Langhe Quotes

“The Langhe is a paradise, a giardino: pears, apples, pomegranates, chestnuts. Everything you could want to eat falling from a tree. And above all, nocciole. You see those trees? Those are South American hazelnuts. Fatter. Rounder. There are also the smaller Turkish hazelnuts, but Ferrero Rocher uses the big ones to make Nutella. And wine- everywhere, wine. Barbera, Bonarda, Dolcetto, and the king, Nebbiolo, the king of all grapes.”
― Matt Goulding, Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture

“Loro avevano ammazzato, più borghesi che partigiani, avevano fatto falò di cascine, e razziato, avevano sforzato donne, intruppati uomini e preti perché gli portassero le cassette delle munizioni e gli facessero scudo da noi. Erano venuti in tre divisioni, a setacciare tutto e tutti. Ma, chiedo perdono ai morti e alle loro famiglie, scusa a quelli che ci han perduta la casa e il bestiame, ma io credo che allora tedeschi e fascisti non si siano salvate le spese. Non fu abilità nostra, né che loro fossero tutte schiappe. Fu, con la sua terra, la sua pietra e il suo bosco, la Langa, la nostra grande madre Langa.”
― Beppe Fenoglio, Lettere 1940-1962

“Renzo from Roddino leaves us on the doorstep of Osteria da Gemma, a Langhe culinary landmark in a village scarcely large enough to fill the restaurant. Before we can shake off the wet and the cold, before we can see a menu or catch our breath, the waiter comes by and drops a cutting board full of salumi between us. Prego. Then another plate comes out- carne cruda, a soft mound of hand-chopped veal dressed with nothing but olive oil and a bit of lemon, a classic warm-up to a Piedmont meal.
The plates continue, and it soon becomes very clear that we have no say in the matter. Insalata russa, a tricolore of toothsome green peas, orange carrots, and ivory potatoes, bound in a cloak of mayonnaise and crumbled egg yolk. Vitello tonnato, Piedmont's famous take on surf and turf: thin slices of roast beef with a thick emulsion of mayo and tuna. Each bite brings us slowly out of the mist of emotion and into the din of the dining room.”
― Matt Goulding, Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture