In response to the cold, there’s the conviviality and flavour of bagna cauda. This iconic dish will be celebrated during the “Bagna Cauda Day.”
The event involves around a hundred venues across Piemonte, with some international participation.
The event’s logo features a flying blackbird carrying a head of garlic in its beak. It highlights the ironic spirit also found in the bib given out as a gift. The amazing slogan is “Esageruma nen, il mondo è di tutti” (“Let’s not exaggerate; the world belongs to everyone”).
“The format remains unchanged,” confirms the Associazione Astigiani, which has been organizing Bagna Cauda Day with growing success for the past 12 years. “We decided to do a ‘triple’ Bagna della Merla in response to requests from many venues that have already received bookings, as well as from bagna cauda enthusiasts who filled out our online questionnaire ‘Vote the bagna’ to share their preferences.”
Even from abroad, there are supporters: at Osteria Pomo d’Oro in Budapest (Hungary), Bagna della Merla will mark the opening of the new headquarters of the Order of the Knights of Truffle and Wines of Alba. On Saturday, February 1st, the investiture of new knights will be celebrated with a grand Bagna Cauda. The initiative comes from Fabio Aimar, a native of Saluzzo. Four years ago, he moved to Budapest to lead the staff of an Italian restaurant. Patron Gianni Annoni, a well-known television personality in Hungary, opened the restaurant. Annoni, however, is originally from Gallarate.
What is Bagna Cauda?
It is a dish rooted in the tradition and conviviality of Piedmont. A warm dipping sauce made of oil, anchovies, and garlic, served with various vegetables from the garden, “dipped” into the fujot (a traditional terracotta pot) and accompanied by bread and wine. There are cardoons, cabbage, turnips, red beets, boiled potatoes and onions, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, and celery. Bagna Cauda has been a staple of winters for generations of farmers. It’s an ancient ritual that has made a comeback with the addition of one ingredient: irony.
On February 7, 2005, the Asti delegation of the Italian Academy of Cuisine registered a recipe deemed “the most reliable and transmissible.” Filed in Costigliole d’Asti with a deed signed by notary Marzia Krieg, it was chosen by a study commission that met several times for tastings and comparisons.
What is Bagna Cauda Day?
Bagna Cauda Day is the world’s largest collective and simultaneous celebration of bagna cauda. It is held annually in over 150 venues, including restaurants, historic wineries, and agriturismi, offering more than 30,000 seats.
This year, the event will occur from January 29 to February 2.
The Astigiani Cultural Association promotes the initiative, which allocates the proceeds to support tangible acts of solidarity. The event, spread throughout Piedmont, the Aosta Valley, and Liguria, also enjoys significant international participation, from China to New York and Japan to Burundi.
The cloth bib
It is the flag of Bagna Cauda Day (BCD). All bagna cauda enthusiasts who go to taste the bagna cauda in participating restaurants will receive a complimentary cloth bib. This year, the young artist Giorgia Sanlorenzo designed the bib, interpreting the motto “Esageruma nen, il mondo è di tutti” (Let’s not exaggerate; the world belongs to everyone). It is a strong call to defend planet Earth, our shared home, which has been mistreated. “Esageruma nen” is a Piedmontese expression meaning “let’s not exaggerate.”
Find your restaurant
Are you in Italy and visiting Piedmont? To find out which restaurants participate in the original formula, visit the website www.bagnacaudaday.it and browse the lists organized by geographical area: Astigiano, Monferrato, Langhe, Torinese, Alto Piemonte, and more. Each restaurant has a page with the number of available seats, phone number, and email to book.
You must follow the traffic lights that indicate the type of bagna cauda offered: red for the classic version “as it should be,” yellow for the “heretical” one with softened garlic, and green for the “atheist” version without garlic.
Traditional Bagna Cauda Recipe
Do you want to try to be an expert Italian chef and make Bagna Cauda at home? Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients for 6 people:
- 12 heads of garlic
- 6 wine glasses of olive oil + a small glass of walnut oil
- 600 grams of red anchovies from Spain
Slice the garlic cloves, previously peeled and with the germ removed.
Place the garlic in a clay pot, add a glass of oil, and cook over the lowest heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to ensure it doesn’t color. Then add the desalinated, deboned, and washed anchovies in red wine and dry them before gently stirring.
Cover with the remaining oil and cook the mixture on low heat for about 30 minutes, ensuring the bagna does not fry.
If you prefer a softer flavour, add a piece of very fresh butter at the end of the cooking process.
Pour the bagna into the appropriate terracotta burners and serve with the following vegetables:
- raw: cardoons from Nizza Monferrato, Jerusalem artichokes, hearts of white cabbage, endive, escarole, fresh and under-brine peppers, raw spring onions cut into quarters and soaked in Barbera wine;
- cooked: Red beets, potatoes boiled until tender, onions baked to perfection, pumpkin lightly fried, and peppers roasted. A common tradition is to blend the sauce’s richest part at the end with an egg.
You would also need a terracotta dish or a small clay heater filled with embers to follow the true recipe and tradition. If that’s not possible, a small alcohol burner, a wooden spoon, and a flame guard will suffice if cooking with gas.
Are you also passionate about Piedmontese wines, particularly sparkling ones? Click here and read here about the opportunity to enrol in the “Alta Langa Academy”.
