Saturday, May 21, 2022

Wine and food of the Giro 2022 Stage 14: Santena to Torino

Where are we? Spending the day in Piedmont.

Santena: The Giro says: Santena is an Italian municipality of 10 736 inhabitants of the metropolitan city of Turin in Piedmont. It is famous for asparagus as well as for the Cavourian Pole, with the Cavour Memorial, the tomb and the park. 
Santena is a crossroads of ancient roads that connect it from south to north with Carmagnola and Chieri and from east to west with Asti and Turin. A geolocation that connects this territory to the major highways and railways confirming the function of logistic platform extended to Europe. Thanks to the Cavourian Pole, it is also a crossroads of culture and history because it preserves and preserves the memories of the main creator of the Unification of Italy. In recent years it is also taking a central role in food and wine, both for international companies that are based there and because leader of the future Food District.

The food: Asparagus, King of the Table. Among the Traditional Agri-food Products (PAT) It has a Seal that certifies the traceability of the chain (ISO 22005) Since 2004 it has been recognized by an Association, which defines a production disciplinary to follow in order to present its product as Asparagus Santena (21 associates to 2018). With 170 tonnes of production per year.

Torino: From the Giro: Capital of Piedmont and defined by Le Corbusier as the city with the most beautiful natural position, Turin is surrounded by a lush hillside, dominated by the Juvarrian Basilica of Superga, crossed by the great river, the Po, and surrounded by the Western Alps. Its history begins more than two thousand years ago with a small village “Taurasia” which, in Roman times, became Augusta Taurinorum, hence the name. In 1280 the Savoy dynasty conquered Turin and under their reign the city experienced one of the most important transformations in its history, becoming one of the major capitals of the Baroque, thanks to the great architects of the court (from Vitozzi to Guarini and Juvarra) as well as guardian of the Holy Shroud. First capital of Italy in 1861 with many records behind it, from cars to cinema to design, it is a city of discreet, regal charm, to be discovered walking through its elegant baroque squares and arcaded streets: 12 kilometers of continuous arcades on a total of 18, that accompany the visitor on a fascinating journey through historic cafes, old bookstores and Royal Residences (Unesco heritage since 1997) sumptuous palaces of the court or holiday. In Turin, art is also at home with over 40 museums, including the Egyptian Museum, second in the world for importance of collections, and four National museums, the Museum of Cinema, the Automobile, the Mountain and the Risorgimento as well as prestigious venues for contemporary art.

The food: Turin’s cuisine boasts a long and refined tradition, making Turin one of the world capitals of taste. Great use is made of vegetables, meats, cheeses, irreplaceable ingredients for refined and tasty recipes. Appetizers are the lion’s share: from vitello tonnato (veal in tuna sauce) to anchovies in green sauce, from meat and fish in carpione to more delicate dishes such as vegetable flans and tomini, small fresh cheeses. As first courses, stands out bagna caôda, ancient peasant recipe based on a sauce with oil, anchovies and garlic where raw and boiled vegetables are dipped, agnolotti, gnocchi and risottos and as second courses, mixed boiled meat, braised meat and mixed fried food, just to mention some of them. The table never lacks breadsticks in the variants “stirato”, crumbly and with a delicate taste, and “rubatà”, full-bodied and lightly leavened, stick-shaped, an all-Turin invention, and cheeses, the list of which is endless and delicious: from robiole, to tome, from tomini to straw cheeses with a firm or doughy consistency. 
And to end on a sweet note, Turin’s confectionery industry boasts the invention of zabaglione, egg yolks beaten with sugar and Marsala wine, and bignole, delicate and irresistible little bundles covered in icing, and chocolate with the iconic giandujotto, obtained by mixing chocolate with toasted hazelnut flour, cremini, alpini with liqueur, pralines and other delights.



The stage: Another day with a big fight to get into the breakaway. Eventually, we had a group: Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan), Diego Rosa (Eolo-Kometa), Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ), Filippo Zana (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Ben Zwiehoff (Bora-Hansgrohe), Diego Camargo (EF Education-EasyPost), Ivàn Sosa (Movistar), Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates), Nans Peters (AG2R Citroën), James Knox (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal), Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Fenix).
Two sprinters did not start the stage today: Cees Bol and Giacomo Nizzolo, plus we had the abandonment of Tom Dumoulin.
Behind in the peloton, with Bora forcing the pace on the front, there were significant splits already, as the gap to the break dropped to just over one minute. It was very hard to see where individual riders were on the road. Among those currently losing time, Valverde, with a rather suspect bike change. In the front group of 12, some big names:  Carapaz, Nibali, Bilbao, Landa, Kelderman, Buchmann, Hindley, Hirt, Pozzovivo, Yates, López, and Almeida.
That group stayed together for quite a while but as they went back up the Superga, attacks caused it to fall apart. Nibali! It was a delight to see him attack. Left up front were Carapaz, Nibali, Bilbao, Landa, Buchmann, Hindley, Pozzovivo, Yates, López, and Almeida.
Just under 29 kilometers to go and Carapaz attacked, with no reaction from the group. He got a gap rather quickly. Looking to be about to lose the jersey, Lopez. Of course, that had been said before.
Word that with one lap remaining, the grupetto was at least 25 minutes back. It could be very close for them to beat the time cut.
Attacking, Nibali (!) and Hindley. Hindley would drop Nibali, as he would catch Carapaz. Nibali would stay close. Catching them, Yates. With about 12 kilometers to go, they had 30 seconds. As much as I was dreaming of a Nibali victory, it was Yates with the attack. And it would stick. Nice riding by him on the day.





The wine: Ettore Germano Rosanna Brut Rosé
Pink bubbles! From Dig: Italian men are rather famously attached to their mothers. Rosanna is the name of Barolo producer Sergio Germano’s mamma, for whom he named this beautiful Brut Rosé. It’s 100% young-vines Barolo-grown Nebbiolo made in the classic method. Zero dosage as well, so it’s fresh, dry, complex, and absolutely delicious stuff. 










The food: Venchi Chocolate 
Sometimes you go to your neighborhood chocolate store and they talk you into a White Chocolate Bar with hazelnuts, almonds and lightly-salted pistachios. But that is okay because you can use it for one of your Giro stages. 



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