In a country revered for its cuisine, there is one city that stands out as Italy's food capital.
It's my second time in Turin; the first, a quick duty visit to family on the way to somewhere else, but this time, my appetite whetted, it's very much by design.
A little reserved, unlike their rambunctious southern neighbours, the Torinese keep their city's culinary cards (surely one of the finest hands in Italy?) close to their collective chests.
Part of Turin's gastronomic opulence is due to its location; to the south is Italy's most famous wine region, producing one of the world's most venerated wines - the bold, bank-breaking Barolo. To the east, forests of hazelnut and oak whose tree roots are hosts for the precious white truffle; west, the French border and the influences that have crossed it; while to the north, the Alpine topography and climate support a dairy industry producing rich milk, cream and more than 50 varieties of cheese.
Then there's Turin's history. Briefly, the capital of Italy in the 1860s, it was home to the royal family of the Savoy and followers of the court, who could afford to dine lavishly and were enthusiastic adopters of extravagant new foodstuffs (like chocolate) brought back from the New World.
Today, the Torinese eat and drink well and often.
Caffe Culture
From the late 1700s, Turin's caffes became the meeting paces for intellectuals, artists, writers, musicians, poets and politicians. Showcasing a diversity of architectural and decorative styles - embellished, embossed, adorned, and ornamented in velvet, marble, brass and richly burnished wood - they remain deliciously evocative places in which to be immersed in the city's rich history.
Try a breakfast pastry or piece of "torta Platti", a recipe that remains a closely guarded secret at the gilded Caffe Platti (1875) with its chandeliers, baroque stucco ceiling and art nouveau bar, or biscuits made to 19th-century recipes at the marble-topped tables at Caffe Elena (1889) in Piazza Vittorio.
Turin is intimately connected with coffee. Alfonso Bialetti, an engineer and inventor of the eponymous stove-top coffee machine, was born not far from the city. Lavazza, today one of the world's biggest coffee brands, was conceived here by Luigi Lavazza, who began to create blends to sell in his modest grocery store in Via San Tommaso in 1895. Four generations later, his emporium is now a global empire.
Cross the Dora Riparia, a tributary of the River Po, to visit the Lavazza Museum. It has an interactive history of the brand, a fascinating collection of historic coffee memorabilia and art and, of course, the opportunity to sample a properly made espresso or two.
For a more everyday coffee experience, join the locals who drink theirs standing at the bar of a caffe - a tiny cup of espresso or perhaps a "corretto"; coffee "corrected" with a shot of grappa or some other liquor.
The Bicherin
Coffee, cream and chocolate are the three ingredients of the bicerin, which takes its name from the small glasses it's served in and is found in many caffes in Turin. Take a candlelit, marble-topped table at the tiny Caffe al Bicerin (1863) across from the Santuario della Consolata where the bicerin was originally conceived.
It may be simple, but it must be made with the best ingredients and techniques - here, premium cocoa simmered slowly for hours in special copper pots and layered in the glass with coffee and cream. And don't be tempted to mix it - each layer is meant to be enjoyed on its own.
Chocolate
Chocolate in other forms is also endemic to Turin. At A Giordano, under the elegant porticoes in Turin's Piazza Carlo Felice, we taste chocolate so fine that it seems to liquify just with the warmth of our breath.
It was the Duke of Savoy, Emmanuel Philibert, who introduced chocolate to Italy in 1559 after serving in the Spanish army. A scarcity of cocoa during the Napoleonic Wars led to the invention of "gianduia", when Pier Paul Caffarel (the founder of Caffarel chocolates), began to experiment with recipes of chocolate mixed with a paste made with local hazelnuts (which in modern times inspired Nutella.)
Gianduia is also used to make gianduiotti, boat-shaped chocolates wrapped in gold foil, the world's first individual chocolates, and "cremini", squares striped with layers of gianduia and other chocolate.
Many of Italy's oldest chocolatiers started out in Turin, with the first opening in the mid-1800s. It's possible to take an organised chocolate tour of their shops, but it's easy enough to DIY an itinerary of shops such as Baratti & Milano in the elaborate Galleria Subalpina arcade, Guido Gobino, Peyrano, A Giordano and Caffarel.
