Tag: town

Trip out of town to Laveno Mombello on Lake Maggiore – Italian Cuisine

By cable car you get so high that you can see the Madonnina, go to the discovery of fortresses and hermitages or sit at the table, listening to the sound of the waves. What to do and where to eat (at Hotel Al Porticciolo) one hour from Milan

Birthplace of two symbols of Italy, Renato Pozzetto and Richard Ginori, today Laveno it has lost the reputation of "city of ceramics" to become the destination of a trip out of town for the Lombards. The location is strategic: just over an hour's drive from Milan and with a landing stage in the city center from which continuous ferries ply the lake to Verbania on the other side and the Borromean islands.

Where to eat: the star with the menu for 35 euros

Like many towns on the lake, the tourist venues mix with those for the citizens (which have nothing special in the eyes of those who come from outside in search of typical dishes and good food), but in Laveno there is a place that combines excellent value for money and starry cuisine.
Sitting with the water a few steps away, hearing the sound of the waves, enjoying the coolness of the lake is one of the reasons that made the restaurant The table of the Hotel Il Porticciolo the favorite place to stop to eat in the area. Perched on the rock between the hills and the lake, the terrace where you can eat in the summer is covered and so close to the water that you are literally on it: a wonderful location. A fortune, and at the same time the cross of those who, in addition to the sight, want to offer refined cuisine, quality raw materials and adequate service. Those who come for the view return for the kitchen; often docking right at the marina from which the hotel takes its name.
There Bassetti family manages this hotel with love and professionalism, so much so that in 2017 it deserves a Michelin star. In the kitchen at the time there were only Roberto, born in 1982, and his father Giovanni, who together with his mother Elisabetta are divided between the living room and the kitchen. Son of art, a degree in Tourism Sciences at the Iulm University of Milan, he left for the kitchens of Davide Oldani first, of the Four Seasons in Milan, and then ended up in France at the Atelier de Joel Robuchon, 2 Michelin stars in Paris and then by Yannick Allenò and at the Mandarin Oriental Palace always in Paris. In 2012 he returned home bringing with him a good wealth of experiences, to be declined in the family restaurant. Not an easy challenge when you glide over the grandeur of French cuisine and you have to deal with it lake fish (but not just that) and international tourists. Two restaurants, The Osteria where to have lunch or dinner a full menu at 35 euros choosing from dishes such as fried prawns, ginger and paprika mayonnaise, wild herb oil; a classic such as Tagliolini with fine herbs and brandy prawns or a lavender fillet cooked on one side, sweet and sour sauce, spinach and champignons. The table instead, always overlooking the terrace, offers a research cuisine. As good and delicious as a cocktail of eighties prawns, its Sicilian red prawn crudo, shellfish paper and romesco sauce is super technical, for a comforting result: tartare shrimp body, fried head and legs, a shellfish card made drying a broth of scraps. A concentrate of flavor. Spicy iodine spaghetti, dill oil, horseradish snow or At sunset: lamb, green apple and pepper lacquer. After lunch, or for guests, you can rent the hotel motorboat to discover the lake or you can ask for one of the two pedal boats with which to ply the water under the sun, enjoying the natural beauty.

What to see: by cable car or along the lake

In Laveno, life flows by the lake, along via Labiena, full of shops, and around Piazza Fontana, the heart of the historic center, bordered by old railing houses, Art Nouveau buildings, gardens and the beautiful Villa Frua, now home to the town hall and the library. A few steps away, the Perabò Palace in Cerro preserves the portico in a beautiful cloister Civic Earthenware Collection, but for those who want to fill their eyes with beauty, the best way is the one towards heaven.
From the center of Laveno you start by cable car, better to say by cable car up to 1100 meters, almost on top of the top of the mount Sasso del Ferror. Return ticket for 10 euros, close in the small open or closed cabin, in 10 minutes you get to enjoy a grandiose and enchanting panorama of Lake Maggiore, the Alps, the Prealps, the Lombard lakes and the Po Valley. You can see everything: from the Duomo of Milan to Lake Mergozzo, passing through the Varesini Lakes, the Sacro Monte and Lake Maggiore with the Borromean islands. You sit for an aperitif, a lunch at the bar or restaurant with a panoramic view, you relax on the lawn and you can even stay overnight; however, from 7.30 p.m. you don't go down to the valley until the next morning. On weekends, hang gliding enthusiasts launch themselves from here to glide towards the ground.

