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Our local products - the main products of the "Asti diet" are food and wines that, after a long tradition, become the most balanced results of the agricultural raw materials.
This is “wine country” that is already known of the world over. It is here that spumanti brut is produced. Here in Canelli is where Italian spumante and Asti Spumante were invented. Asti produces light red wines and more full-bodied reds for aging. There are also white wines and distilled spirits, especially various types of grappa. ...
The most famous Cheeses ...
Several kind of Vegetables are cultivated in our region.
The local recipe that use almost all of them is the bagna cauda, "poor" dish with medieval origins. The bagna cauda is a hot sausage, warmed up by a candle in a terra-cotta stove, made with anchovies, olive oil, and garlic, in which the following vegetables are soaked:
- the ivory cardoon (Cardo Avorio) from Isola d'Asti, more than 1 meter high with irregular green leaves.
- the bent cardoon (Cardo Gobbo) from Nizza Monferrato: at the end of September, the seedlings are lain down and progressively covered by earth; in this way, the cardoon remain white , tender and bent; this is probably the only kind of cardoon that it's possible to eat raw and without dressing.
- the square pepper (peperone quadrato) from Motta di Costigliole d'Asti, red or yellow, strong and fleshy, ideal as appetizer with sauces of anchovies or in agrodolce.
- the golden celery (sedano dorato) from Asti De.C.O (Municipal origin denomination), typical of the Tanaro valley with its yellow ribs and low fribrousness.
Beside:
- the Saracen asparagus (asparago saraceno) from Vinchio, ripe in the middle of April, tasty, fleshy, dark green. "Saracen" because in Vinchio there is a ridge of hills called "the Saracens' village": the legend tells that, during some excavations, some dead body armed with swords, like a Saracen pirate, came to the light;
- the blond or red Astigiana onion.
- the Cerrato tomato De.C.O (Municipal origin denomination), whose name derives from the family that cultivates it since generations and preserves the seed. Its weight can reach 1 kg, it is juicy and good for salad, "pinzimonio" and especially "bruschette".
Raw Meat with truffle, veal in tunny sauce, veal tongue in red sausage (bagnet), Boiled meat (bue grasso) with polenta "concia", roasts and braised of veal with barbera or barolo are all prepared with the high quality, tender and delicious Razza Bovina Piemontese beef, bred according to the ancient traditions. This meat has a very low cholesterol level and is recognised by dieticians as one of the best in term of nutritional value.
The meat of adult ox (bue grasso - fat) is the principal ingredient of the Bollito Misto (boiled meat): following the piedmontese tradition it's made with 14 different kind of beef and tasted with the typical sausage., bagnet vert (green) and bagnet ross (red).
The most famous "Pasta" are Agnolotti d'asino - donkey (Calliano), di coniglio - rabbit (Viarigi), di lepre - hare, tagliatelle (tajarin) with truffle or boletus mushroom.
A second course coming from an ancient tradition is the finanziera whose name comes from the suit, the froack-coat, used in the nineteenth-century by the bankers and the financier that loved so much this dish; other sources suggest this name take his origin from the tribute paid in kind (mainly chitterlings, that is infact the main ingredient of this dish) by the peasants to the excise officers (called finanzieri) to enter in a village.
The fritto misto alla piemontese (mixed fry), linked to the pork slaughtering and to the necessity to avoid any wasting, is made with entrails, black-pudding, lung, liver, sweet breads; nowadays new ingredients are used like apples, pumpkin's flowers, biscuits, etc.
Don't miss the sweets: polentina astigiana, with almonds, raisin, maraschino covered by yellow pudding of maize; macaroons (amaretti) from Mombaruzzo or Canelli, soft almond biscuit; zabaione (syllabub) with Barbera or Moscato wine; the ancient mon (pronounce "mun", sweet brick) from Mongardino ; the peaches with Ruchè from Castagnole Monferrato; il bunet, pudding with macaroons and cacao; astigiani with rum; canestrelli from Cinaglio; caritin from Portacomaro; tirulen from Isola d'Asti; the hazelnuts cake using only Piemonte Hazelnuts and above all the Tonda Gentile delle Langhe IGP (Protected Geographic Indication).
This production has no rival all over the world in terms of organoleptic characteristics and is essential for patisserie and chocolate makers. The coupling with Moscato d'Asti and Asti Spumante is perfect. Local producers create with this Hazelnuts, the "hard" version of Nougat.
Langhe, Monferrato and Roero offer important natural resources that are harvested by competent people working to safeguard the territory: mushrooms, Truffle and topinambours (Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes).
The Mushrooms varieties are, most of all, bulè (ceps) and famiole.
The white Truffle is a sought-after specialty, emphasizing the typical dishes of this region
The Autumn and the Winter are the best seasons for Piedmont's cuisine ...
ICIF (Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners) carries on cooking lessons for foreigner people in the Castle in Costigliole d'Asti
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