Italy trip, Oct 2007 - 'l Birichin

This one Michelin-starred restaurant is a personal recommendation of SP's Italian friend. He was supposed to dine with us that night but due to a change in circumstances, he was unable to join us.

We decided to turn up nevertheless. However, when we arrived, the person couldn't find the booking. There was a booking fr 4 people but the name did not match. It was getting late and I was tired! I tried the puppy-eye look and that eventually worked. He assigned us a nice spacious table overlooking the kitchen. SP thinks it is the best seat in the house because he loves looking at the kitchen at work.

It turns out that the person working at the front is the chef, Batavia Nicola. He was wearing his chef jacket with some very colourful floral pants. He came over and explained the menu very patiently. He recommended the chef's menu, which uses local ingredients. Of course, having the chef's menu also mean that he will be cooking for us. The decision was already made for us! :)

The lights in the restaurant were dimmed so sorry for the poor photo quality.

Bread and grissini (bread sticks). Grissini originates in Turin and the surrounding area in Italy. How fitting it is that we were sitting in a Turin restaurant when we munched on these bread sticks! After some research, I found out that the chef's mother personally makes two kinds of grissini, three kinds of bread, two kinds of focaccia every day.

Potato and lentil soup made with fish stock. It was not too rich so it's a great starter.

Raw veal and strips of rabbit meat. The meat is very lean and flavoursome. The rabbit meat is very tender and it tastes like the good quality chicken we've had at Flipot. We raised the question with the chef and he assured us it is rabbit. The meat is prepared in a special way: the meat is first steamed, then deboned. The meat is then soaked in olive with garlic and sage for a week. The flesh will become white, and it helps that the local bunnies have a light pinkish meat.

We later tried the same dish in another local restaurant. Even though the meat was white, it was not as tender.

All of our dishes were matched with local wine. It saves us from thinking! This one is a Dolcetto from the Langhe region.

Poached egg with herbs on top, cream on the side and some green sauce. SP almost forgot to take photos. There is also a lump of herb souffle on the side. The taste is very simple and the combination works very well. It is very satisfying.

The above dish is served with a great red from Pelissero in the Langhe region

Tagliolini with herbs and cream cheese (Rocherano) from the Olean mountains. The pasta is made with 20 eggs per kilo. The photographer was too excited and he only managed to find time to a photo when we were almost finished! This dish has a home-made feel to it. The pasta is very very good.

Risotto cooked with Babaresco and pumpkin puree, topped with caramelised Barolo and herbs sauce. I think we can confirm here that SP's risotto was way overcooked now. This risotto is still chewy! The sauce is very velvety and smooth. The taste is great. A great combination of sweet and savory.

The sous chef is usually the person cooking....

... while the head chef control the final touches. The head chef is one busy body because he looks after the front desk, the clients as well as the kitchen. In some way, he keeps a very tight reign over the output from the kitchen. We thought he was a bit of a control freak. But later, when we spoke to our B&B host, he thinks it is a good sign because a good chef should also take personal care of what he served the customers.

Beef with caramelised onions and some mashed potato. It comes with some sweet sesame candy. The beef was overcooked for our liking, but then, we weren't even offered the chance to say how we want the beef cooked! Luckily, the beef wasn't too tough. The sauce, the mash and onions were great.

I thought the logo of the restaurant was very cute. The name of the restaurant literally means a 'curious child' (or something like that)

Hazelnut tart and ganache with chocolate sauce, rice puff and a stick! It is made with chocolate from Gobina and the dessert was served with Polifemo wine from Marsala in Sicily. And depending on who you speak to, it may or may not be classified as Italian wine! :P

Then, we were treated to a large tray of chocolate and lollipops. Basically, we can eat as much as we want! Where is the doggy bag?

Another look of our tray of sweets.

The lollipop was made in house and there are no artificial colouring, flavouring or other unnatural stuff. It is a great treat indeed!

Then, as if the chef felt that we weren't being fed properly, we were offered a selection of tiny biscotti.

Petite Four! We had our tea and coffee with the sweets and by the time we left, it was already very late.

I have enjoyed the dining experience at 'l Birichin. Partly because of the great food and partly because of the attentive service. The chef and the waiters were always keen to help or explains things. SP enjoyed watching the kitchen at work. The price is also very reasonable for a Michelin-starred restaurant. I would heartily recommend it, especially if you want to try Piedmonte cooking with a modern twist.


For more information:

http://www.birichin.it/

Italy trip, Oct 2007 - The grand truffle and porcini meal

At the end of the Asti trip, we also dropped by the local porcini reseller to buy some porcini.

Now that we have secured our 'strategic resources', we have to use them to the full potentials!

Black and white truffles, with our new truffle shaver.

Beautiful porcini!

And a whole basket full of them!

Our wine for the night.

What do you make with a white truffle, a black truffle and a basket full of the highest quality of porcini?? Luckily, the 'resident chef' (our B&B host) has already got ideas.

Mr Chef preparing the porcini.

