Sunday 22 November
Having friends here is a great excuse for excessive behaviour. So it was this weekend when we wined and dined like kings. After a trip to Alba on Saturday we came back here to Villa Mucci and over dinner we opened a bottle of my 2001 Barbera Superiore and it was truly excellent but what I really want to tell about was our superb truffle lunch the following day (Sunday) in Acqui Terme.
First of all Acqui is a great town, famous for its Roman Spa and permanent supply of natural hot water ( constant 74C ) gushing up from beneath the earth. It is a lovely town and seemingly well managed and looked after.
Right in the centre of the town is La Curia, a restaurant yes but also in a small adjoining room with typical Piedmontese brick domed ceilings there is a gorgeous little enoteca. Surrounded be shelves full of some of the best wines in Italy you can drink beautiful wine whilst nibbling from one of the best selections of stuzzichini (italian appetizers) that you could ever imagine.
If you do have some space left after your La Curia introduction then you should make your way into the restaurant. Right now, truffles are very much a part of the menu and your nose soon picks up the unique wiff of truffles in the air as you enter. We had truffles shaved on three different dishes….on egg, on pasta and on risotto. Wow, wow and wow again what a great taste, decadent yes but for a treat on a misty Sunday afternoon in November…. just wonderful.
What a frustrating blog to read for hard working people, not living in Piemonte. Wining and dining, truffles on three different dishes. Noses picking up the unique wiff of…
I am reading having lunch behind my computer, with simple slices of bread shaved with honest Gouda cheese, partnered by a glass of milk (light), accompagnied by the unique wiff of my colleagues in the air. It is just not fair.
Rob.