Today, we ate 10-course lunch on a farm called La Bottera, which is a local cheese farm. Yes, I said 10-courses. We traveled about an hour to the farm and once we got there, I was so prepared. We toured the factory and watched how all of the different cheeses were made and even got to see some of the animals.
Our lunch was the best lunch of my entire life. We were given a variety of fresh fruit juices, local wines, and homemade sangria. The sangria was way better than the kind that you're offered at college parties. Sorry to whoever makes them during homecoming. We drank our sangrias and ate bread while we waited on the first course, which was prosciutto and cured bacon with apples. It was what we usually ate for breakfast, so of course I loved it. Our second course was a piece of veal with a sauce made of tuna, mayo, and egg. I never had veal because my mom made me afraid to eat but I LOVED it.. I won't tell her that, though. Everything went so well together on that plate. Our third course was a salad of cheese, walnuts, and celery. I'm not a fan of celery and will never be, so I pushed the salad around until I picked out the things that I liked. The fourth course we had was a quiche made of meat and cheese, which sort of resembled a breakfast quiche that my mom makes. Our fifth course was a flan made of semi-wild grass and cheese. The flavor was really good, but I just couldn't appreciate the texture of the dish. The sixth course was a gnocchi made of potatoes that were tossed with creams and cheeses. It was SO good but it was way too rich.I had to make room for the other courses. I would definitely order it at a restaurant after a long day of working out. The seventh course brought to us was a ravioli stuffed with boar and beef. I do not know what a boar is or what it looks like, but it is safe to say that it was my favorite dish of the entire meal. I had to clean my plate for that course because I knew I wouldn't really be offered ravioli boar unless I had major coin to spend, which I probably won't for a while after all of the shopping I've done. After the ravioli, we were brought braised beef with roasted potatoes. This meal was so hearty and even though we eat it back home. it tasted fresher than our regular steak and potatoes. The next course was an assorted cheese plate that the farmer prepared for us. It consisted of all of the cheeses that he makes at our farm. My favorite cheeses were the wine bathed and the rose petal cheese. I'm not that big of a cheese fan and I was extremely stuffed, so I took a break halfway through the plate. Our tenth and final course was a dark chocolate lava cake with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries. Just think about a Chili's molten cake gone gourmet BUT better. This entire meal was produced on the farm and I think that's what made it more special.
After lunch, we drove to a local wine bank to see where Italian producers leave their wines to age. This wine bank was made after the Slow Food Movement, which is a movement made by Carlo Pettrini during the emergence of America and our fast food movement. The Slow Food Movement was created to ensure that Italians bought fresh food that is locally grown and sourced, so they could enjoy the value of their meals. While Americans ate cheeseburgers and drank Cokes on the way back to work, Italians were convinced to appreciate their meals and the fresh components. The wine bank is fairly new, so the oldest wine was made in 1998. The wine and I are the same age so I wonder who aged better. We tasted various wines and after the 10 course lunch and three glasses of wine, I was ready to go back to the hotel and lay down. Unfortunately, that didn't happen until 2 AM.
After we got back to Cuneo, we all had free time to walk around and shop. I shopped for pizza and wasn't going back to my hotel room until I had a slice of authentic Italian pizza. I bought an entire pizza for 4 euros, which is around 4.50 in USD. If I lived in Italy, I would not only be fat but I would be rich too because everything is so cheap.
After pizza, we went to Gali to enjoy a couple of drinks and reflect on our day. The bar was way too crowded, so we walked back to the hotel. On the way, we saw a friend from the other school and the bar's owner welcomed us in because she loved Americans. We spent a few hours here talking to the locals. I do not speak Italian, but a lot of them spoke Spanish so we were able to communicate and understand each other. They gave us tips about our upcoming stops and we answered any questions they had about the American people. It was overall a good day and I will always recommend the city of Cuneo to anyone who visits Piedmont.
