I Love Italian Regional Cuisine - Pairing Piedmont Cuisine With Red Wine

Piedmont is home to some of Italy's finest red wines including Barolo which calls itself "The king of wines and the wine of kings." Piedmont was an integral part of the French Kingdom of Savoy whose capital was Turin, the present capital of Piedmont. Subsequently Turin became the capital of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia whose official name was Kingdom of Sardinia, Cyprus, and Jerusalem, Duchy of Savoy and Montferrat, Principality of Piedmont. With all these influences Piedmont it's no surprise that Piedmont is home to some great food.

Bagna Cauda (Anchovy and Garlic Dip) is a classic Piedmont dish, best enjoyed with Grissini, Turin breadsticks. Bagna Cauda is easy to make, but if you want to do it right, you have to keep it simmering. Enjoy this dish with a Barbera del Monferrato DOC or a Dolcetto d'Acqui DOC, both Piedmont wines.

If your budget is unlimited why not try Brasato al Barolo (Braised Beef with Barolo) that calls for a bottle of this noble wine for two pounds of top round beef? Marinate the mixture for 12-24 hours. For a real treat, lard the meat with pancetta, Italian bacon, before marinating. Obviously Barolo DOCG is the first choice for the wine pairing. Other good choices are the Taurasi DOCG from Campania at the southern end of Italy or the Valtellina Superiore DOCG from neighboring Lombardy. Don't tell anybody, but I would be tempted to cook the beef in one of these other wines and drink the Barolo.

Can you guess what is the special ingredient in Risotto al Barolo? Make sure to use high-quality Italian rice, extra-virgin olive oil, and plenty of Parmesan cheese. The best news is that for each cup and a half of rice you use only half a cup of Barolo. So there will be plenty wine left to accompany this king of risottos.

A less expensive pasta dish is Tajarin in Bianco con Tartufi (Tagliatelle in Butter with Truffles), unless you get carried away with the truffles. Purists make the pasta from scratch. Enjoy it with a Piedmont Barbera d'Alba DOC or a Tuscan Rosso di Montepulciano DOC.

My mouth just waters at the thought of a Lepre al Vino Rosso (Hare in Civet). The unskinned hare is supposed to hang by its back legs in a dark place for three days. I'm willing to take my chances on substituting rabbit for the hare. Among the many suggested wine pairings include Aglianico del Vulture DOC from the southern region of Basilicata (try to get one made from grapes grown in volcanic soil), Tuscany's Chianti Classico DOCG or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, or Abruzzo's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Termane DOCG. By the way, the latter two wines aren't even based on the same grape. Aren't Italian wines fun?

Have you ever had a sparkling red wine? You should. A fine choice is the Piedmont Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG also known as the Acqui DOCG. Enjoy it with Panetonne, a classic Italian Christmas cake, preferably one from The Piedmont.

I Love Italian Regional Cuisine - Pairing Abruzzi Cuisine With Red Wine

Abruzzi is located on the central eastern part of Italy on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The area is 2/3 mountains and 1/3 hills. If I remember correctly, the first time that I heard of this region was decades ago, when I learned that according to Craig Claiborne, at the time Food Editor of the New York Times, Italy's best food was found in Abruzzi. I don't know if this ambitious statement still holds but Abruzzi tables hold their own.

Lasagne Abruzzesi (Lasagne Abruzzi style) makes a good starter or a brunch dish. The major ingredients include ground beef, minced veal, eggs, dry white wine, flour (if you make the pasta yourself as the locals do), peeled tomatoes, grated Pecorino cheese, prosciutto fat, and ideally smoked local cheese. This recipe is fairly complicated but makes a delicious dish whose recommended wine pairing is a local Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC. It seems to me that after going to all this work to prepare the lasagna, whether or not you made the noodles from scratch, you should up the ante and go for a local Montepulciano d"Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG.

Another pasta dish is Macceroni alla Chitarra (Maccaroni made on a Chitarra) in which the word Chitarra signifies the guitar shaped instrument that is employed to make the pasta. This pasta is often served with a ragout of lamb stewed in wine and olive oil accompanied by tomatoes, garlic, and other goodies according to each cook's traditional recipe. The classic wine pairing is Aglianico del Vulture DOC from Basilicata.

Agnello alla Scannese (Lamb Scannese style) is a fairly easy to make lamb dish with dry white wine, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and salt and pepper. There are many suggested wine pairings including Chianti DOCG and Brunello di Montalcino DOCG from Tuscany, Barbera d'Asti DOC and Barbera d'Alba DOC from Piedmont, or, if you want to go all out, try a Barolo DOCG, also from the Piedmont. However, Barolo modestly known as the king of wines and the wine of kings can be disappointing. I remember the day that I finally tasted this wine. The first Barolo was pedestrian at best. The second Barolo readily made up for the first.

For a change try an Octopus dish. The locals enjoy Polpi in Purgatorio (Baby Octopus in Purgatory) that is cooked in tomato, garlic, parsley, and diavolicchio, local hot chilies. As you go from the mountains to the coast, the dishes, including this one, get hotter and hotter. Don't miss out on the chilies but don't overdo them. If you like octopus and chilies, you'll enjoy this dish with an Italian Pinot Nero.