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!