Where are we? Heading to Piemonte/Piedmont.
Sanremo: Sanremo is fairly well-known in cycling circles for the March Milan to Sanremo race. About that name, from Bicycling Magazine: "The town officially calls itself Sanremo, a contraction of San Romolo, the patron saint and protector of the city. The commonly seen two-word spelling, San Remo, was introduced in 1924 by the mayor and used in official Fascist documents. "«As I child, I grew up in a town that was rather different from all the others in Italy. Back then, San Remo was still the home of old Englishmen, Russian archdukes, eccentric and cosmopolitan people». That is how the writer Italo Calvino described the town where he spent his childhood and teenage years – a town with different hidden souls that only come to light little by little.
The food: Local cuisine is a reflection of the territory, offering a combination of ingredients from the land and the sea. Traditional recipes often use basic but top-quality ingredients that will win you at first bite.
The highly prized local red shrimps, caught in the sea of the ‘city of flowers’, are among the world’s finest. They have a delicate, flavour-packed flesh, and they are usually eaten pan seared. They can be found in all the restaurants and fish shops of the city, along with plenty of other fine seafood.
Sardenaira, a scrumptious focaccia bread topped with tomato, olives, anchovies and garlic, truly embodies the combination of every possible local flavour. Named after an ancient recipe in which sardines were used instead of anchovies, sardenaira received “De.co” status (a quality scheme covering the specialty of a municipal territory) in 2012. Alongside sardenaira, in all the bakeries of the city you’ll always find a trayful of fügassa, which is eaten as a snack at any time of day. Many love to eat it together with a piece (“tocco”) of steaming hot farinata, a tasty pancake made from chickpea flour, extra virgin olive oil and water.
Your discovery of the taste of the city should definitely include a bite of crookneck squash pie, a seasonal specialty of the Riviera di Ponente. All traditional dishes, of course, are accompanied by our fine extra virgin olive oil, which can be considered as a symbol of the determination and strong will of our ancestors, who struggled against a small and sometimes unfavourable territory and succeeded in creating what now is a world-renowned sector. The olives used are exclusively of the taggiasca varietal. They are picked by hand and cold-pressed within 24 hours to ensure a top-quality genuine product.
Cuneo: founded in 1198, takes its name from the wedge-shaped plateau (534 m) where it is located, at the junction between the Gesso stream and the Stura river. Piazza Galimberti is the heart of the town with its traditional Tuesday market and Museo Casa Galimberti. From the Giro: Cuneo, capital of the Granda province, is located on a plateau that widens and opens into the majestic fun of the south-western Alps. Completely immersed in nature, surrounded by the Gesso and Stura River Park, it has earned the nickname of Green Capital of Piedmont.
The food: Cuneo’s gastronomic personality is expressed in dishes that combine ancient habits and an austere but, at the same time, joyful collection of recipes: appetizers, especially based on vegetables, led by Cervere leek, some first courses closely linked to local products (potatoes and wheat flour), game (from wild boar to chamois and so on), the amazing porcini mushrooms, cheeses and chestnuts and the queen of meat, the Piemontese beef.
Stuffed vegetables, omelettes and savoury pies are the traditional first courses of this region. To name a few: caponèt (the o is read u), siole piene , friceuj ‘d ris, subric (mashed potatos, egg, cheese and salt cooked and mixed), aromatic herb omelette, green pie and potato pie.
Game, noble mushrooms and large boiled meats, but also rare delicacies such as snails (like the Helix Pomatia Alpina of Borgo San Dalmazzo, protagonist of the ancient Cold Fair) or eels, are included in the offer for the main course.
A taste of local cheeses is not to be missed. Toma, popularly defined as “Piemontese”, Tomini di Melle (Varaita Valley), Raschera and Castelmagno are the “fabulous four” worthy of mention. The selection of desserts is small but special: few traditional sweets like bonét and fruit cakes are the perfect conclusion of the meal.
