il cassetto delle caramelle

Amici cari, ci siamo!! Gennaio col suo freddo e gli elfi sono partiti e siamo pronti per Febbraio, le bugie, i costumi di carnevale e i cioccolatini di San Valentino 🌹

Rosolio or Vermouth's nonno

Ph. by Monica Bessone

It is no secret that the Savoy kings loved Rosolio so much they had made it the official royal liqueur up to 1786 when King Victor Amadeus III loved vermouth better and officially changed the royal production. 

Rosolio in all its variants is one of those products that have always unified Italy even before the unification in 1861. Despite the many versions of this distilled elixir through the boot, only Piedmont Rosolio was recognized by the Italian government as an official traditional local product.

This liqueur was born during the Renaissance and became more common once refined sugar became readily available.  It followed Catherine De' Medici to France while in Italy, it was made mainly in convents where the nuns knew how to extract the herb, flower and fruit essences to make liquors. Later, it was also made in private homes, where rose petals were macerated in a 50% alcohol and 50% sugar solution. Rosolio has always been a good base to make other liquors too.

The first Rosolio di Torino recipe was published in French in 1733. Around 1750s the Cinzano brothers start the first largest production of Rosolio and in the 19th century, Mr Carpano starts labelling his bitter rosolio Vermouth.

Its name seems to derive from the Latin 'ros solis' or sun dew and it literally means 'rose oil'; in fact, Rosolio has an intense yet delicate aroma, yet a stickiness similar to the oil one, making it ideal to close a rich meal such as the traditional Italian ones.

With the passing of the time, Rosolio became THE ladies' liqueur par excellence for its elegance, smoothness and moderate alcohol content (between 25% and 35%) and it was officially offered to all family gatherings up to being considered a good luck harbinger when drunk by newlyweds.

Piemonte flavored gelato in the UK

If you love gelato as much as we do, you will love this post by Laura Hadland about Gelato Village, in Leicester, UK. This is the gelateria founded by our Twitter and Instagram friends Antonio and Daniele, both from Turin 🙌

Gelato Village: Bringing a flavour of Piemonte to the UK

When Gelato Village first opened its doors in August 2014, its Italian owners, Antonio De Vecchi and Daniele Taverna, had no idea if the people of Leicester, England would have an appetite for authentic Italian gelato. The two natives of Turin had come to the UK over 10 years earlier, working in the medical and IT industries. It was their love of high quality food, inspired by their Piemontese upbringing which encouraged them to throw in the towel on their old careers and turn their passion into a business.

Turin: love at first taste!

Our food and travel blogger friend Patty Boner talks about her love at first taste with Turin! As her guest post is very detailed, you will be traveling with her while enjoying her writing and pictures!

Patty is the author and photographer of delish Foodie Sneak Peeks where you can find all her culinary adventures around the world and at home!

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.