BREAKING TIME: The International Alba White Truffle Fair also had to adapt to the new Covid emergency. the Alba event continues exclusively in a digital version, giving space to the streaming tastings offered by the Alba Digital Truffle Lab and Langhe Digital Wine Lab.
Loved since the times of the Sumerians, and then by the Greeks, by the Romans (for Plurtarch it was such an extraordinary and supernatural product that it could only arise from the combination of water, heat and lightning), considered in Asia "food of the Gods", always present to ennoble the tables of the European courts in the 700th century, defined by Gioacchino Rossini, a well-known gourmet, the "Mozart of mushrooms", considered a source of inspiration by Lord Byron who always kept one on his desk, the truffle has crossed history world gastronomy bestowing flavours, aromas and intense atmospheres on the army of its admirers.
Since time immemorial, the Cuneo area has been a land of fine truffles, and when the first book on the Alba White Truffle was published in Milan in 1780, it was consequential to call it Tuber magnatum Pico. The term Magnatum indicated the aristocracy of the product reserved for magnates, the upper classes of the population, while that of Pico was a dutiful tribute to Vittorio Pico, a Turin doctor who had dedicated himself to its classification.
Alba, Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy, it was the first city in Italy to understand the potential of its precious tuber and to dedicate a fair to it, which attracts visitors and enthusiasts from all over the world, which this year celebrates its 90th anniversary. The administration went big to celebrate its premium product.
The fulcrum of the International Fair is the Alba White Truffle World Market, hosted in the Cortile della Maddalena, a former Benedictine cloister now acquired for the great city events and historic venue for the White Truffle Fair. In full compliance with the anti-Covid regulations, by applying quota measures, a 2.000 mXNUMX set-up, with an open-air solution, will guarantee adequate distancing, while offering usability of the spaces even in case of bad weather.
As has been the case since the 90s, the World Market will allow us to discover it extraordinary truffle heritage of the Langhe, Monferrato and Roero and purchase the finest specimens of Tubermagnatum Pico with controlled and guaranteed quality. In fact, the International Alba White Truffle Fair applies a rigorous selection protocol for the fresh product on sale. Every year the Municipality of Alba appoints a commission made up of experts who draws up a regulation to regulate the sale of the truffle to which all the sellers present at the Fair (the "trifulau", in Piedmontese, or the "hunters", but also the traders) must abide. And so every day, before the opening of the World Truffle Market, the sellers present their truffles to the judges of the Quality Commission, who perform an accurate sensory analysis by selecting only the products suitable for sale which, at that point, are counted and weigh yourself. At the headquarters of the National Center for Truffle Studies in Piazza Risorgimento, visitors will be able to receive advice on the conservation and consumption of truffles.
Inside the Cortile della Maddalena, the AlbaQualità food and wine festival which, as the name suggests, offers an exhaustive and complete panorama of the Piedmontese gastronomic and wine offer. Particular attention is paid to local artisan productions, with products for tasting and sale. A specific area is also reserved for tasting the wines of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato offered within the Grande Enoteca by AIS Piemonte, the regional section of the Italian Sommelier Association.