Finally, it is worthy of note the “queen” of the Cuneo culinary tradition: the chestnut. It is not a surprise that the tree that produces the fruit is also called the bread tree because the man draws gastronomic and commercial benefits from it, selling fruits, leaves and timber. The hilly and foothill landscape of Cuneo has been characterized by this friendly tree for centuries. At the table, it can be enjoyed in the fabulous Castagnaccio cake o in the refined Montebianco cake.
A visit to Cuneo wouldn’t be concluded without a taste of the famous Cuneese al Rhum (rum truffles) that Hemingway enjoyed when he stayed in the city in 1954.
The stage: One of our few remaining potential sprint stages. The big news of the morning was the abandonment of Romain Bardet, who apparently had grown sick during yesterday's stage.The break of the day consisted of Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R-Citroen); Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo Visma); Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper Androni-Giocatolli); Julius van den Berg (EF Education-Easypost) and Mirco Maestri (EOLO-Kometa).
Tagliani would be dropped.
Under 65 kilometers to go and the gap was around 5:30.
Forty kilometers to go and the gap was at just about 4 minutes. It would be tight for the catch today. Twenty five kilometers to go and the gap was about 2:49. The pace at the front of the peloton was starting to cause small splits in the bunch. Twenty kilometers to go and just about 2 minutes. Ten kilometers to go and it was at about a minute. Four kilometers and it was 30 seconds. One kilometer and under 10 seconds.
And there was the catch. Demare with the stage win!
The wine: Castello di Verduno Langhe NebbioloFrom Dig: Castello di Verduno’s Langhe Nebbiolo offers a lighter, pretty expression of the regional Nebbiolo. With lovely aromas of cherry fruit, herbs, and spice delivered in a harmonious and absolutely delicious whole, this a wonderfully versatile food wine.
The food: Sardenaira
Ingredients
For the dough with 6 hours of leavening 400 g of 00 flour 100 g of Manitoba flour 250 ml of water 12 g of fresh brewer's yeast 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon of fine salt
For the sauce 500 ml of tomato pulp 1 clove of garlic 1 shallot pitted Taggiasca olives to taste capers to taste anchovy paste to taste 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt 1 teaspoon of sugar 1 tablespoon of vinegar extra virgin olive oil to taste
For the dressing anchovy fillets, Taggiasca olives, capers, extra virgin olive oil
Dough of the Sardenaira: Let's start the preparation of the Sardenaira with 6 hours of leavening. Place the 00 flour, the manitoba, the water at room temperature with the brewer's yeast and the salt in a deep container. With the help of a planetary mixer or by hand, mix all the ingredients. Add the olive tree and continue processing until the dough reaches a soft consistency. Brush the dough with a little more oil, cover the container with a film of cling film and let it rest for 3 hours at room temperature. Roll out the dough on an oiled baking tray, about 30x40 in size, and let it rise inside the oven, which is turned off and closed, for another 3 hours.
Secrets for long leavening: The Sardenaira is a dough that is well suited to more or less long leavening. I propose a leavened product with 6 hours of rest. If you want to increase the leavening hours, just reduce the quantity of brewer's yeast, preferring a cool place such as the refrigerator in the first few hours. Proceed with 6 g of yeast for 12 hours of leavening and let it rest for 6 hours in the refrigerator and the rest at room temperature. For 24 hours of leavening, use 3 g of yeast, keep it in the refrigerator for the first 16 hours and at room temperature for the following hours.
Preparation of the sauce: Take a large pan and fry the shallot cut into thin slices and a clove of garlic. Add the tomato pulp, salt, sugar. Cook for a few minutes and add the anchovy paste, olives and chopped capers. Turn carefully and pour in the vinegar. Cover and remove from heat. Before pouring the sauce on the dough it is very important that it is completely cold.
Preparation Sardenaira Take the pan with the previously spread dough and pour over the sauce, leaving a few centimeters of the side edge. Place some anchovy fillets, capers and Taggiasca olives. Dress with a drizzle of olive oil and bake at 200 ° for about 30 minutes.
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