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The recipe for Snails with Cervere leeks by starred chef Gianpiero Vivalda, the skilful recovery of an ancient tradition

The Cervere leek, the historical pride of the town in the province of Cuneo, celebrated for its organoleptic and healthy properties, comes back to life in a recipe from the two Michelin star Antica Corona Reale restaurant

The recipe for Snails with Cervere leeks by starred chef Gianpiero Vivalda, the skilful recovery of an ancient tradition

The symbolic monument of Cervere, a small town of just over 2000 souls in the province of Cuneo, is the Tower of Monfalcone, 33 meters high, testimony to a glorious past of the ancient medieval castle belonging to the Sarmatorio family, destroyed for the first time in 1274 and definitively demolished in the XNUMXth century.

But there is another monument that keeps the city's pride high today and it is His Majesty the Cervere Leek, cultivated in the fertile valley adjacent to the Stura river to which every year an important fair is dedicated in the month of November which lasts for several weeks, bringing together thousands of gourmet enthusiasts, transforming it into a great gastronomic event in the area.

The lands of Cervere where this vegetable is grown have particular characteristics, they are composed of silt, fine sand and limestone; a rare combination in nature which gives this variety of leek a sweet flavour, pleasant to the palate and above all highly digestible. From a nutritional point of view, leek is a natural antioxidant thanks to its content of mineral salts such as iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium, vitamins (C, A, K and E) and flavonoids. It has hydrating, diuretic and laxative properties, which makes it an excellent ally for the proper functioning of organs such as the liver, intestine and bladder. And it is ideal for activating the body's purifying functions while simultaneously acting as a remineralizer.

From a historical point of view, some scholars have hypothesized a Celtic origin, which would date it back to 3.000 years BC. The leek was known and cultivated in ancient Egypt, already 2.000 years before Christ; as the hieroglyphs of the pyramids tell us, the leek was consumed by the slaves responsible for building the cyclopean buildings. Over the centuries, leek cultivation passed from the Nile valley to the Greco-Roman area. Several ancient authors mention this plant which is widely described by Pliny as the "porrum" of the Romans. The leek is part of that small group of plants which, throughout the Middle Ages, contributed to solving the food problem during the recurring famines and plagues which, in those times, raged on the populations.

In Cervere, production is linked to cultivation methods handed down from generation to generation, which are difficult to adapt to any type of mechanization and, therefore, retains a strong component of manual labor which hinders large-scale production.

And this vegetable could not fail to have a place of honor in the cuisine of the Antica Corona Reale di Cervere starred restaurant today entrusted to the gastronomic wisdom of Gian Piero Vivalda who has taken up the baton of an ancient family tradition that dates back to the dawn of 1800 when Alessandro Vivalda opened a shop welcoming fellow villagers at mealtimes or during the sleepy chatter of the afternoon. But not only that, soon on Sundays the local notables also begin to show up, with waistcoats and big onions dangling from their pockets, institutional hats and mustaches, who have heard about this country house where river fish and large enriched polenta are cooked. from game, salami and bacon, and whatever was in brine, fresh or compote vegetables, fresh or canned fruit, put away after cooking in the copper pot on the fire lit at the end of summer. And some black pudding, sweetbreads, pig's feet boiled in water and vinegar.

An important legacy was that collected by Gian Piero Vivalda, at the beginning of the nineties who took over the helm of the restaurant with a very clear concept: tradition is the centre, but it is not an immobile engine: it should not only be venerated with the repetitiveness of a litany , but stimulated, put to the test, it must be made to flourish again with new techniques. Techniques that Vivalda has built by gaining experience in some of the most prestigious European culinary sanctuaries such as Alain Ducasse, the Carrè des Feuillantes in Paris, the Restaurant Georges Blanc in Vonnas, refining itself in the in-depth analysis and optimization of local and seasonal raw materials, a philosophy that has contributed to shaping the distinctive character of the cuisine of the ancient royal crown, achieving extraordinary results which earned him recognition from the Michelin guide in 2003 with the first star followed by the second star six years later, national and international awards including the entry to exclusive circuits such as Les grandes tables du Monde and the Relais Chateau association.

The leek and rennet apple snails offered to Mondo Food readers are a typical dish of the Piedmontese tradition "in which flavor and clarity of flavors find balance with delicacy and juiciness, in a summa in which butter acts as a seal".

The recipe for snails with Cervere leeks and Renette apples

The ingredients (for two people)

40 snails (type HelyxPomatia Alpina) cooked and washed

2 Cervere leeks

1/2 Renetta apple

20 g of centrifuged butter from traditional Piedmontese Inalpi supply chain

Salt to taste

pepper to taste

nutmeg to taste

1/2 shallot

The preparation

The snails must first be boiled in plenty of moderately salted water for about 45 minutes; then shell them, taking care to separate and exclude the terminal part of the snail, which is more bitter and less pleasant. Clean and cut the Cervere leeks into 8 mm long slices. Peel and cut the Renette apples, first into six segments and then, from each segment, obtain five small pentagons approximately 5 mm thick. Separately, cut the shallot and blanch it in boiling salted water.

In a copper pan, let the butter foam, add the snails and shallots, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. “The butter from INALPI's Traditional Piedmontese Centrifugal Supply Chain – explains the chef – is recommended not only for its delicate flavour, but also for its balance and stability during any type of cooking”.

In another pan, sauté the leek slices with the butter over medium-high heat. Blanch the apple pentagons in a non-stick pan and finally serve, after adding the leeks and snails and mixing them well.

The plating

On the base of the plate, place five pentagons of blanched apple for each portion and the snails and leeks on top. Garnish with a fan of raw Renetta apple and serve.

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