LANGHE

Helix and Cherasco

In talking about our life along the ancient salt route, it’s worth putting into context exactly where it is, though a big part of me would like to keep its secrets to myself….. but these secrets are too juicy not to share, so let me tell you about the amazing food culture that has existed there since salt was run by the Romans (did you know that the Italian for salad, insalate, came about because the Romans liked their vegetables salted?). The region of Piedmonte is well known now as the home of the Slow Food movement, a global movement eschewing fast food and advocating produce and recipes that are time honoured, farmed and grown in the old ways, and to be eaten slowly, with consideration and relish. The headquarters of the slow food movement is in Bra, Piedmont, about 40 mins from Costabella, though evidence of it is in every meal and every market in Piedmonte. Torino may be the main city of this region, but smaller towns like Bra, Alba and Cherasco hold their own treasures, like Nebbiolo wine, truffles and snails.

Cherasco is a small town ringed by medeaval walls with fabulous antiques market every so often. But its main attraction is the Festival du Lumaca, or the Snail Festival, the only international event dedicated to the snail.

Even closer to home for us, our neighbours were snail farmers. They moved from Torino to the rural idyll of our tiny hamlet, ringfencing a field with low sheets of corrugated iron and an impressive array of sprinklers. I wonder what they’re doing I asked Stephen. Of course, he already knew. Snailfarming. What??! I was intrigued, who was eating snails to such an extent? This isn’t France!

The funny thing about food, or particularly food in Italy, is that once you learn something previously unknown to you, you start seeing it everywhere. In the supermarket, which I hardly ever went to, I saw netted bags of snails in the chiller cabinets. On my next visit to the market, where I went all the time for my groceries, I saw huge bags of them, the nonnas scooping them out into small bags, like pic and mix. I had no idea how they would cook them, and I didn’t think we would cook them at home, though Stephen really wanted to - but then he ate brain and all kinds of stuff.

So I sent him off to chat to the neighbours to find out.