Curious about Turin (round 2)

Eating spinal cord, Italian unification offal, agnolotti and some of Italy's finest gelato

As I write from my frigid home office with a view of Florence’s dreary grey skies that feel like 8pm at 4pm, I can’t help but recall a recent Torino soggiorno marked by warming cups of bicerin, steamy plates of stuffed agnolotti doused in roast meaty pan sauce drippings (sugo di arrosto) and citrusy tumblers of rhubarb-ful vermouth aperitivos alongside pickled antipasti stuffed tramezzini.

Earlier this month I did a whirlwind remote work mini break between Milan, Dublin, the Canavese of Turin’s countryside (Piedmont) to meet Michael Zee’s latest endeavor Le Vedette.

I was one of the few lucky guests for their culinary retreat at Halloween weekend fusing Mexican recipes from guest Karla Zazueta. It was magical. stay subscribed for a whole post dedicated to that experience!

The working vacation finished off visiting another friend in Turin city. I’ve found that in order to maintain appreciation for Florence as a home base, I need to leave. Often.

I’ve already written a mini-guide here for where to eat and drink in Turin, and this post is an extension of discoveries from this time around.

If I had to pick one thing that comes to mind subito from Piedmont’s cuisine it would be either cheeses or tajarin, a luxurious yolk rich thin stranded fresh pasta. These silky taglioni are usually tossed with a game meat sauce, truffles or in my preferred case: an umami bomb of garlic-leading anchovy fondue bagna cauda.

Piemontese cuisine is known for much more, not to be reduced to simply yolky pasta, but I wonder how much the average Italy traveler (Italian or not) or Italian food enthusiast knows about Turin’s (or Piedmont’s) culinary identity.

If you ask about food of Rome, they’ll snap back with cacio e pepe, Florence: bistecca alla Fiorentina, Milan maybe they’d bark risotto?

Bologna: mortadella, lasagna and tortellini. Sicily: cannoli. Naples: pizza.

But what’s served in Turin or around Piedmont besides Barolo and truffles? I’m sure this also depends where you are in Piedmont, as regions within regions have their own hyper-local specialties!

One of the common narratives about Turin is that it is Italy’s most under-appreciated culinary hotspot city and has enjoyed being untouched from mass tourism.

Locals hiss keep it this way, don’t shout about Turin! Partly due to cities like Bologna becoming a sort of cautionary tale, also victim of its own culinary success.

Travel media hype boasting the same headlines framing Bologna as Italy’s “hidden culinary gem” has now resulted in the city becoming a touristic hotspot and inheriting all the overtourism challenges that come with it.

But my belief is that Turin would have been “discovered” by now. I believe there has been a sort of refusal of pandering to luxury tourism or expat development like say Milan. Also, I don’t think Turin’s cultural offerings can be summarized in an elevator pitch.

And to me it seems what is waxed on about Turin as Italy’s most elegant under-the-radar destination is simply exaggerated.

Hence why articles like this come out offering a counterpunch perspective for clicks. And as I’ve said, hard to trust someone who thinks Turin is the place for aperol spritz.

But despite their debatable quips (nevertheless valid in being theirs), I ultimately agree with the sentiment. I feel like media needs to be a little more careful how it builds up certain destinations.

Based on my limited experience over past visits and my own eye for Italy, it feels like Turin is experiencing a sort of cultural resurgence after some years in stagnation.

It is a place to see modern food trends forged for Italians, not influenced by yet another anglo bakery brunch concept terribly carbon copied. For example, I will scream if I see another cruffin in a brunch cafe in Italy or browned avocado toast.

What did tickle me was discovering places like Panificio Papale re-imagining nostalgic Italian breakfast classics like fette biscottate baked with sourdough and studded with dried Italian fruits and served with 3rd wave specialty coffee.

Here are some dishes, bites and sips I found memorable this time around in Turin:

Fritto Misto

This commonplace menu item (fried mixed) is usually associated with a medley of battered fish in a cone or on a plate seaside. But in Piedmont a fritto misto is a mix of sheer madness. To the Piemontese, I feel like their fry-up is basically anything around the kitchen, fridge and cupboards. I had this for the first time on my last trip. This one included spinal cord (tasted like a cross between fried cod and tender squid without the fishy taste tbh) and frog legs (tastes like chicken!), plus the usual suspects of fried sausage, brain, artichokes/veggies, veal cutlet and fried amaretti cookies.

Total normal things

Finanziera

When I saw this stew on the menu, I knew it had to be had. It’s not appealing at all but to me a sort of rite of passage for the offal curious while also charmed by Piemontese cuisine and its entirety.