Outside Porta Laveno

Ten minutes by car, in the historic center of Casalzuigno, thanks to FAI you can visit (with extraordinary openings to be verified) the sixteenth century Villa Della Porta Bozzolo. Always ten minutes away by car, theHermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso Ballaro di Leggiuno, a monastic complex overlooking one of the deepest points of the lake. In the fourteenth century it was inhabited by a community of Augustinian monks, then it changed hands for several orders until today it became a Benedictine community. Since 1970 the hermitage has been owned by the Province of Varese which, in recent years, has been bringing it back to its former glory as well as making it accessible to all visitors with an elevator hidden in the rock. The staircase of two hundred steps instead allows you to take a walk to a panoramic point overlooking the hermitage, on a terrace overlooking the lake; pity that Covid-19 is inexplicably closed to the public in favor of the lift only (for a fee). On the road to Milan, in Angera, there is instead the Rocca, part of the Borromeo route. You enter the medieval garden, walk through the rooms of the Doll and Toy Museum and then you reach the historic rooms with fourteenth century frescoes; and a deadly view, which was why this strategic position had been chosen for the construction of the fortress.

Typical products

Between the provinces of Milan and Varese, in Laveno both pork and savoy cassoeula and bruscitt (minced beef and horse meat) are typical – in addition to lake fish. At home you can instead bring back typical products such as Formaggella del Luinese, a semi-hard matured cheese, made with 100% goat's whole and raw milk, Salame Prealpino Varesino and Varesino Honey, produced by a consortium of 36 producers of the territory.

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Cetara: the town of anchovy sauce – Italian Cuisine

In Cetara, a small village on the Amalfi Coast, anchovy is being prepared. How to prepare, where to buy it, where to sit to eat fish (well, spending little)

On the Amalfi coast everyone stops to visit the beauties of Amalfi, but few continue along the coast to discover equally suggestive and not at all tourist villages, such as that of Cetara. Known since the Middle Ages as the best fishermen in the area, the Cetarians still today they live by fishing and the tourist vocation has only been discovered for a few years and remains a gem for curious travelers, looking for small structures and a relationship with the territory – the still true one.

Few shops, few taverns, few producers that still pass on local traditions such as anchovy sauce. Here's where to go

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The Al Convento restaurant and cuopperia
To try the local cuisine on site, in Italy only one address is known, that of Trattoria Al Convento, restaurant and pizzeria, with an outpost dedicated to street food in the square: The Cuopperia del Convento.

The canned tuna and fish shop

Cetarii is a shop facing the beach, it sells canned fish and offers tastings of different types of tuna, appetizers and sandwiches. You can discover the differences between bluefin tuna, white tuna, alliterate, belly and mackerel. They make gourmet sandwiches with canned fish and croutons to pair with a glass of wine.

The anchovy sauce

There anchovy sauce few produce it, but only one has remained active in the village, Neptune, a family laboratory of salted anchovies and in oil, pesto alla Cetarese but above all anchovy sauce – Slow Food presidium and soon DOP. Colatura di Cetara anchovies is an amber liquid obtained from the maturation of anchovies in salt, according to an ancient procedure handed down from father to son by fishermen and which is now known all over the world thanks to the chefs who have been able to enhance it in their dishes . The anchovy colatura exists clearer and younger, perfect for pasta, and the older and more intense one, to be "used with caution", sells it in 50ml bottles, more than enough.

Cetarese pesto

The recipe of the Cetara pesto alla Nettuno di Cetara includes basil, parsley, garlic, capers, almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, green and black olives, anchovy fillets, anchovy sauce, and olive oil. But there are those who add oregano, spicy chilli peppers, some dried figs, some lemon zest. Can be used on hot croutons or on pasta: the best? Here they have no doubts, they do Gragnano spaghetti slightly salty, which releases a lot of starch and gives more consistency to the pesto.

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Out of town itinerary: Carmagnola, Racconigi and surroundings – Italian Cuisine

The province of Turin and Cuneo are, together, an immense collection of unique places where to stop, even if only for a small regenerating break. If you have time, organize a long weekend

An itinerary to discover the beauties of Carmagnola, Racconigi and surroundings, where it is possible to walk in the royal residences, sleep in an old estate of the late eighteenth century and make a delicious stop in Carignano, to eat an excellent homemade ice cream.

