Today our morning class was a wine tasting. Our instructor was a local sommelier who is certified by the International Sommelier Association. He taught in Italian (although quite a few of the speak some English, I suppose as good as my Italian, lol) but Rosanna translated for us. Much of it was the same as our classes in the States, although he spoke only of wines from the Piedmont region-the Barolos, the Barbarescos, the Moscatos and a few of the other whites from this region. We tasted two Barolos and one Barbaresco, then rated them. He gave us the form they use in Italy which is much the same as the scale used by Wine Spectator (so now I understand how they come up with their wine scores-92, 89, etc). Interesting as it was all in Italian, lol! He then asked what foods we would pair with each of the wines we sampled but told us we could not say "meat"!
After the wine tasting, we got on a bus to travel to Trofarello to have lunch at "la Valle". What a charming restaurant. We were expecting the usual three course meal but they kept coming out with dish after dish until we had had seven courses and all of us were busting at the seams!!! We had Tuna Tartare, Angolini Pasta filled with cheese, Salt Cod served over Pureed Potatoes, Risotto with Chanterelle mushrooms, Steak Filet breaded with breadsticks served with Hollandaise, and Berry sorbet with fresh fruit and creme anglaise. Even with all this food, we had to admit that we had not been given much fruit or vegetables during our stay in Italy. After lunch ( and two types of wine-a Chardonnay and a Barolo), we waddled out to the bus to tour a small pasta factory (although the Barilla factory is not far from here). Many of the businesses we have seen here are family owned businesses and are very commited to use local products. They are very proud of their food and traditions. The factory, the Academia Della Pasta, makes fresh pasta but about 90% of their business is frozen pasta. They make pasta for local restaurants, supermarkets, and private businesses. The pasta you get here in Italy may or may not be made by the local restaurant you are eating at! The owner who gave us the tour works with his grandfather and his mother and father. His family has been making pasta for five generations! We were suppose to wat at the end of the tour but Rosanna told them we had just finished a large meal, so instead, they sent 10 kilos of pasta back to the school for us to eat tomorrow for lunch!
After we gotback to our hotel, a few of us decided to take the tram to the Centrale section of Torino to see if we oils find the quaint side of Torino. Much of Torino is industrial but we did manage to find some lovely piazzas and some street vendors and finally got our gelato! Then back to the hotel and bed. Buona Noce!
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