Wednesday night I go to La Coccinella in Serralunga Valle with the Altares (Elio, Lucia and Silvia) and Tes. It’s a half-hour drive over there and the room is rustic, homey and cozy beyond belief. The kind of place where you get a good feeling right when you walk in the door. The smells of porcini wafting from the kitchen are intoxicating.
The family that runs the place have been here for ages and the walls are decorated with local carvings, antique copper kitchen implements, and old bottles of Barolo dating back to the 40’s. Their take on the local cuisine is relentlessly traditional and there are no modern flourishes – this is straight, simple casalinga cooking (housewife). Really great stuff.
Elio picks the first wine: a Marchesi Alfieri Barbera d’Asti. Then on to a 1996 Cavalotto Barolo, and finishing with a 2001 Parusso Barolo. All the wines are very different but each has its strengths – my favorite is the Cavalotto. We have rich, autumnal food: I start with a kind of artichoke tart, then a gnocchi with hazelnuts (really common here and right in season), followed by a brasato. All are great, and the kitchen sends out two plates of fried porcini chunks to accompany the meal: wow. These are rough cut (about 3/4 inch cubed), dipped in a light batter and deep-fried. The woodsy, earthy and meaty essence of the porcini is perfectly expressed in this preparation. We wolf everything down. Tes is in particularly fine form.
I skip on dessert, but Silvia describes hers as being made with nuts, butter and love.
We’re all wiped out by the time we make it back to the Altare house around midnight, but what a meal!!! If this restaurant was located inside the Barolo zone, it would be booked months in advance.
Comments