Tag: train

Christmas market in Aosta: a train trip for the holidays – Italian Cuisine

Christmas markets, Marché de Noël, Christkindlmarkt: call them what you want, the fact remains that they return, December after December, stainless and evergreen, ready to animate the squares of the most evocative places in our country with their stalls full of merchandise. Reaching them comfortably, without traffic stress and without problems of sudden snowfalls or frosts is not impossible: to start their Christmas shopping no problem, incredulous and skeptical, they just have to get on one of the Trenitalia regional trains that arrive in the most evocative and glamorous locations of the Beautiful country.

Aosta, Roman city
Like Aosta, for example. In the past his name was Augusta Praetoria, a small Rome of the Alps, scattered with majestic buildings wanted by senators, matrons and emperors. Even today, among the streets of the center (a kind of grid typical of the ancient Roman colonies) you come across a Arch of Triumph, dedicated to Augustus and built to celebrate the victory of the legions of Rome over the indigenous population of the Salassi. The ancient decumanus, the main road of ancient Augusta passed right under the Arch and continued until it passed Porta Praetoria, from where the gigantic city walls started, scattered with watchtowers so mighty that they became, in the Middle Ages, the homes of local lords. Another dive into the distant past of the city takes place in front of the Roman theatre, which at the time of Augustus was destined to host shows and performances: one of the surviving facades, embroidered with arches, windows and columns, is still imposing today, as imposing and well preserved is the staircase where the spectators applauded the plays of Plautus or the tragedies of Seneca. It is in the shadow of these two testimonials of Roman Aosta that one of the most popular Christmas markets in the Alps is held.

Stalls of rustic goodness
Here is, for all, the Marché Vert Nöel, open until January 6, 2022: its historical site winds through the arches, the steps and the stage walls of the Roman Theater with about thirty chalets which, ideally, reconstruct an alpine village among firs and pines. Decorated with garlands and lights, they sell wooden objects (the famous grolla and sabot, the traditional clogs) or ceramic, hemp, wool or felt fabrics (such as draps della Valgrisanche), soaps and scented candles. However, craftsmanship and more. Here, in fact, the greedy traveler also finds excellent products to taste and buy: the Bleu d’Aoste (one of the most popular blue cheeses in the valley), the Jambon de Bosses (mountain and Guinness cured ham since it is the highest in Europe), the Lard from Arnad, i wines of the Route des Vins (Gamay and Donnas, Torrette and Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle), jams and honeys, spirits (including Genepy) and beers from local micro breweries.

The arch and the Fontina
For the 2021 edition, the Marché does it in two because even the pedestrian area of theArch of Augustus becomes a location for stands and chalets: here, next to the workstations of local artisans, is the Fontina Chalet, the famous and celebrated DOP cheese produced exclusively in the Aosta Valley and aged in charming aging cellars. The Arco d'Augusto is also the location of the evocative previews of the Sant'Orso Fair (held every year on 30 and 31 January): every weekend the artisans of the Valley show how they create their wonders and dedicate time and space also for visitors under 12 to whom tailor-made workshops and ateliers are reserved.

How to get
Direct connections between the Turin railway station and Aosta are daily thanks to Trenitalia's Regionali Veloci carried out with the new bimodal convoys, which depart practically every hour from the city of La Mole and arrive at their destination in less than two hours. The trains stop in Chivasso, Ivrea, Pont Saint Martin, Hone-Bard (Sundays and holidays), Verres, Chatillon-Saint Vincent, Nus and end the journey in Aosta.

December 2021
Enrico Saravalle

Nutella roll train – Italian Cuisine

First of all prepare the biscuit dough: whip the eggs with the sugar for at least 10 minutes (you will need to obtain a light and fluffy mixture), then add the sifted flour and yeast and finally milk and vanilla.

Pour the mixture onto the oven tray lined with parchment paper, level the surface well and bake in a preheated convection oven at 220 ° C for about 8-10 minutes (check the browning, it should not brown too much).
As soon as it is ready, turn it over on a second sheet of parchment paper and pull off (gently) the old sheet.

