A Festival for Every Flavour in Italia

October offers a bounty of food festivals throughout la bella Italia. Whether your palate prefers savoury or sweet, there’s something for every taste and proclivity.

Here are some of Bon Vivant’s Preferred Picks:

Alba International White Truffle Fair
This yearly ode to the “superior” white truffle takes place this year from October 9 to November 14th in the historic centre (or “centro storico”) of Alba, Italy. Truffle Markets run every Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 8pm to ensure you get your fair share of the fragrant tuber. Some of the world’s most celebrated chefs and their legion of followers descend upon Alba to fete the Tuber Magnatum Pico (aka white truffles). At £1600 per kilo (or $2500 USD per pound), these are considered the very best in the world and are sought after with much gusto. You may recall that in 2005, an anonymous truffle aficionado paid $112, 000.00 USD for a 2.5 pound white truffle. This yearly event also features an invitation only truffle auction, a fair and a gastro-tourist’s excuse to explore Piedmontese cuisine. White truffles grow by the roots of hazelnut and oak trees. They are characterized by a distinct musky flavour known to flavour a Piedmontese butter sauce, risotto, upscale omlettes and just about anything other dish to which you want to lend an air of sophistication.

Boccaccesca Food and Wine Festival
From October 2-10, the picturesque Tuscan town of Certaldo will play host to this epicurean delight. From spiced meats, cheeses, local olive oils, freshly baked breads, preserves and other local specialties, hungry travelers and locals alike delight in this yearly festival.
Certaldo celebrates everything local with particular emphasis on culinary traditions over two weekends with food stalls, tastings, cooking classes, chef competitions and workshops set up in courtyards, gardens and along the town streets. The narrow, medieval thoroughfares are happily filled with the stands of craftsmen and women from every part of Tuscany.
The festival runs Friday and Saturday evening from 6 pm to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 9 pm. The town of Certaldo can be reached by train or bus on the Florence-Siena train line, and a short cable car ride takes visitors to the upper town of Boccaccesca, the medieval town of Giovanni Boccaccio. There’s a 5 Euro entrance Fee on Saturday and Sunday, but Fridays are free. An extra 3 Euro will buy you a complimentary glass of local vino.

Eurochocolate:
If you dream in chocolate, then Eurochocolate, being held this October 15 to 24 in Perugia, will be sure to please any sweet tooth! Perugia, as you may know, is home to the chocolate and hazelnut clusters devoured the world over and known as Bacio Perugina (bacio means kiss in Italian).

There’s no entrance fee to this Willy Wonka chocolate-lover’s delight which runs from 9am-8pm daily (except Saturday which goes until 11pm). Chocolate competitions, sculpture making, tastings (of course!), and Eurochocolate World which takes a look at the socio-economic issues of chocolate production around the globe are all on offer. Gluttons be warned- there’s a new take on Tiramisu called Tiramigiu (pull me up) that’s sure to tempt your taste buds. Held at the Sala del Cerp della Rocca Paolina in Perugia.

Dobar Tek- Croatian for Bon Appétit!

I speak Croatian like a one year old. Despite my best efforts, my Romance Language hard-wired brain (native tongue is Spanish), just doesn’t want to jive with my husband’s Slavic lingo. I can say bread, cheese, meat and cake with the best of them in Croatian - interspersed with a please and a thank you. That held me in good stead as we travelled through Croatia recently (he’s a fluent speaker so I didn’t have to say too much) - a beautiful country that in parts looks the spitting image of Italy’s Tuscany at a fraction of the price. And yes, the food and wine are as good!

There is a major food distinction to be made in Croatia. Inland cuisine features a “Continental” style repertoire with hearty meat, potato and bean dishes for example. On the coast, dishes lighten up and feature seafood, olive oil and other Mediterranean delights. Within short proximity of each other, we were happily able to sample both.

We started in inland Istria- an area of Croatia that used to belong to Italy. Signage in this part of the country is both in Croatian and Italian with towns like Umag are also known as Umago. And coincidentally, inland Istria is also home to the Croatian truffle. One fine day, Giancarlo Zigante’s dog Diana found the Guinness World Record-holding truffle weighing in at a lofty 1,310 kg! That was November 1999 near the sleepy town of Livade- which now boasts of one of the finest restaurants in the area belonging to Zigante whose specialty is of course (drum roll please) the truffle! Weighed before being delicately shaved over fish, soups and roasted meats- this earthy, sensual delight is in no short supply here and is as good as the Piedmontese varieties. In fact, a lot of truffle I saw on a recent trip to Italy was from Croatia, just packaged in Italy! Dear reader, I’m effusive, but not prone to too much exaggeration. I was as surprised as you are.

The day after celebrating our wedding anniversary at Zigante’s and dining like royalty (truffle even in our dessert!), we drove to the home town of one of the grande dames of Istrian cuisine, Lidia Bastianich (restaurateur, chef, cookbook author and TV show host). The sea-side city of Pula greeted us with an afternoon sun that illuminated the ancient amphitheatre with every shade of gold. Spectacular columns and Roman statues proudly flanked what was once a public gathering space; a crisp blue sky playing background to its majesty.

We walked to the waterside promenade- The Riva- where locals suggested we try just caught fish and a local specialty- blitva. Boiled potatoes, wilted swiss chard, caramelized garlic gently bathed in a light olive oil makes the most perfect partner to a piece of freshly grilled brancin (or sea perch) with a glass of fabulous local Malvasia wine. It was all I could do to muster a sincere “Puno hvala” (thank you very much) to our suntanned server who smiled at my kid-like attempt to speak his language. In mid-stride, he stopped, turned around and in stilted English replied “You are very welcome! Come back and visit us again.” You can count on it!

Photos by Mary Luz Mejia, from top to bottom: Zigante Trgovina, where tourists and locals alike fine truffle cream, truffle oil, olive oil, Malvasia wine; Our server slices the whisper thin truffles onto our dish. The REAL deal!

Where do you stand on truffles?

August is here and so is the truffle hunting season in Italy. When it comes to truffles, most people either adore them and salivate at the thought of a nice risotto or they think they smell like a musty basement. I personally cannot stand the smell or the taste, but my Cuban husband who had no idea what truffles were until he arrived in Toronto thinks truffle oil makes everything, and I mean everything, taste great so he liberally drizzles over most of his food, even the sacred Cuban black beans and rice. So when we went to Italy, of course we had to go and hunt for truffles. We were in Piemonte, one of the best regions in Italy to hunt for the precious mushrooms. Unlike most mushrooms, truffles grow underground, so you need an expert hunter or a trifolau, to help you find them. And of course they grow in dense forests so the hunt is always a dirty and exhausting venture but if you are lucky enough to find one it’s like finding gold so it’s worth every moment even if you come out of the journey full of scratches and insect bites.

Truffle hunting season starts in August and ends in January. The winter months can be very wet so be ready for lots of mud and dampness. The three regions in Italy known for truffles are Piemonte, Umbria and Tuscany. Most people include truffle hunting as a part of a food and wine tour so that you can also discover the other culinary treasures Italy has to offer. The mountains in Piemonte are dotted with wineries which produce a variety of wines including the Dolcetto. Umbria is home to the Orvietto wines, Perugina chocolates and produces some of the best olive oils. And of course Tuscany is the embodiment of Italian culture and cuisine. So if you love food Italy is the place to be, and if you are there in the fall and winter, then you may want to trek in the woods looking for truffles. But if you prefer savouring to trekking, then you will have to settle for a drizzle and a whiff.

Tell us - where do you stand on truffles? Do you love them? Or are you like me and hold your nose when someone drops the oil onto their food?