A day as gladiators: a trip to Alessandria

If we had arrived here at night, we might perhaps have met on the street a sprightly farmer followed by a well-fed cow, and watched him as he set off from the city besieged by Barbarossa towards the enemy camp. According to legend, in fact, one of the caryatids of Alessandria's Cathedral, the one depicting the farmer Gagliaudo, would at night detach itself from the façade and come to life, wandering around the city. Popular imagination tells that during the siege by Frederick I Barbarossa, Gagliaudo managed to force the enemy troops to retreat by taking to pasture his only remaining cow, kept in excellent health even though food was scarce in the city. Barbarossa's men killed the animal and noticed that it was very well fed.

When the farmer told them that the city had food in abundance, and that Alessandria could therefore withstand the siege for a long time yet, Barbarossa decided to retreat and the city was saved. Alessandria, on the other hand, holds far more positive memories of Napoleon. Every summer a historical re-enactment is held for the Battle of Marengo, fought in 1800 near the city and remembered also in the name of the famous chicken alla Marengo, one of the emperor's favourite dishes. During our walk on this mild, sunny though autumnal day, we visited Alessandria's most important monuments, including the Cathedral (and since we happened to be there by day, we can testify that Gagliaudo, in the form of a caryatid, was in his place). We also visited the Church of Santa Maria di Castello and the Palazzo Rosso, seat of the Town Hall.

Alessandria was the birthplace of many important figures from the world of culture, including Umberto Eco, but it is also, in a sense, the capital of hats: Giuseppe Borsalino, father of the famous hat of the same name, had started his first workshop right here, and for four years the city has had a Hat Museum in honour of the Borsalino hats worn by figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, Anthony Quinn, Gary Cooper, and even Fellini and Alberto Sordi. And if Alessandria's culture and industry have been so outstanding over the years, its cuisine is certainly no less so. We discover this by stopping for dinner at the Ristorante Pizzeria Il Gladiatore, a stone's throw from Spalto Marengo, on Via Schiavina, opposite the historic Palazzo Guasco, today the seat of the Province.

We settle into the large dining room, steeped in a warm, family atmosphere, and as we begin to choose, we chat with the owner, Beppe, who runs the place with his wife Berenika. "Eating at Il Gladiatore is good for you and puts you in a good mood. Legend has it that in the days of the ancient Romans, a Samnite gladiator, when he was about to be defeated, pulled out from under his helmet something that resembled a pizza and ate it. Suddenly he rose again and defeated his opponent, becoming invincible in the clashes that followed too. It may be just a legend, but it says a lot about the power of good cooking," the owner tells us. Some of us can't resist the temptation of Il Gladiatore's pizzas, made with a long rising and topped with imagination also when it comes to their names: Sor Melinda, Braccio di Ferro, Cupido, Afrodisiaca...

Nor is the Gladiatore pizza missing, with asparagus, porcini and seafood. The rest of our group decides instead to enjoy the restaurant specialities, starting with a "Mare caldo" starter, along with a fine board of mixed cold cuts, tastings of cheeses and a grilled mixed vegetable platter. We continue with the unmissable agnolotti with wild boar sauce, the swordfish and salmon triangles in cream, the seafood risotto and the Sardinian gnocchetti with tuna. We follow these exquisite first courses with an excellent mixed grilled meat, along with the saltimbocca of veal alla romana, while our more sea-loving friends enjoy the mixed fried fish and the grilled sea bream. Some of us also taste the grilled sausage and the fish skewers. We wash it all down with excellent Piedmontese wines, and finally give in to the temptation of a few irresistible desserts.

It may be just a legend, but after this lovely dinner in this city that is all to be discovered, we too feel like the gladiator of popular tradition: invincible, at least in our skill at choosing where to go for the weekend... Francesca Bertha FOR INFORMATION: Ristorante Pizzeria Il Gladiatore Via Schiavina, 13 Alessandria Tel.: 0131/250695