They are absolutely beautiful! Firm and white in the centre. No signs of drying out.

You are only supposed to clean the truffles right before it is added.

So what were our chef's creations?

Thinly sliced raw porcini topped with shaved white truffle, dressed with a fruity extra virgin olive oil. Photo curtesy of Bella Baita

Porcini and Truffle Risotto.

Grilled Porcini to go with the Turkey Saltimboca. We forgot to take a photo of the turkey because we were so busy with the mushrooms and wine! :P Photo curtesy of Bella Baita

The meal was wonderful and so was the company! I think we should do this more often! hahaha

Italy trip, Oct 2007 - A day trip around the Asti region - Part 2

The local region (Langhe) is also famous for the wine. People from around the world would come here to follow the “wine trail” through the typical areas of Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba and Nebbiolo d’Alba to sample the world-famous Nebbiolo wine: Barolo and Barbaresco.

Being the excellent hosts that they are, our B&B hosts took us to a winery that belongs to their friends so that we can source some wine to go with our truffle dinner.

It is located in a beautiful village called Castellinaldo.

It was a Sunday and it was a very last minute arrangement. We basically turned up at their door hoping that they are in. Luckily, Marina is a long-time friend of our host and she was too kind to kick us out!

The Marsaglia Cantina winery is belonged to the the Marsaglia family, who has been making wines in the Langhe region for 4 generations. Most of their slopes are south facing and they produces local grape varieties including Arneis, Nebbiola and Barbera.

Marlina enthusiastically showed us the cellars. She is a very confident and strong-minded woman and she has been the driving force behind the growth of her husband's family business. It is certainly not easy for a woman to do that in Italy and I respect her for that.

We were shown a really old cellar. Though not all the wine in here were old. It has the perfect condition for storing wine.

Marlina patiently explained how each type of wine is aged in the barrels.

I like oaky wine so I say the longer the better!

We also did some wine tasting in the verandah, which offers a great view! What a great way to spend an afternoon!

Italy trip, Oct 2007 - A day trip around the Asti region - Part 1

(this is a loooooong post!)

One of the objectives of our trip was to find my own white truffles. Unfortunately, you can't just go off and search for truffles in the sacred land. Only licensed truffle hunters (trifulau) are allow to search for white truffles.

So, our host got in touch with his friend, who happened to be the president of the Truffle association of the Asti region to get some tips. (In Italy, connections are everything!) He kindly pointed us to the direction of the municipality of Montiglio, to a small hilltop town in the Asti region. Surely we could have visited the world famous Alba truffle market but it is too famous and the prices are naturally higher.

Beautiful sun-dial

It turned out to be an excellent choice. The market are not too crowded and there are many other produce on offer too!

Decorative pumpkins

Dried porcini!

The stall sells a few grades of porcini. I think this batch was the pile on the right of the above photo.

Jars and jars of pickled veggies!

Cheese with Pepper

Cheese with herbs

Soft cheese

They have some very fresh produce around the market.

You can always ask for samples at these local market. I can easily fill myself up just by walking around! hahaha

More sausages!

I wish I can get this prosciutto home. Shame that we don't have a slicer!

Olives

There was an old couple selling baskets in one of the stalls. A small carry basket would only cost around €15-20 and they are all hand made!

My hosts bought one of these brooms for the garden. It is made with real strong branches, not the cheap plastic variety that you can find in the home improvement shops.

SP and I having a go at sawing a log. It wasn't too heavy and the wood wasn't that dense, so it wasn't too difficult.

Later on, the spot turned into a gathering spot for man. I decided to join in!

There were also live music. The costumes were very special and the men are proud of them.

Someone in the middle of the market, you will start seeing truffles. Both white and black ones.

The lump above costs €120! I would say it was about 5-6cm in width and length.

Then, as part of the festival, there is the truffle competition. And it was supported by the local Miss Italia!

SP and our host even took a photo with one of them. Look at those legs! All their bodies look very firm and tone. But as we learnt from our host, we can only find out by having a squeeze! :P

Then, out of no where, there were fast food on offer! I saw the carne crudo (raw beef) topped with black truffle...

I immediately made my purchase. There was no way you could have pulled me back!

Inside the 'fast food' tent, it was packed with people! The smell was amazing! You have a good choices of food and the prices were all around €3-8. Very reasonable.

Ravioli with black truffles

Egg with black truffles

The local ladies helping out to feed us all.

My truffle vendor tried to tempt me by letting me to smell the truffles! He even told me that the truffles are great aphrodisiac. He said his wife is a happy woman!

We bought a white truffle at around €60. Then the couple decided to chuck in a black truffle for free. "For the second time", he said. hahaha. The lady also gave me a book on the region. Too bad I can't read Italian!

As we exited the market, we saw a vintage Fiat car show.

Some of the cars are quite old and they were simply lining up beside the village's main road!

Our day didn't end here, but this is already a long post. So, let's hope that I will have the energy to complete at least the Italian posts before my trip to Morocco tomorrow morning!