Slow Food in Torino

Last October my mom and I went to Torino to visit the Salone del Gusto (the "Salon of Taste"), the major biennial Italian event where producers of food and consumers come together. I'd already visited the event twice before during my studies and was interested in going again, this time as a consumer and not as a student. Having seen many of the same producers before I was particularly focused on those stands that offered artisanal products, such as nocino, a walnut liquor, or organic rice for risotto. A particulary interesting stand was that of Koppert Cress, which specializes in "seedlings of unique plants", as their website says. There we tried various cresses and other plants, all of which had intense flavors and some of which were spicy. They mainly deliver these cresses to chefs, restaurants and hotels--I'd love to try some dishes specially prepared with these cresses as I'm sure it would be a flavorful experience. Who knows, maybe it's the next big thing?

What's interesting about Torino is that I never hear people talk about it although it's a beautiful city. I figure its location off the major railway network and freeways make it less attractive for visiting but I think it's well worth the visit.

The first evening, the evening before we went to the Salone del Gusto, we ate at le vitel étonné where we had a really lovely meal of salad, rack of lamb and tajarin with chanterelle mushrooms. The dessert was okay, but not a must-have.

The second night we met up with a friend of mine whom I met at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco in 2008 and who was also visiting the Salone del Gusto and the Terra Madre, a parallel event dedicated to talks and discussion forums about sustainable agriculture and food production. We met at Caffè Mulassano, a charming old caffè great for getting a quick something to drink (see photo at top).

On our third and last day we started out the morning with a trip to Caffè al Bicerin where we finally tried the famous Bicerin, a hot drink made with espresso, chocolate and cream. Unfortunately I was disappointed because I was picturing a mocha-like drink with whipped cream but instead the drink was like a coffee soup with cocoa and the cream on top was literally cream, no whip. Needless to say, I've crossed Bicerin off my list. What saved the visit was the delicious cake we ordered with it. 

 

For lunch we went to the famous Baratti e Milano caffè where we had lunch followed by coffee and cake. The salad and the risotto with pumpkin were very good. For coffee I had the Caffè Baratti&Milano, which was coffee with hazelnut cream, topped with whipped cream and hazelnuts. We shared the Torta Baratti, a  truffle cake, which was very good. All sweetened and coffeed up we were ready to head back home.