A stellar journey into the true flavours of Piedmontese cuisine: a day in Savigliano

One of the most fascinating things about the plain is that the view of the starry sky is not obstructed by hills, so the curious eye can roam freely among the celestial bodies. Giovanni Schiaparelli must have appreciated this since childhood too; born in 1835 in Savigliano, he became one of the most famous astronomers of his time. His was a mental journey from the city of Cuneo known by the name Salvianum already in Roman times, all the way to Mars, to which the scientist devoted important studies and telescopic observations, as well as books in which he described its surface, even hypothesising the existence of water, and therefore of life, on the red planet. But the "stellar" story of Savigliano continues today: indeed, the city can boast even an asteroid, called "216345 Savigliano", discovered in 2007 by the astronomer from Savigliano Michele Mazzuccato together with Luciano Tesi.

Our journey in the city that was also the birthplace of the patriot Santorre di Santa Rosa continues with our feet on the ground, through streets and squares dotted with splendid late-Mannerist and Baroque palaces, as well as beautiful churches. After centuries of disputes with the Marquisate of Saluzzo and having overcome several periods of French domination, in the 16th and 17th centuries Savigliano was a provincial capital, and the artistic ferment of the era led to the birth of a Savigliano school of painting, which numbers among its exponents artists such as Molineri, Claret and Carello. Among the first stops of our walk is indeed the Civic Museum Antonino Olmo, located in the old former convent of San Francesco, where we also discover the Gipsoteca dedicated to the 19th-century Turin sculptor Davide Calandra, whose family had origins in the Cuneo area.

During our walk we also visit several wonderful religious buildings, including the San Giovanni Battista complex, made up of an ancient church dating from around the year 1000 and the new church, from 1922. The two oldest churches in the city are instead the parish church of San Pietro, founded on the ruins of a temple dedicated to the goddess Diana probably in 585, and the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve, perhaps originally from the 5th century. In 1403 this church housed a finely crafted slab, believed to dispense miraculous healings, which is now in the Civic Museum. Savigliano is also known for its link with the world of trains: it is home to one of the major Italian plants for the construction of railway vehicles, but also to the Piedmontese Railway Museum, inside which we admire a series of vintage locomotives and carriages.

But from trains to horses the step is short: we decide to stop for dinner at Ristorante El Brandè, on Via Saluzzo, which we discover to be one of the oldest establishments in the area, a former posting station. "There used to be an inn here, run by my grandmother, and instead of cars and lorries it was horse-drawn carriages that stopped by the roadside. Where traffic flows today, in those days people sat next to green tables," Mr Michele Boretto tells us, the owner who has run the restaurant since 1980 with his partner Emma Segala. We begin with a rustic appetiser that includes pecorino with aromatic herbs, bruschette of Alvà bread with lardo, culatello and local salamis.

"The bread of Alvà, which in Piedmontese means 'raised, risen', is prepared as the old bakers of Savigliano used to do, with the natural leavening method, which can last even 24 hours, deriving from the fermentation of water and flour without additions," Mr Michele explains. We also taste the homemade marinated eel, the smoked salmon and the swordfish carpaccio. Some of our group opt for the hot appetisers, tasting a tasty vegetable soufflé with Castelmagno sauce, a grilled fassone fillet with "Santarosa" sauce, and some exquisite grilled tomini. After this rich appetiser we continue with a spectacular mixed grill of cockerel, quail, sliced veal, pork ribs, lamb and sausage. Some of our friends choose the Chateaubriand for two, but the grilled cockerel, the pork ribs and the Piedmontese veal chops also win converts.

The "Madama" tasting menu is also a great success; after the raw fassone beef chopped by knife and served with bruschette, it offers "Madama la Piemonteisa", a Piedmontese veal chop with Santarosa sauce, an ancient dish prepared according to an 18th-century recipe. Our day ends in great sweetness thanks to the tasty homemade desserts such as the chocolate salami with dry biscuits and hazelnuts, the crème catalane, the Barolo chinato sorbet and the flambéed fruit, that is seasonal fruit grilled and flamed with orange liqueur: spectacular like the whole Savigliano day, which we are sure to repeat soon.

Francesca Bertha

PER INFORMAZIONI:

Ristorante El Brandè Via Saluzzo, 101 Savigliano (CN) Tel.: 0172/31116