Browse Techniques

The communal dipping sauce of Piedmont — a warm bath of garlic, anchovy and olive oil (sometimes enriched with butter or cream) into which raw and cooked seasonal vegetables are dipped. It is served in a small ceramic pot kept warm over a candle (a 'fujot') so the sauce never cools. The garlic is slow-cooked in milk until completely tender before being incorporated — this removes harshness while preserving flavour.

A whole beef brasato (pot roast) marinated and braised in Barolo DOCG for 3 hours until the wine reduces to a glossy, tannin-rich sauce and the meat yields to a fork. The Tropea red onion — added in the final 40 minutes — provides a sweet contrast to the wine's tannin. One of Piedmont's greatest showcase preparations, served at special occasions with creamy polenta or potato purée.

Cold sliced veal covered in a creamy tuna-anchovy-caper mayonnaise — one of the great Piedmontese antipasti. The veal (fesa, from the rump) is poached very gently in aromatic court-bouillon until just cooked through, then sliced thin and covered in a sauce of tuna, anchovy, capers and mayonnaise. The combination of cold, delicate veal and rich, umami-laden tuna sauce is the defining flavour of the Piedmontese summer table.