Saturday, May 26, 2018

Wine and food of the Giro 2018: Stage 20: Susa to Cervinia

Where are we?
Susa:Michelin tells me that:
Susa owes its nickname, "Gateway to Italy", to its strategic position at the junction of two roads to France. The Savoy Gate, the symbol of the town, dates from the late 3C-early 4C, when the ramparts were built. Next door stands the cathedral, flanked by a magnificent Romanesque bell tower. The enchanting country town of Susa is home to an Arch of Augustus (8C BC) and an amphitheatre (1C-2C).

Giro regional specialties: Traditional soup: Soupa grasa
Cured meats: Susa Valley prosciuttello, bondiola, bacon, juniper-flavoured lard
Desserts: Susa’s sweet focaccia, Lose Golose, Pan della Marchesa

 Cervinia: Time to ski, again. Michelin tells me that: Breuil-Cervinia is one of the Valle d'Aosta ski resorts that, thanks to its prime location, affords splendid panoramic views and proves to be a real paradise for downhill skiing enthusiasts. Situated at an altitude of 2 050m, the resort is also the starting point for a cable car excursion to Plateau Rosa and Mt Furggen (altitude: 3 491m).
Giro regional specialties:  Cheese: Fontina DOP, Fromadzo DOP.
Charcuterie: Lard d’Arnad DOP, Jambon de Bosses DOP, mocetta.
Specialties: Fonduta with Fontina cheese, carbonada (stew of adult bovine cooked in the wine) with polenta, tegole (typical hazelnut cookies).
The stage: Have we recovered from yesterday? No. Guessing the riders have not recovered as well. 


Forty one kilometers to go and Pinot was struggling. And by struggling, it looked like he had completely hit the wall. Hard to imagine him getting back on. As they continued on, there were perhaps thirty-five riders left in that main peloton.


Thirty two kilometers to go and Nieve was alone out front, hoping to celebrate his birthday with a stage win. He had 6:40 over the main peloton. Poor Pinot, by the way, was over eleven minutes down on that group.


Nieve was looking good for the stage win, though we had not seen time gaps in quite a long while. The question: would we see attacks from the gc riders in the main peloton. Did Dumoulin have any confidence that he could take time on Froome?
Just under six kilometers to go and the first attack was launched by Formolo. Here we go. So nice to see Dumoulin giving it a real try. Many punches and counter punches. Just under five kilometers to go and Dumoulin was struggling.  At the front of that group: Froome, Carapaz and Lopez. Not completely gone, Dumoulin. He would keep at his own pace and make it back to the group. Also back oomen and Poels, so they would have helpers.
Ahead, happy birthday indeed for Nieve as he takes the stage win easily.
Three kilometers to go: Carapaz and Lopez attacking. This is a fight for both gc placement but also the white best young riders jersey.
Behind it looked like Dumoulin was riding for Oomen's gc placing and had given up on attacking Froome.
Foome in! Barring anything insane on the road to Rome tomorrow, that is the Giro. 


General Classification after stage 20
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky86:11:50 
2Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb0:00:46 
3Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team0:04:57 
4Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team0:05:44 
5Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida0:08:03 
6Pello Bilboa (Spa) Astana Pro Team0:11:50 
7Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe0:13:01 
8George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo0:13:17 
9Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb0:14:18 
10Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe0:15:16 
The wine: Chateau Feuillet Torrette Superiore  from Dig
From the importer: 
Maurizio Fiorano grew up outside Turin and moved to Milan for his studies, but his life took an unexpected turn when he married and moved with his wife to her hometown of Saint Pierre in the Valle d’Aosta. Fiorano continued his work as a surveyor, but his long commute became burdensome when the two of them started a family. By the time their second child came along, Maurizio had had enough and left his old job for good. He didn’t have any definite plans and he knew that his wife’s business of running a small inn was not for him. But she had inherited vineyards from her family, so why not make wine to serve in her restaurant? The idea suited him perfectly, and he went to work in the vines. In the beginning his production was tiny: he signed up to show his first vintage at VinItaly but arrived at the gargantuan expo with just four bottles! Today his production remains small, but he is careful to export to many different markets. He may not be born and bred, but Maurizio says he feels like a Valdostano, and this is his way of showing off the local products all over the world. 
• From a southeast-facing vineyard
• Harvested in late October
• Alcoholic fermentation lasts 10-15 days in stainless steel
• Aged in 300-liter French oak barrel for 90-100 days


The Food: Pan della Marchese from Saporidelpiemonte.net

The "Pan della Marchesa" is a cake obtained using as ingredients soft wheat flour 00, sugar, honey, butter, eggs, hazelnut flour, almond chips and toasted hazelnuts, milk, rum, chocolate chips, baking powder (bicarbonate of ammonium) and flavorings (vanillin).
The butter and sugar are assembled in the planetary mixer until a soft cream is added to which eggs, honey, hazelnut paste, milk and rum are added. The hazelnut flour and chocolate chips are added to the mixture. Stirring by hand, wheat flour, bicarbonate and vanillin are still added.
The dough is placed in a pastry bag and the round, previously buttered molds are filled. The cake is covered with almond flakes, toasted hazelnuts and granulated sugar. The cake is placed in the oven at a temperature of 180 ° C for about twenty minutes.
Once cooked, the cake temperature is quickly brought to +3 ° C. The cake undergoes a vaporization treatment with ethyl alcohol and is immediately packaged manually with a first waxed paper and then with another metallized paper.
The "Pan della Marchesa" must be kept in a cool and dry place and consumed within twenty days of production. Numerous tests have shown that even after two months the product still retains acceptable organoleptic characteristics, however, with partial loss of aroma and fragrance.
Production area The "Pan della Marchesa" is produced in Susa (To).
Equipment used For the preparation of the mixture the planetary mixer is used, while the cooking, in special molds, is carried out in a traditional oven. For the package we use a sheet of wax paper, and a sheet of metallized paper appropriately labeled according to the law.
History
The source that documents the production of the "Pan della Marchesa" is in a manuscript recipe book of a confectioner from Susa, dated 1958.
Initially, the cake had a donut shape and was packaged in a transparent wrapping. From 1987, on the occasion of the first "Historical Tournament of the Villages of Susa", it was proposed in the form of a cake with the name "Pan della Marchesa", in honor of Adelaide, Marquise of Susa.
This dessert is one of the products chosen and included in the "Paniere di Susa Galupa", a food and wine association for the promotion and promotion of typical products of the Valle di Susa.


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