A Royal Snack
Chocolate also features prominently in another Torinese tradition, the merenda. It was the influential house of Savoy who introduced the city to the decadent habit of the merenda - a "snack" or afternoon tea - in the 1700s. The star was hot chocolate (made on water, not milk) accompanying a selection of biscuits - "bagnati" - to dip into it. Today, the "merenda reale", which often includes bicerin, are more elaborate and come accompanied by biscuits, meringues, small cream cakes, pastries and chocolates.
Many of Turin's caffes old and new, offer merenda, but one of the most apt places to experience it is Caffe Reale Torino, within Turin's 16th-century Royal Palace. The caffe was once a fruit storeroom, then a library. Today, you can sit and sip your chocolate or bicerin among illuminated shelves containing same of the Savoys' precious porcelain.
In Piazza Carignano, overlooking the baroque palazzo, is the olde-worlde Gelateria Pepino, dating from 1884 with wooden panelled walls and red velvet banquettes, another popular place to experience the merenda. Pepino also holds the distinction of being the oldest gelateria in Europe and lays claim to being the innovator of the first ice-cream on a stick, the chocolate covered "pinguino" (penguin).
Cin Cin
Whether a spritz, martini or a "Milano-Torino", the antecedent of the negroni, the aperitivo is generally enjoyed between 6pm and 9pm as a precursor to dinner. From the Latin for open - "aprire" - the aperitivo was designed to stimulate the appetite. Made from wine flavoured with aromatics, including bitter wormwood, Vermouth, now a staple ingredient of many modern cocktails, as well as classics such as the negroni, was invented in 1786 by Antonio Benedetto Carpano at Caffe Elena.
In white, amber, rose or red; sweet, dry or extra dry, depending on the sugar content, Vermouth has become something of a symbol of Turin and today the city is home to Martini Rosso and Cinzano, as well as many smaller artisan makers. Taste through some of the local Vermouths at bars like Vermuttino, or visit shops like La Bottega Turin Vermouth, where the staff are both amiable and knowledgeable, for an education and tasting. Or, if you're really keen, hop on a train and travel 20 minutes outside the city to visit the Martini factory.
The tradition of including food with aperitivo grew when canny caffe owners realised that by offering it they could keep the patrons longer, spending money. Included food is now the norm, whether a plate of cured meats and cheese, an assortment of snacks like those at the classic Caffe Mulassano, or even in some cases, an entire buffet.
Truffles and tajarin
"Tartufo signora?"
We are in a restaurant in the Quadrilatero Romano, the old roman quarter, and the waiter is asking if I would like truffle on my pasta. The season for white truffles in Piedmont starts in the first weekend in October when the Alba White Truffle Fair takes place and runs to December.
I agree, that yes, I certainly do want truffle and the waiter returns with it on an engraved tray with a set of scales and a slicer. He weighs it then starts to grate "Dimmi quando è abbastanza" - "Tell me when it's enough", he says. I let him go and go, hypnotised by the earthy perfume until his enquiring look reminds me that these white diamonds fetch around 2000 euro a kilo before they even hit a restaurant plate.
At the extraordinary Ristorante Circolo dei Lettori, we have truffle in our hand-cut veal tartare, onions baked with hazelnuts and beef, from the local Fassona breed, cooked in Barolo.
"Visitors shouldn't leave the city without tasting the agnolotti and tajarin among the pastas," says Circolo chef Stefano Fanti. Tajarin, which looks like spaghetti but slightly longer, is made with a high proportion of egg yolks, making it both delicate in texture and rich in flavour, while agnolotti or agnolotti di plin (mini versions) are pasta parcels, usually filled with meat, such as rabbit or pork.
"Then there's vitello tonnato, mixed boiled meat with traditional sauces ("bollito misto"); game, including hare, chamois, venison and wild boar, as well as the historic 'finanziera'," Fanti says.
Finanziera is a stew made from offal, offcuts and roosters' combs.
Less divisive regional specialities include risotto al Barolo, panna cotta and bunet, a chocolate dessert made with amaretti biscuit, coffee, cream and caramel.
Book a table at Consorzio, Le Tre Galline, Porta di Savona, Ristorante del Cambio or Scambue, or ask a local for their recommendations on their favourite "piola" - small, usually family run and inexpensive trattorias, serving a limited menu of traditional food (usually with no English-language menu).
