loved the 17th and 18th century ornate and simple Piemontese carts used to carry the harvested grapes. Pictured above is a cart used to transport the finished the wine.

This good sized 17th century alambicco (alcohol distiller or "still" as we quaintly call them in the US) is what was used to make grappa. After the grapes seemingly have given all that they can for the making of the wine, the "must" is then used to make grappa even today. The museum really is an interesting attraction if you have an interest in the history of wine and worth seeking out if you are in the area.

The remainder of the evening, after all the speeches and slide show about our very generous hosts, Martini & Rossi of the Bacardi group's facilities, was filled  sampling the familiar and not as familiar wines of Torino province. There were knowledgeable sommeliers on hand to help guide and educate us about the locations, variety of grapes and wines. It wouldn't be a proper Italian aperitivo event without some tasty treats to go along with the dolcetto, barbera, erbaluce, freisa, nebbiolo and moscato wines and this was of course no exception. I must say that the chestnut porcini soup was a stand out for me and will probably find me making an attempt to make it here as we move into chestnut and mushroom season here shortly. Perhaps I'll even share it here if I get it sorted out. I know I'll be seeking out some of the wines I tried  last night to add to our offerings when you find yourself staying with us. A great event and a project worth seeking out when you make your way to Piedmont, but more specifically, Provincia di Torino. We'll be waiting for you with a bottle or two in the cantina. Cin Cin!

Torino Details (some)

Someone once described Torino as a city that wouldn't over whelm you with grand scale sights, but would win you over with it's small details. I would certainly agree with that. It's not that there aren't enough big sights, there are, like the Mole Antonelliana, symbol of Torino and at one point in time, the tallest building in Europe. And quite a bit of interesting architecture through out the central part of the downtown area.

So when ever we find ourselves in Torino, I always find myself snapping away, photos of many of the small details that for me makes Torino so charming. I have added 3 of such interesting details that I have snapped along the way. I think I will from time to time add on to my interesting details that I find myself drawn to and share them with you.
Tell me what you think.
I particularly like this lamp that isn't exactly dragon nor gargoyle, but mythical I think and certainly eye catching. Turin has a history of being on a magical meridian intersection, but that is a subject for another day. Today I just wanted to share some images to make you a tiny bit more curious about Torino, and if you want the full scale guide to what to do and see in Turin, have a look on the Turismo Torino site for more details.

Salone del Gusto & Terra Madre 2008

To say it was sensory over load would be putting it mildly!

A week has come and gone, more guests have come and gone, and yet the buzz of Slow Food's Salone del Gusto 08 still lives on. That is, at least for me, especially when I break out some of the delicious foods and products that I bought during my long day out. I continue to attempt to do something with all of the photos of and videos of the music that sprang up spontaneously through out the massive series of halls. The sounds are great and give a good feeling for the event even though the videos all seem to be out of focus. It's clear I haven't used that feature much. I have enjoyed reading about others experiences and thoughts on this event. I will list a few links at the end of the photos to some others blogs.

We came in with our friends the Bernards whose Genepy and Barathier are uniquely flavored mountain beverages enjoyed throughout the Italian and French alps. They were the only producers to receive the Slow Food's Maestri del Gusto award this year.

Sampling oysters and smoked fish from northern Germany as well as Beba Beer's newest seasonal brew

Colorful pasta from Torino

Chocolate from America, Boston in fact, well actually via central America.
Taza Chocolate
buy their chocolate directly from certified organic farmers. They process their chocolate minimally using Mexican stones to grind their chocolate to give a very unique chocolate. I found the 85% bar to very sweet and flavorful and unlike any their type of chocolate I have had. Their chocolate nibs were extremely tasty, which reminds me, I need to go find the bar and nibs I put away for a rainy day.
It's been raining all day, so you know what that means.

Gorgonzola

The many ways with Pork

And of course the many ways of cheese.

This aged French cheese drew and maintained a crowd throughout the day and night. All of these cheeses were aged at least 2 years and up to 5 and with it's unusual gray exterior it generated much interest.

Even though I spent the entire day and evening there, I still felt like I really didn't do it justice, as I found I just wandered around and maybe didn't dig into the products as deeply as I would have liked. Oh well, there's another chance to in 2 years. Maybe by then I'll have a better camera as well.
David Liebovitz summation of his first visit to Slow Foods Salone del Gusto, captured my feelings on the event quite succinctly.
...."this isn't an elitist opportunity to congratulate ourselves on our ability to appreciate organic arugula and lardo, but the opportunity to taste foods from all over the world, meet the people who produce them and learn about their cultivation. And in many cases, rally for their preservation."

Related Links
Salone del Gusto 1 (David Liebovitz)
Salone del Gusto 2 (David Liebovitz)
Slow Food's salone del Gusto (Ms. Adventures In Italy)
Slow Food Fair (FXcuisine.com) I can't seem to make it link
Salone del Gusto 2008 (YouTube )