Regional food of Piedmont

Piedmont is a very mountainous region where hunting and fishing are commonplace. The autumn is the best time to visit here and all the tastes, smells and colours of autumn are reflected in their most famous dishes.

Mushrooms, nuts, truffles and grapes are all gathered in the autumn, including the elusive and expensive white truffles. These are sought out by pigs or white dogs, usually at midnight when their smell is at it strongest.

Rice is produced here and there are endless rice fields in the provinces of Novara and Vercelli. Needless to say, rice plays a large part in many of the dishes they eat on a daily basis.

The regions is famous for Filetto Baciato which is a style of prosciutto made from pork fillet which has been marinated in white wine. It is then coated with a paste made from salami, packed into casing and left to age for six months.

Castelmagno is a prized cheese of the region and it is a semi-hard, half-fat cheese. Castelmagno cheese produced from whole cows milk obtained from Piedmontese cattle which have been fed on fresh hay from mixed meadows or pasture.

Fantastic on its own, Castelmagno cheese can be used in fondues and is eaten with rice, pasta, polenta, thinly sliced raw beef meat and grilled vegetables. It is common too in this region to serve small pieces of this cheese with honey dribbled over them.