NOT A Diet Post - Weekend In Italia

In Piedmonte to be exact - same place we went to last September. After a busy 3 days with Daughter #3 working on stuff related to her potentially entering my business, took the weekend off. I told them about our visit and since she and son-in-law 3A had not been to that region we decided to give it a try.

We got off to a shaky start with just about everything going wrong getting out to the airport for our flight to Turin. The tram was late causing us to miss our train. Next we had a long wait to check our baggage even though we had already checked in to the flight. When we got to the end of the baggage check-in line. They closed it down because the printer wasn't working. That led to another wait. Finally we go to security where the line is enormous. We are within 20 minutes of our plane departing. Clearly we are not going to make it. A friend of 3 and 3A text's them because he's in the airport and they are paging us to get there or they are leaving without us. #3 - AinA goes into full expediting mode. I've never seen this from her before. It was pretty cool. Decorum goes out the door. She pushes us to the front of the line. Jams our way through security. She's done first and she runs ahead to the gate where she tells them the rest of the party is hustling behind her. We just make it as they are closing the plane down.

Our flight from that point was uneventful. The plane was not very full so I had a full row to myself. It was clear and as we were coming down I was able to get some neat pictures of the Alps opening into the valley where the city of Turin is located.



I got us rooms at a bed and breakfast that is in a winery we visited in the town of Barbaresco. This is a hilltop town that is really out in the country. Our goal on this trip was like most other family trips eat-drink-relax. We ate a quick bite at the airport to tide ourselves over and headed to the town for our first meal. The weather was warm and we ate outside.

3A and I getting right into the spirit of being in a major wine growing area like Piedmonte

First Courses

#3 had a lovely fresh herb frittata

I went for a plate of cooked and cured salamis and cured salted lardo - Yum!

3A had vitello tonato - cold roast veal with a mayonnaise made with tuna. This was one of the best renditions of this that I've tasted.

Second Course

I went for a local handmade pasta with a meat and tomato sauce of the kind I fell in love with the last time i was there.

And it seems I forgot to take pictures of what #3 and 3A had - sorry :(

But I did remember the desserts! :(

3A went for a great panna cotta with this really rich caramel sauce

This is #3's - a specialty chocolate cake of the area which is almost more like a chocolate mousse.

I had a Barbaresco sorbetto or wine sorbet. The wine flavor, not the alcohol dominated.

After our lunch 3A wanted to take a nap but #3 wanted to take a walk. Going to the little tourism office we found there were three good hikes. They're about 2 to 2.5 miles each and all require you to descend from the hill and climb up again. Here are some pictures from the walk.

We did some wine tasting after we got back and were treated to a wonderful sunset.

For dinner we went to the more upscale place (of the three) in town and went all out. We were the only people in the place. They are a couple of weeks from their season really starting. It was sort of freaky because at first we thought we were early but then no one came in. A lot of times in that situation I'm wary but this turned out to be great.

Started with a fluffy mousse of broccolini

3A's antipasta of salmon four ways (broiled, poached, raw, and eggs)

My antipasta of veal tongue and testine - which are a small fish...not testicles like I thought.
One must always be careful of words that sound like one thing but aren't

On to the pasta course
A fabulous risotto shared by 3A and I

Little soft gnocchi to die for with and intense tomato sauce
Pasta is so good in Italy because it is made piping hot and they have great plates that keep it hot.

#3's Secundi or Main Course
Calamari and Shrimp

3A's meat from the rack of lamb in sweet sour sauce

I had roasted quail which had a minced quail stuffing (kind of sausage like) in both the breast and legs. It was yummy.

Desserts
I had their selection of cheese. To my astonishment the waitress gave me one of everything!
That in the center is like a quince/plum compote that offsets the sharpness of the cheese.

#3 had this selection of chocolate desserts with accompanying rum (I got the rum because she's preggers)

And I forgot what 3A had other than he liked it :(
And that bottle of wine was a 1998 Barolo - smooth, good, and a bargin
Europe with the dollar so low is way, way expensive for everything it seems but alcohol.