Bagna Cauda and Barbera, Inimitable Flavors

Bagna cauda paired with the Barbera d'Asti Superiore Favà from Tenuta Garetto

Bagna cauda (hot sauce in Italian) is one of the many dishes of Italian regional tradition that make our cuisine unique throughout the world.
A distinctive dish, full of personality, and for this very reason it is one of those dishes that you either love or hate from the very first taste – there is no middle ground.

Made with "humble" and rustic ingredients, yet once combined and left to cook slowly over low heat, they make this dish truly inimitable.

The preparation and cooking require many hours; the basic ingredients are: garlic, anchovies, and plenty of oil – although in various modern versions and reinterpretations, ingredients such as cream have appeared, serving solely to soften the flavors and mitigate the after-effects.

One thing that may catch the eye is: why do we find anchovies among the ingredients of a traditional Piedmontese dish?

The answer lies in the fact that this oily fish lends itself well to salt preservation and was widely used as a trade commodity – the currency of the time – by Ligurian merchants who came to stock up in Piemonte.

Even the way it is consumed is almost a ritual: each diner has in front of them, in place of a plate, one of the traditional "scodelle" designed specifically for bagna cauda. These have a two-level structure: the upper part holds the container for the sauce, and below it is a space for a small candle which, once lit, keeps the preparation warm with its flame.
Like all sauces, this one is also accompanied by other foods; in our case, these are the typical Piedmontese vegetables such as the peperone di Carmagnola, the cardo gobbo from Nizza Monferrato, or the ciapinabò (a small tuber), which once appropriately cut can be used as spoons to scoop up the bagna cauda.

The most classic pairing – and also the most fitting – for this dish is with a wine from the territory that shares the same character as the food. I am referring to barbera d'asti.
I have taken into consideration a wonderful winery that, as if by design, is located in Agliano Terme… Barbera d'Asti Superiore "Favà" from Tenuta Garetto.

A complex wine, rich in fruity and spicy aromas, whose good structure will best support the intense and prolonged taste sensations of the dish. Its alcohol content and elegant tannins – imparted by approximately one year of aging in wood – will help to "cleanse" the palate of the characteristic oiliness of this food.
This will certainly not be an experience for every palate, but those who can appreciate its genuineness, its straightforwardness, and its slightly retro sensations will carry with them a pleasantly indelible memory.