Fruit and vegetables

Four PGIs, with two more in the process of obtaining recognition, 10 Slowfood presidia and around 80 ‘Prodotti Agroalimentari Tradizionali’ (Traditional Food Products) form a significant calling card, because in the land where vegetables co-star in the rite of the ‘bagna caoda’ – the typically Piedmontese sauce based on anchovies and garlic, vegetables of all kinds have to be of the highest quality: fresh and crispy, like the Nizza Monferrato hunchback cardoons and Carmagnola peppers, both with Slowfood presidia; delicate, like the asparaguses from Santena, Poirino and Borgo d’Ale; intense and fragrant, like the leeks from Cervere and onions from Andezeno; and colourful, like the pumpkins from Piozzo and Castellazzo Bormida. They should also be exceptionally versatile, however, like the numerous prized varieties of potatoes: from the Genovese White Quarantina, grown near the border between Piedmont and Liguria, to those from the upper Belbo Valley and the mountain varieties from the valleys of Susa, Lanzo and the Cuneo area, which are all staple features of traditional dishes such as gnocchi, rabaton and ghenefle. The PGIs include Chestnuts from Cuneo and from the Susa Valley, which are ingredients in delicious old rustic recipes, as well as Cuneo and Saluggia beans and the highly acclaimed Piedmontese hazelnuts. Fruit abounds in the plains and hills, with pears and apples, including ancient varieties such as Martin Sec and Madernassa, ‘Mele di Cavour’ (Cavour Apples), expanses of kiwi and fragrant rows of peaches or Ramassin (delicious small plums)  and the famous Pecetto cherries and Tortona strawberries.

The region’s curiosities include Ajucche, perennial spontaneous rustic herbaceous plants, similar to spinach, which grow in mountain pastures from 600 to 2,000 metres above sea level, particularly in the municipalities of north-east Canavese, in the province of Turin: they are gathered during springtime and used in soups, omelettes and salads. The abundant cultivation of medicinal herbs also merits attention: in Valle Grana (Cn), with lavender, ‘lavandino’, peppermint, thyme and marjoram, almost entirely destined for small local workshops, and in Pancalieri, the “mint capital”, with a concentration of 30 production companies for around 20 medicinal plants of various species, which are marketed either dried or under the form of essential oils: from hypericum to mallow, and from absinthe to chamomile.