A Quest for the Uncliche

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Un-mundane Mondays – Part: XII

I have taken a bit of liberty to add some “blues” to this Monday, but keeping the Monday un-mundane. I should issue a fair warning on the onset – This post may be a bit “torturous” and hence may not be suitable for the light hearted.

Photograph

Where

Turin / Torino, a beautiful and possibly underrated city in the Piedmont Region of Italy. A magnificent place where natural beauty nestles the perfect amalgamation of Classical Italy and the Modern Italy.

What

No trip of Italy can ever be complete without tasting the traditional Italian food and Italian Wine. And being in Piedmont Region, which is perhaps the “Capital Region” of Italian Wines, a mention of the same becomes all the more necessary.

I remember having this food in a quaint and friendly place called Cantina Torino in Turin. What I don’t remember is the exact name of this dish. And I have only myself to blame for not writing the name down.

But on hindsight, I can’t be the only one to take the full blame for this. The chef who prepared this one shall share some blame too. Now why do I say so? If one prepares such a delectable food which forces the diner to forget everything else and dig in as soon as possible, then what can the diner do other than digging in?

Taxing my brain a bit, I do remember this. This particular dish was originally one made of beef. I sought to replace the beef with chicken. And to my delight, the kind restaurant owner agreed..!!

This dish contains baked chicken stuffed with vegetables. Alongwith chicken are some potato wedges and some more boiled vegetables.

The chicken has been baked to perfection..!! The vegetables stuffed inside, the aroma and smooth amalgamation of the different textures made my head spin with wonder. There is absolutely no doubt that people love Italian food and sing praises about it. This dish is an example of the same. It looks simple, but don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

This dish is best had with bread. Now I didn’t know that bread was available in unlimited supply in Italy. The kind owner was pretty much insistent on me having more bread. I did have a lot of it – much more than my regular intake – perhaps the highest intake at one go in my entire life so far. My goodness, what a superb taste they had. What a perfect combination with the dish in hand. Marvelous..!! I had to literally plead with the owner not to give me any more bread for the fear of bursting my poor stomach open. The taste was such that I didn’t want to stop eating, but some torturous decisions have to be taken with a very heavy heart.

Italy packs a mighty culinary punch. Every region, rather, every village of Italy will have something unique for the food lover. Torino in the Piedmont region, thus, is no exception. I believe one must travel to Italy just to have food from different regions of this Country. Forget the Colosseum or the canals of Venice. When in Italy, hop from one traditional Italian restaurant to another and have the traditional Italian foods, one after the other. Such a culinary trip will be worth remembering for an entire lifetime. I plan on doing this during my next visit to Italy.

And how dare I forget about Italian Wines, that too in the Piedmont Region? Trust me, I didn’t forget this one.

This beauty is the Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato Wine, which is produced in Castagnole Monferrato village in the Piedmont region.

Ruche is a variety of red grape which is the native of this very Piedmont Region of Italy. The grapes and these wines are endemic to this region only, and hence are protected by the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) Label accorded by the Italian system of labeling wines. Under the EU Reforms of 2008, DOC label of Italy is considered equivalent to  Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, which the highest degree of Protection or the Ultimate Label which states the uniqueness or endemical nature of the food or drink.

And this Ruche wine did live upto the tremendous expectation of the fabled Italian wine. In my opinion, I got slight citric, perhaps orange, notes from the wine alongwith a distinct floral aroma of the rose. The after-taste was a bit acidic. The Ruche Wine with the chicken (or beef) is a deadly combination – you may never want to leave the table and have more of both.

Being in the Piedmont Region, sipping the fabled and celebrated Piedmont Wine, having Piedmontine food and watching the classic Piedmontine Italian streets and seeing the sun slip between the Majestic Italian Alps – this combination will play havoc in your mind and soul. I never wanted to leave. And I am unapologetic towards this love of mine for Torino.

And a place becomes strikingly beautiful not only by its sights and scenes, but also, perhaps more so, by its people. I had a pleasant discussion with the owner of the Hotel Cantina Torino in Turin, Italy. He not only offered me advice on the wide range and characteristics of authentic foods of Torino and the Piedmont Region, but also provided me with useful advice regarding the places to visit in the Piedmont Region. And all this despite me not asking for such information in the first place. And I believe that is one of the many examples of going the “extra mile” towards helping the tourists. Could this be one of the reasons why Italy is a popular tourist destination? I would like to believe that in affirmative.

When

The picture was taken in June 2019 CE

Equipment

Nokia 6.1 Mobile Phone Camera

Hope you liked the food and drink and are intrigued by them.

