PIEDMONTESE ANTIPASTI
A Piedmontese meal often opens with a sequence of small dishes reflecting seasons, preserves and home cooking.
A meal that begins slowly
A Piedmontese antipasto is rarely a single dish. It is usually a sequence of hot and cold preparations, vegetables, sauces, preserves, eggs and small portions that change with season and place.
The pantry as a culinary tool
Preserves, green sauces, bagna càuda, peppers, tomini cheese and composed salads show the importance of home preservation in regional cooking.
Conviviality before the first course
Antipasti also have a social function: they extend the beginning of the meal and create conversation. In Piedmont, the table often finds its rhythm before pasta or risotto even arrives.
How to read a Piedmontese antipasto
Do not think of it as one dish. In Piedmont, antipasto is often a sequence: vitello tonnato, Russian salad, peppers, tomini, anchovies in green sauce, capunet and cured meats. The pleasure lies in tasting a little of many things and comparing them.
If you are in a trattoria
Do not rush to the pasta. A good antipasto selection already tells you a great deal about the kitchen: preserves, vegetables, sauces, meat and cheese. It is often the easiest way to understand whether a place is genuinely rooted in local food culture.