And to prove that Turin does not rest solely on its ancient laurels, utterly contemporary interpretations can be found at places such as Condividere (in consultation with Spanish chef Ferran Adria) and Piano35.
Before you leave the city (your belt probably loosened a few notches), make sure to have a final farewell aperitivo at Caffe Torino in Piazza San Carlo. At the entrance is a bull, the symbol of Turin, and local legend says that if you tap it with your foot you'll not only be granted good luck, but a guaranteed return to Turin.
FOOD FOR THE BRAIN
There's plenty to do in Turin between meals.
Unless you possess impressive stamina, you'll probably need two days to see the extraordinary Museo Egizio, the oldest museum dedicated to ancient Egyptian culture in the world, housing the largest collection of Egyptian artefacts outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There are five floors filled with jaw-dropping displays; everything from mummies and massive busts of gods and Egyptian royalty, to grave goods, sarcophagi, papyrus, jewellery and much more. Booking a ticket in advance is highly recommended. museoegizio.it
Visible from just about everywhere in Turin, the Mole is an elegant 175-metre brick tower originally conceived as a synagogue. Designed by architect Alessandro Antonelli and completed in 1889, it's an architectural icon of Turin - the city's "Eiffel Tower". Take the lift to the top for a bird's eye view. The Mole also houses the National Museum of Cinema, well worth a visit, whether you're a cinema buff or not. museocinema.it
Chapel of the Holy Shroud
Re-opened in 2018 after being closed for many years following a fire, Cappella della Sacra Sindone (the Chapel of the Holy Shroud) is worth a visit for its glorious baroque architecture. However, if you imagine you'll have the opportunity to view a religious relic - the Shroud of Turin, believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth - you'll be disappointed: it's kept in a climate-controlled container, not visible to the public.
The facade of Turin's opera house, dating from 1740 is the only original part left of the building, after fire tore through it in 1936. Its impressive modern interior was rebuilt in 1973. Teatro Regio is one of the largest and most highly regarded opera houses in Europe with a season of opera and ballet running between October and June. teatroregio.torino.it
Antique lovers and collectors should visit the Saturday and every second Sunday Balon flea market in the streets around the Piazza della Repubblica near Porta Palazzo. The Saturday market has been in existence since 1857. The 300-plus stalls and shops are a treasure trove of high-end and cheap and quirky - furniture, art and collectors' items from both serious dealers and amateurs. www.balon.it
Parco del Valentino
On the left bank of the Po River, Parco del Valentino is Turin's oldest public park with a 17th-century castle dating from the Savoy era plus 550,000 square metres of lush greenery, paths, fountains, a lake and, a little unexpectedly, a replica of a medieval Piedmontese village.
You can find everything imaginable here, at Europe's largest market. There are different markets within the market, both outdoors and undercover, selling fresh fish and meat, flowers, fruit and vegetables, spices, bakery goods, as well as clothes, shoes and household goods. There are also floors of food stalls and bars serving freshly made food. Different parts of the market have different opening hours, so check the website. scopriportapalazzo.com
The lavish 16th-century Royal Palace, Palazzo Reale was built for Carlo Emanuele II of the House of Savoy who ruled Turin until the late 19th century. The vast palace, which is UNESCO-listed, has elaborately carved ceilings and galleries of furniture, tapestries, frescoes and paintings (including a self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci) as well as seven hectares of lush gardens. museireali.beniculturali.it/palazzo-reale/
Palazzo Madama houses Turin's Civic Museum of Ancient Art, more than 70,000 artworks spread over four floors - from the Roman-era basement, which features a collection of medieval stonework, manuscripts, paintings and jewellery, to art and furniture of the baroque period. There's also a medieval garden. palazzomadamatorino.it
TRIP NOTES
Getting there: The easiest and most cost-effective route is to fly to Milan and take the high-speed train (50 minutes) to Turin.
Staying there: In the historic centre, the Quadrilatero Romano has access by foot to most of Turin's major sights. Try the unique Palazzo Caretto Art apartments (palazzodelcarretto.com), or if a hotel's more your speed, the historic Turin Palace Hotel (turinpalacehotel.com).
Explore more: turismotorino.org
