Last Friday we went to Piemonte, a region in the north west corner of Italy bordering on France. This region is known for its wine - specifically the nebbiolo grapes that make up the famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines of the Langhe region. So naturally our tour of this region included a stop at a winery. Fontana Fredda is the name of the winery where we sampled some wines paired with our lunch. The first course was a crudo (raw) sausage served with a sparkling rose wine. They chose to pair a sparkling wine with this dish to counter-balance the fatty consistency of the raw meat. Next we had a cabbage salad paired with the house red wine that was made from a mixture of nebbiolo grapes and some other varieties. And finally, with our fresh pasta and meat ragu, we were served the mighty Barolo. I found all of these wines to be very good. And what's more, I liked them both paired with food and on their own which is typically something I can't say about such full bodied red wines.
These are the barrels in the Fontana Fredda celler where they age their red wines.
The next stop on our tour was Eataly - a giant market that is inspired by Slow Food. Slow Food is a movement that strives to be everything fast food isn't. It focuses on fresh, local, traditional products and that is what this market sells. They have some of Italy's best meats, fish, cheeses, olive oils, vinegars, grains, and wines - it is a food lover's paradise, and a dangerous place to take a group of culinary students after they have sampled so much wine at lunch! We spent two hours in this store, and I really enjoyed shopping there. The good new is that an Eataly will soon be opening up in New York. 
This is what some of the produce looks like in Eataly. Just in this small section there are four different types of radicchio, and all of it is so fresh and beautiful.
Piemonte is also home to my favorite Italian product - Nutella. We didn't get to visit the factory, but the surrounding town of Alba smells of chocolate and it's wonderful just to walk through the streets there. We did stop in a nice pastry shop along the way. There is nothing noteworthy about this tart and cappuccino except that they were delicious and made for a nice picture. 
And finally, I made a vist to the hospital today after cutting myself in the kitchen. Out class was in charge of making lunch for the whole school today, so a total of 200 plates. As I was dicing some cabbage I sliced my finger nail in half vertically. It was not a pretty sight and I had to go to the hospital so they could glue my nail back together. I think it'll be a few days till I'm back in the kichen, but I figure you can't play with knives and fire all day long and not expect to get hurt.