What to do

Carmagnola
December 8 is the Patronal Festival of the City of Carmagnola which is devoted to the Madonna of the Immaculate Conception, a secular bond and very felt by the local community.
On this day there will be a special event of 3D mapping in the central Sant’Agostino square.
On December 15th, the 11th Exhibition of the Porro Lungo Dolce di Carmagnola takes place and the 27th Regional Beef Cattle Show of the Piedmontese breed and the Giora. The protagonists are the sweet leek of Carmagnola, a different product from that of Cervere as it is whitened longer. Treatment that makes it particularly sweet.

The day
With this term, whose etymology derives from the Greek "jerà", that is old, a cow is defined as being abandoned by reproductive activity. With fresh meat you also get an excellent and tasty salami, as well as various cuts of meat. In the preparation of the salami carrè, thigh, shoulder, ugly and good are used, to which are added, after grinding, cubes of pork lard, salt, spices (usually ground white pepper and nutmeg) garlic and Nebbiolo or Barbera wine. In this way a precious sausage is obtained, to be eaten raw after a few months of seasoning: a gastronomic specialty considered niche, with a unique flavor.
Following a precise specification, it is defined Salame by Giora di Carmagnola and recognized as a Product of the Basket of the Metropolitan City of Turin. Try the Azienda Agricola Cascina Savoiarda in Pralormo (To).

To be seen

Not everyone knows that there is the Naval Civic Museum in Carmagnola. The museum is divided into four sections: the history of the Italian Navy, naval activities from the Italian unit to the present, the marine environment and ship modeling. Exhibits exhibits and objects belonging to the National Association of Sailors of Italy.
Curiosity
In Turin, near the Valentino Park (just below the Isabella Bridge), it is possible to see one of the best preserved naval historical finds. It is about Submarine Andrea Provana, which was named in honor of the Piedmontese admiral. The submarine was built in the San Giorgio della Fiat shipyards (in 1915) located in La Spezia and was launched in 1918. The submarine is located within the Parco del Valentino since 1933.

Racconigi
Royal Castle and Racconigi Park Via Francesco Morosini 1.
It became property of the Savoy from the second half of the fourteenth century. The royal family spent the vacation in Racconigi. The residence was built by Guarini for the Princes of Carignano and the majestic park that surrounds it was the work of the garden architect Xavier Kurten, at the service of the House of Savoy since 1816. For visiting hours and tickets we recommend consulting the site of the Royal Residences .

There fourth Sunday of the month, in Racconigi, is held on Antiques Fair, an unmissable event for lovers of vintage things. This large collecting market takes place in the streets and squares of the historic center of Racconigi.

Where to eat

Trattoria del Viaggiatore in Sommariva del Bosco (Cn).
Double soul for this place, which sees two local protagonists in the same structure: on the ground floor the Seyssel Caffè, winery with kitchen. The restaurant is on the first floor.
An interesting menu that crosses tradition with a beautiful interpretation of Piedmontese dishes: Gnocchi with fondue from Castelmagno, the rooster in carpione, the head salad with red onion, stewed veal tripe. A tasty stop if you find yourself in these parts. Seyssel Square 2.

Where to sleep

Tenuta Berroni
A splendid estate surrounded by greenery, it was built in 1773 for the noble de Laugier as a holiday residence. The furnishings and interior decorations were commissioned to the same artists who worked on the decorations at the Racconigi Castle. The Tenuta Berroni apartments are very large, with a kitchenette and a large living room. The first has a double bed and the other has two single beds, they are the ideal place even for extended stays for those wishing to discover the area.
The room price includes a kit (which is found on arrival) which includes coffee, milk, juices, snacks and the yoghurts produced on the estate.
Greedy news: those who stay at Tenuta Berroni are entitled to a 10% discount at the L’Arancera restaurant, which is located within the Estate, but which has an independent management.
Via Tenuta Berroni- Racconigi (Cn).

Carignano
Taste the fabulous Homemade ice cream by Marco Serra, Master of Taste of Turin and Province, while he walks through the beautiful historic center of Carignano. Or order one of his fabulous cakes, a mix of high quality ingredients. Not to be missed. Via Trento 8.