Essentially an offal stew full of sweetbreads (animelle), nerves, a bit of brain, liver, testicles and cresto di gallo (cockscomb aka crest) peppered in all cooked in a sour vinegar sauce and softened with some marsala. I’m aware this doesn’t sound appetizing at all. And to be honest, it does have peculiar tastes (given cooked in vinegar) and textures. However, I felt like it could be a restorative hangover cure/preventative given how hearty!

I’m all for supporting the traditional dishes, even if rough around the edges, because they are slowly disappearing. Perhaps some would argue “good riddens!” for seemingly unappetizing dishes like these. But with traditional dishes holds knowledge, culture and traditions. Which is lost when we stop cooking them.

There are a couple theories in how this “finanziera” got its name. When Italy was first unified, Turin was capital. And became a hotbed for bureaucrats such as finance officers. Hence the dishes’s name, deriving from “financier.” Despite their well-paid positions, they were said to be frugal (makes sense, who would trust a finance officer who was a frivolous spender?).

So local trattorias came up with low-cost options to accommodate and got creative with these offal scraps. It’s so cucina povera, you have to fish around for the few crests, since each rooster only has one. This is my preferred origin story!

There is some debate in telling food legends, but I quite like them because at any rate- it gives you reason to think about the time when the dish was said to have risen in popularity. I wonder how many people reading were already aware of Turin being Italy’s first capital and consider il risorgimento (the unification’s) transformative effects on Italian gastronomy.

Both dishes (spinal cord and offal stew) were had at Porto di Savona one of those old-school places with framed faded photographs with celebrities who used to pass through.

A type of genre that has lost its relevance in modern Italian dining culture, but establishments I think are worth visiting lest everything becomes one big homogenous predictable hipster eatery.

Agnolotti at Torinese time capsules

I didn’t do too many restaurant outings this time due to limited time and meals, but Ristorante da Mauro did not disappoint with their agnolotti, meat stuffed pinched parcels.

Agnolotti’s fillings are composed of scraps from leftover meats (it’s giving cucina povera), the dregs of cheese and veggies are also permitted. When they are given a pinch, you’ll see the “plin” on the menu. These traditional stuffed pastas go back centuries, nodding to times of scarcity as they were born from leftovers. Now they’re revered gastronomic pasta polished with meaty gravy or sage butter sauce.

Aperitivo and Bicerin

Aperitivo is my all-time favorite Italian past-time. So much I designed a food tour dedicated to the Aperitivo. While Florence is the home of the Negroni, Turin might be the home of fanciful canapé platters and tramezzini.

Bicerin is a drink I’ve blogged about extensively so I would invite you to read this post on IG or watch this video instead. This visit, I stopped by Baratti & Milano for an aperitivo while a friend indulged in a bicerin, and I was reminded why this espresso drink is a must when in Torino.

Vermouth tasting

Caffe Mulussano is an obligatory stop for me at aperitivo. It’s where the tramezzino was invented! They to me are the gold standard (or at least top 3) for vermouth Torinese where the hooch was invented. You can’t buy the vermouth here, so find a bottle shop or send me a message for direction.

Craft coffee hunting

Shouldn’t be a surprise that Turin has some impressive coffee options (northern Italian coffee culture simply slaps) and has paved the way for local specialty roasters. I especially was charmed by Mara dei Boschi who pulls memorable espresso plus batch brews, beans to take-away and intriguing gelato options

Gelato finds

Speaking of gelato, as a long time fan of Alberto Marchetti’s line of Zaba’ zabaglione, I finally made it to his gelato shop. It’s odd to see this affogato craze set off by Vivoli when Marchetti’s zabaglione has been deliciously drowning gelato affogatos way before. Who knew branding details, geometric spadating and ceramic aesthetics would lead to a million euro business….for essentially plain gelato and espresso?

Here I got the seasonal special which involved heritage hazelnuts and teeny amaretti-like crunchy hazelnut cookies from Chivasso. Hazelnuts are one of the region’s prized IGP ingredient pride and joys.

This was a deeply yet subtly flavored hazelnut you could tell used intentionally sourced roasted nocciole that still allowed the nuanced flavors of the milk shine. And of course, a scoop of their famed zabaglione gelato. Strangely, refreshing.

If you’d like more suggestions for say coffee shops and gelaterie, consider offering me a coffee or gelato on VenMo or PayPal and I’ll share my Googlemap to Turin.

I am keeping this Substack paywall free as long as a consistent flow of “treats” come in via a sort of honor system. So if you liked this or any post, feel free to send one! This helps cover research expenses and my time writing to share. Grazie!

Want to support my work even further? Book a travel consult or one of my culinary drink tours around Italy. (i.e. Milan, Florence and Bologna). Can’t swing either? Sharing my work with fellow Italy curious friends, re-stacking and recommending helps too!

Have you been to Turin? Have thoughts about any curiosity detailed? Let’s chat in the comments!

Curiously, Coral