Well, I did go to Italy to eat and I thought I might be trying some truffles, BUT NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS, did I imagine that my dear friend Andrea Lee and her brother-in-law Volario Aprile di Cimia would plan and prepare a THREE HOUR (OR WAS IT FOUR ??) WHITE TRUFFLE FEAST with EXQUISITE WINES TO MATCH EACH COURSE!!!. It was FABULOUS and was our first meal upon our arrival to the enchanting city of Turin.

I was still pretty jet-lagged (Please forgive the shaky camera and I forgot to bring my camera for still photos of the food !!!) Each course was better than the last, but my FAVORITE was the hand-made rounds of pasta (medaglione) filled with cheese and white truffles smothered in a creamy fonduta (fontina cheese, milk, butter, and egg yolks) sauce and LOADS of shaved white truffles. After that meal, I would have been happy not to eat for the next three days, but being in Italy, this was not the case. The next day, Andrea had to take us to her favorite chocolate shop, Peyrano, (according to Andrea one of the most important chocolate shops in Italy) where we feasted on the famous chocolate coffee drink bicerin, hot chocolate, chocolate cake, and various chocolates. Thanks also go to Ruggero Aprile di Cimia, Andrea’s husband, and her son Charlie, who was a great translator.

The meal was really to die for and I can’t IMAGINE how much $$$$ we ate in white truffles… They were EVERYWHERE!! It was so good I cancelled our trip to the Truffle Festival in Alba. NOTHING could top that meal and we had quite enough truffles to last us for a while!!

Another reason I had gone to Turin was to check out EATALY, the three-story complex devoted to fabulous Piedmontese food that my friend, Andrea had been raving about since it opened and it DID NOT DISSAPOINT!! What a FABULOUS PLACE!!! Spices of Life viewers will be able to see that soon (and the quality of the video is much better !! ) So stay tuned for more upcoming Italy and London adventures and have a GREAT HOLIDAY!!!

Nina

If you’re enjoying this episode of Spices of Life, subscribe for free.

Alternate Versions:
Download Quicktime 320×240 (.mov)
Download Quicktime 640×480 (.mov)
Download MP3 Audio (.mp3)
Download MPEG-4 Video iPod/iPhone (.m4v)