Unbelievable- another very warm 23C day on Sunday October 16. We decided to go for coffee and a croissant in the late morning at Caffè Teatro. We had tickets to the International White Truffle Fair for 1:30 p.m., so had some time to wander.
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| Looking down from our balcony onto our very quiet street |
Two minutes away around the corner in Piazza Michele Ferrero was a total surprise. There were around 20 vendors with fabulous regional food products. A few stores on Via Vittorio Emanuele II (the Main Street) had stalls, but most vendors were from the surrounding countryside. It's almost too bad we aren't staying in Alba longer or we would have been buying some of the fabulous meats and cheeses. There were also lots of truffle products and mushrooms available. WOW! We did a tour around the square, checking out the goodies.
After our tour of the Piazza, we headed up Via Vittorio Emanuele II. Just people, no flea market on Sundays.
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| Heading up Via Vittorio Emanuele II |
We walked down a side street and into the small square where Caffè Teatro is located and finally discovered what the hay was for. There are all sorts of vendors out in the streets on Sundays during October and November. The hay is used as a barrier around different event locations.
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| Wood fired oven--- making focaccia for sandwiches |
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| Looked very good too- but a bit too early for us to eat |
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| Wine kegs-- folks were already carrying wine bottles and glasses in the streets at about noon |
We finally made our way to Caffè Teatro. I had a wonderful vegan croissant and we both had coffee. So nice sitting in the warm sun.
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| I'm wearing my Psycho Bunny T-shirt today |
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| Even a beer vendor in the square |
We went back to the apartment to drop a few purchases and then headed to the Truffle Fair.
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| Time for Truffles |
The Truffle fair was in a small square with an open tented area and additional booths around the tent. We had entry tickets and tickets for two glasses of wine each. In the centre of the tent, was the Alba White Truffle World Market where one could purchase truffles from the participating sellers (
Trifulau or traders
) under the supervision of the Quality Commission. There is a very strict protocol for the selection of the truffles on sale. Around the central section, there were a number of vendors selling local food products and wines.
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| Local products |
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| Truffles under glass |
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| Truffle vendor |
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| Very pricey---- up to 450 euros for the large white truffles |
The very specialised truffle vendors in the centre of the tent
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| Vendors around the centre selling more than just truffles |
In the following picture, one can see the central truffle sellers, and the wine sellers' booths in the background.
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| Central truffle people with wine booths outside the tent |
One of our wine tickets was for a glass of either Barbera d'Alba or Dolcetto d'Alba. The other ticket was for a wine of our choice. We chose the Barbera for our first glasses.
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Pouring our wine--- There were small but manageable line ups at the wine booths
where tickets could be redeemed. |
Beside the booths where one could redeem the wine tickets were a number of wine vendors. It turned out that they were all offering wines which could be tasted as well as purchased. We had a few tastings of some very nice wines.
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One vendor
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| Great labels from a winery near Asti |
For our second wine ticket, I got a different Barbera d'Alba and Alonso decided to try a Barolo.
Both were very nice.
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| Barolo for Alonso |
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| Alonso with the wine glass and carrier we were provided with at the entrance- great idea - however, we will leave our glasses at the Airbnb |
As we were leaving the festival, there was an area where people were ordering from a small menu and eating at some tables. We watched a cook prepare fried eggs with shaved black truffles. This is another Piedmont specialty. He cooked the eggs on low heat with a cover for around 5 minutes and then plated them and shaved the truffle on top.
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| Shaving the black truffles on the eggs |
The menu had eggs with shaved black truffles for 18 euros and with white truffles- 44 euros! Yikes!!
After the Truffle Fair, we headed back to Via Vittorio Emanuele II.
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| Back on the Main Street |
We stopped at a wonderful chocolate shop where they sell our favourite chocolates from Torino. A purchase was made.
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| Great chocolate shop on the main street-- open on Sundays during October and November |
We headed to Monviso Coffee Factory for a coffee and bruschetta.
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On Friday, the coffee shop was almost empty-
on Sunday it was very busy- outside, inside and the small garden was full |
We got the last table inside- not far from the entrance.
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| Arrivederci Alba! |
On Monday October 17, we will take the bus to Asti and then catch a train to Genoa (Genova in Italian). There is no direct train from Alba, but the bus stop in Asti is just a minute walk from the train station. We will arrive in Genova at around 1:30 p.m. We have enjoyed our time in Alba. It really is a "Creative City of Gastronomy" as designated by UNESCO in 2017. It is a wonderful compact, beautiful small town to visit for a few days. Highly recommended!!
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