Rosa Serafino since 1875

When you make it to Turin you'll soon realize that it is indeed a bottomless treasure chest full of hidden gems! In this 8th edition of Turin Epicurean Capital we just wanted to give you a glimpse over a tiny part of our precious places and we did want to include one of the oldest herbal shops in town, the only one founded by a woman back in the 19th century.

Rosa Serafino founded her herbal shop or l'erboristeria della Consolata in Piazza della Consolata 5 in front of the famous Basilica, back in 1875 and her shop is still in the same location and preserves its original wood furniture.

A real stargate to a world and a time already gone, where there is no need of a/c in the summer thanks to the special microclimate this old building provides. Giulia, a graduate in herbal sciences accepted to tell us about their products and history.

5 Turin tips

We are often asked the following questions about how to organize your trip over to Turin so today, we are answering to all of you!

Palazzo Scaglia di Verrua, Renaissance in Turin, see if you can find it!

Mombaruzzo amaretti

Many of you might be familiar with the Amaretto liqueur and the amaretti cookies, but have you ever tried our Piedmont amaretti di Mombaruzzo?

First of all Mombaruzzo is a picturesque hamlet in the Asti area and this automatically makes us think of green hills, vineyards, renaissance castles, narrow and steep lanes, brick towers and a cute little piazza. Most def it is worth a visit, especially if you bake or are a cookie lover 😉

Legend has it that at the end of the 1700, Francesco Moriondo, bursar of the royal park of La Mandria (near the Royal Palace of Venaria) fell in love with one of the royal pastry chefs, a Sicilian lady. Her specialty was a cake made with almonds.
Once they left the court duties they moved back to Mombaruzzo where Francesco was born and opened a small pastry shop where they started selling a new kind of cookie: soft and elegantly bitter thanks to the almonds.

Amaretto in Italian means a bit bitter because this is how the first fans of these cookies defined them: good and a slightly bitter.

Balbiano's wine tasting

Continuing our visit at the Balbiano winery, right out of the last toy room, the wine tasting started!

The first wine we had was  the bubbly rosé.
This spumante or "foamy wine" made following the charmat method gets its delicate pink color after spending only 8/9h in the conducts with the grape skins.

It is a smooth, round wine low in tannins best paired with Chinese and Indian dishes.

Rubino di Cantavenna: a precious wine

This week we're presenting Rubino di Cantavenna, one of the best wines in the world, naturally according to those who make it ;)

It's a red DOC wine made with a blend of Barbera (75%-90%), Grignolino and Freisa (up to 25% individually or combined) wines all grown in the same vineyard to create a bond of flavors and guarantee the affinity of these different vines. 

Rubino di Cantavenna DOC