The program of is particularly intense Sunrise Truffle Show, a series of cultural and gastronomic events in which great local chefs and cooks alternate on stage and in the kitchen, sharing a passion for truffles, the culture of good food and good taste. The fulcrum of the Alba Truffle Show are the Foodies Moments, events with exclusive admission dedicated to gourmets in which to discover the best combinations between excellent cuisine and the Alba White Truffle. Every weekend of the Fair and for the extraordinary opening of Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 December, at 11.00 and 18.00, the cooking shows allow you to discover the secrets of the most popular national and international chefs who, for the occasion, vote for the their flair for dishes sewn to measure for the white gold of the Langhe. Each cooking show is translated into English to allow the international public to participate in this immersive occasion in the world of haute cuisine. The most important national and international chefs will take turns cooking the Alba Truffle Show, without forgetting the chefs of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato. So here is Luca Zecchin of “Guido da Costigliole”, Andrea Ribaldone of “Identità Golose Milano”, Christian and Manuel Costardi of “Christian e ManuelRistorante”, Flavio Costa of “Ristorante 21.9”, Pasquale Laera of “Ristorante Borgo Sant'Anna”, FedericoGallo of the "Locanda del Pilone", Paolo Griffa of "Le Petit Royal", Claudio Vicina of the "Casa Vicina– Eataly Restaurant", Gabriele Boffa of the "Relais Sant'Uffizio", Marc Lanteri of the "Ristorante al Castello", Andrea Larossa of "Larossa Restaurant", Davide Caranchini of the "Materia Restaurant", Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani of the "Voce Aimo e Nadia Restaurant", Marco Sacco of the "Piccolo Lago Restaurant", Damiano Nigro of the homonymous restaurant, Stefano Sforza of the "Opera Restaurant" , Ugo Alciati of “Guido Ristorante”, Massimiliano Prete of “Sesto Gusto”, Walter Ferretto of “Il cascinale nuovo”, Viviana Varese of the “VIVA Restaurant”, Matteo Baronetto of the “Restaurant Del Cambio”, Davide Palluda of the “Ristorante All' Enoteca”, Alfredo Russo of “Dolce Stil Novo”, Federico Zanasi of “Ristorante Condividere”, Eugenio Boer of “Ristorante Bur”, Michelangelo Mammoliti of “La Madernassa”, Luca Natalini of “Ristorante Al Pont de Ferr”, Lorenzo Cogodel “ El Coq Restaurant", Riccardo Bassetti of "Il Porticciolo", Francesco Oberto of the "Restaurant da Francesco", Umberto De Martino of the "Florian Maison Restaurant", Massimiliano Musso of the "Cà Vittoria Hotel Restaurant", Massimo Camia of the homonymous restaurant, Enrico Marble from the “Osteria Arborina” and Marco Stabile from the “Ora d'Aria”.
Among the confirmations of this year, given the great success achieved in the previous edition, the Saturdays on the calendar with the Atelier della Pasta Fresca, the laboratory for learning the secrets relating to processing of a specialty that is much more than a food: the ancient ritual handed down from generation to generation, once a moment of celebration and conviviality and today synonymous with refinement, will come back to life thanks to “I Tre Chef”, Albagnulot & Co. – edited by chefs Walter Ferretto, Fulvio Siccardi and Diego Pattarino – and to “Plin”, the famous “pizzicotto” which gives its name to Ugo Alciati's fresh pasta laboratory. For those who want to discover the organoleptic characteristics of the Tuber magnatum Pico, the Alba TruffleShow is also Truffle Sensory Analysis. Guided by a Sensory Analysis judge of the National Center for Truffle Studies, a series of workshops will reveal all the secrets of the most famous mushroom in the world, including olfactory tastings, tests and practical trials. A special appointment to find out how to choose a truffle, how to distinguish its quality, how to preserve it and what are the best ways to consume it, so as to be able to appreciate it to the fullest.
The rich program of the 90th edition, started this week and will continue until 8 December, bringing the number of weeks the event was open to the public to nine.
But the 90th edition of the Fair also embraces innovation. The main headquarters of this association will be the Castle of Roddi, which becomes the headquarters of the “TruffleHub”, the main novelty of this edition: thanks to the important investment of the Piedmont Region, the ancient castle comes back to life, projected towards the future as a territorial digital hub. The relevance of the castle will be home to the Alba Digital Truffle Lab: a digital experience which, through the Truffle Judges of the National Center for Truffle Studies, will accompany the participants in their discovery of the most prized mushroom in the world. Furthermore, for wine lovers it will be possible to take part in the Langhe Digital Wine Lab, which will offer guided digital tastings to discover the great Piedmontese wines, in collaboration with the Consortium for the Protection of Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani and the Alta Langa DOCG Consortium.
To mention again a series of initiatives that enrich the event such as Albaromatic, a kermesse now in its 15th edition, dedicated to the discovery of aromatic herbs and spices in their most disparate uses, inside the Salotto dei Gusti e dei Profumi in piazza Risorgimento, with a selected representation of the stalls of the event. Italia dei Formaggi will host DOP cheeses from different areas of Italy, and above all an event that celebrates the Piedmont hazelnut igp Alta Langa, another famous product of the area.
