When I was growing up, the cuisine that most home cooks wanted to master was French. Jacques Pépin was a national hero, and after Julia Child brought French cooking techniques to the United States with her TV show and books, my family became guinea pigs for my mom's carefully studied mushroom soufflés and crème caramel.
But today, Italian is the new French. After decades of sloppy spaghetti and meatball dinners, Italian food in the United States has soared into haute cuisine territory. Now ambitious home cooks are making Caprese salad and fresh homemade pasta. (My mom's kitchen chairs are draped with drying fettuccine.) Starbucks shovels cappuccinos into sleep commuter's hands every morning. Italian restaurants like Babbo and Spiaggia are as wonderfully romantic as white-tableclothed French restaurants. And The Silver Spoon has become many people's culinary bible.
It's hard not to love Italian food in all its warm, delicious glory. It's often less fussy than French cuisine. And its surge in popularity makes cultural sense: Now that people are growing more environmentally conscious, Italian cooking--with its focus on local, seasonal ingredients--helps you bring environmentalism into the kitchen.
Inspired, we wanted to focus our fall issue on Italian cuisine. And nowhere in Italy can you find better fall foods than Piedmont, the northwestern region famous for stinky cheeses, musky truffles, spicy wines and rich chocolates. It's the new haute destination for foodies--what Champagne and the Loire Valley was to French gourmets.
In this issue, you'll meet five Piedmont chefs, including one who looks hilariously like Chevy Chase. You'll learn how to host a Piedmontese dinner party and prepare a bold cheese plate. You'll also meet the locals: truffle hunters and their trusty dogs, Piedmont folk dancers wearing fall sweaters, hotel owners who believe in ghosts, and a famous graffiti artist who swears he'll "stop being a rascal."
We're perhaps most excited to show you the drawing that kicks off the Piedmont section. We wanted to feature an illustration by Gianni Gallo, the Italian artist whose work appears on the wine labels of many Piedmont wineries. We soon realized, however, that he was nearly impossible to track down: He lives in the countryside and doesn't have a computer, a phone or published address. Luckily, our friend Ellan from Piedmont's Ceretto Winery saved the day. She found his address, drove to his house and commissioned the illustration for us. When we tried to pay the artist for his lovely work, he refused, saying that he gets the most enjoyment from drawing when it's a gift.
That experience sums up the feeling of Piedmont--at first, the region seems daunting, with its medieval towns and buttoned-up locals. But once you spend time there, you'll fall for the hearty foods and hilltop views. Add a glass of Barolo and the love affair is complete.
Get to know Piedmont with us in this issue, and we are sure you'll feel the same way. Hope your fall is happy and delicious.
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