While it is still hot, spread the Nutella on your biscuit dough, then roll it up on itself with the help of parchment paper.
Let it harden in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Take the roll back, divide it into 3 equal parts (they will be the train carriages) and cut off the ends, so as to have sharp and straight edges (keep the cut ends, you will need them for decoration).
Use the Mikado sticks to connect the 3 wagons together.

At this point melt the dark chocolate and use it to attach the cut ends to the wagons, to form the chimney (on the front of the wagon) and the front of the locomotive, and then also the round biscuits, to form the wheels.

Decorate the final wagon as if it were a coal carrier wagon, using melted chocolate to attach the mikadoes (creating a rectangle) and smarties, to be placed inside the rectangle.
Create decorations with melted chocolate on the central car.
Finally, stick with the melted chocolate some smarties on top of the chimney and the rectangular cookies (on the back of the first car, behind the chimney) to create the cabin (remember to attach the cookies together with the melted chocolate as well).

We completed our Nutella roll train by attaching mini marshmallows to the chocolate of the central wagon and red smarties as the roof of the locomotive cabin (we also put one in front of everything, on the front of the locomotive), covering the chimney with melted chocolate, and sprinkling everything with icing sugar to give a more Christmas touch.

Eating at the train station: how and where to eat (and also very well) – Italian Cuisine

Gourmet menus enjoyed in the dining car or waiting for a train, oysters and champagne instead of the old, somewhat stale toast. At the station there is no lack of fine dining and indeed trains, inside and out, have become increasingly ideal locations to give vent to the creativity of great and creative gastronomic talents.

Bye bye sandwich
The station is no longer a place for frugal and hasty meals and not even the train. Assuming they ever were. Already because the train, then downgraded to cheap (and recently returned in vogue as a means of chic transport), was once the way to travel more luxurious. In the restaurants' refreshment points there is still today an exquisite concentrate of old and new Europe, which fills the bistros, cafes and brasseries of the large stations and winds its way through the wagons of restaurants with menus signed by the great chefs. The atmospheres are literary and evocative, the furnishings suggestive even when they are not gorgeous.

For the station?
One of the first to be mentioned The blue train of Paris, with its crystal chandeliers, the waiters in uniform and the dishes, ça va sans dire, strictly French. It is located inside the Gare de Lyon and was inaugurated with the name of Buffet de la Gare de Lyon, by the then President of the Republic Emile Loubet, on 7 April 1901. Here you can enjoy a delicious and refined cuisine or take a tea or an aperitif, contemplating the windows, the golden stuccos and refined paintings.

The Guardian ranking
From the modern baroque of the Midi of Bruxelles all 'East Express of Istanbul to finish with the To Train I'm Rouf from Athens, with outdoor track for the summer, the new gorumet destinations are right between the station tracks. As the Guardian points out with its ranking dedicated to restaurants in European stations, where there is also the Vyta Santa Margherita, boulangerie of travelers at the Rome Termini station headed by the Retail Group of Nicolò Marzotto or the new city bar inside Santa Maria Novella. Just to name names. The British newspaper also mentions Kutno Station, in Poland, o the Grand Brasserie at Agen Station French, the Basel Brasserie, Spean Bridge, in the Scottish Highlands. Without forgetting the Gare de Saint-Germain-des-Fossés, in the Auvergne, where one can taste the best omelettes in the world.

TO board
If on the one hand it is right to mention the most refined Venice Simplon Orient Express where you experience an exuberance of splendor in the round, more affordable for everyone deserve our attention delicious dishes that Yes find on Arrows of Trenitalia. Itinere is in charge of the French group Elior, who takes care of the catering on high-speed trains with innovative services: the menus for the executive class bear the signature of Carlo Cracco, in the restaurant regional dishes are offered on rotation and then vegetarian menus, for children, snacks for celiacs and diabetics and local service. Luxury flows between the rails.

Emanuela Di Pasqua
July 2019

Photo credits Geograph WIkipedia

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