The real purpose of traveling should not be to merely click pictures of some of the biggies like Colosseum or Eiffel Tower.

There is immense beauty in the unknown. There is beauty even right under our nose, as exemplified by these delicacies. Perhaps a culinary trip to Italy will be far more fulfilling than a few selfies near the Colosseum.

Looking forward to interacting more with you and “Make Mondays un-mundane”..

Cheers..!!

© Abirbhav Mukherjee. All the pictures / videos posted in this article are my own unless otherwise mentioned.

42 comments

    1. Thank you so much Madam for your concern.. ❤ 😊
      That's so sweet of you.. 😊😊
      I am doing good and hope you are safe and healthy as well.. 😊
      The past week and this one has been quite hectic in terms of work, hence the lack of action in terms of blogging. Hopefully, will spring back during the weekend.. 😊
      Take Care Madam..!! Eager to check another of your Friday posts.. 😊😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. The food does look delicious. Lovely description of it too. So true, the fun is in experiencing the place rather than running around to see the sights. We did just that at Sorrento and Florence in Italy – walked the lanes, savored the food and let each moment soak. You took me back with this post.

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    1. Thank you so much Madam..!! 🙂 🙂
      I am glad you could relive your Italian sojourn with this post.. 🙂
      Fully agree, traveling should involve experience the place and its culture rather than running for the biggies..!! Thank you once again, Madam.. 🙂 🙂

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    1. Ahh… I wish I could write about Sicilian and Maltese food.. ♥️♥️
      During my next visit to Italy and Malta, I will have such foods and explore the culinary delights of Italy and Malta.. 😊😊
      Hope you travel soon to Italy and enjoy the Italian foods .. 😊😊
      Thank you so much for your visit.. Glad you liked it..!! 😊😊

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    1. Of course Madam, Italian is a paradise for foodies..!!
      I am 200% sure that there will be great many varieties of traditional Italian vegetarian or vegan foods.. One just needs to search a bit as non-veg items like beef or pork are more readily available.. Naples is famous for pizzas..
      And Bolognese doesn’t belong to Bologna.. 😉
      Thank you Madam for your comments though you don’t like non-veg food or wine.. I am honoured that you still appreciate this post..!! ❤ 😊

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you so much.. 😊😊
      I am so happy you liked the article.. 😊😊
      Though I am sure that I will write in similar fashion for the food you make, or the traditional ones in Poland as well.. ❤ 🇵🇱

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    1. Well, if I shout at the Boss Lady then she may chase me with a club, and I shudder to think about the consequence if she manages to catch me.. So, no shouting business.. 😊😊

      It’s good to know that the post had achieved the desired effect, especially on you.. 😊😊 I am sure you got the Roman culinary experience in Rome. If you venture out to the less touristy places for food, I am 500% sure that you will never return with an empty stomach or an empty spirit (spirit in both literal and figurative sense). Italy does pack a mighty punch. Be careful, you may never want to leave.. xx 😊😊

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      1. Oh we had fun in Rome. O know they say when in Rome, do as the Romans do but we went to an Irish bar, largely cos we just wanted a cool beer and we did not want another accompanying plate of lasagne with that cool beer. It was quite an evening, cos I gave up our barstools to this lady who had hurt her ankle, bossed the Mr into shutting up–he had nipped to the gents at the time which was in a building along the street..yes –about it. And you know what, it was the best thing I ever did. That couple turned out to be Frank Mutabila and his then wife Evelyn. Not kidding. The rest of the evening was on the house. We came back through St peter’s Sq are midnight and had it to ourselves. So although this was the big tourist draw we had our uncliched moments.

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        1. Well, you should have been to the “Roman” bar, as its said “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.. 😉
          But on hindsight, that gave you an opportunity to meet Mr. Frank Mutubila.. 😀 impromptu meetings with great people is quite surprising and worth cherishing.. 😀 An uncliche moment indeed.. 😀
          On a side note, I feel pity for the Mr. .. 😉

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    1. Thank you so much Madam.. 😊😊😍😍
      It is an honour to be appreciated by the hosts, directly for writings depicting their country and culture.. ❤ 🇮🇹
      As I said before, Italy is lovely.. I shall try to have as much Italian food as possible during my next visit to Italy.. 🍷🍕 ❤ ❤

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you so much Madam.. 😊😊
      The honour is mine as you, being the host, found this article good.. 😊😊 It feels good to know that my small token of thanks has been received well by the host country.. ❤ 🇮🇹
      And I love Italy..!! 😊😊

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