My hills

Going back to Italy also means for me going back to my hills. I love the seaside, the mountains and the plains of hills but nothing compares to my hills. Not only they are beautiful but they are the source of my people’s riches and livelihood, the vines their wines. In spring they are especially beautiful because of the new rich green colour of the vineyards coming to life again after this year’s long and cold winter.

On Easter Monday my freinds and left out beloved Monferrato region to go for a tour of Le Langhe. Le Langhe is a wonderful wine area located south-east of Turin whiich produces white truffles, Barolo - one of the great Italian red wines - and the Tonda Gentile hazelnut, which makes succulent cakes. It's a region of rolling hills covered with vineyards and topped with villages and medieval castles of red brick.

(View to the Langhe from La Morra and beyond to the Alps)

Below is Barolo, a small village that has given its name to one of the greatest Italian red wines, garnet-red in colour and with spicy, floral aromas of violet and ripe fruit which, on ageing, turn into a rich, complex bouquet of smoke, tobacco and leather.

Here are some samples of the great wines of this area:

In this excellent restaurant of La Morra called "Per Bacco" I had one of my favourite Langhe dishes, "carne all'albese" (albese-style veal), ie. very thin slices of veal seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and flakes of Reggiano cheese and Porcini mushrooms. All this, over a bed of fresh rocket salad (see below).

Simply delicious!