Osteria La Torre, Cherasco, Piedmont, Italy

This was a feast of Piedmont dishes that included rabbit as well as the wonderful pasta with so much egg yolks called Tajarin al Ragu. These were both excellent, but the two things that we had never had that prompted us to buy a cookbook (in Englsih) from the region were these: Firstly, Il Piccolo Carpione, which is served cold. Either fish or chicken, fairly thin, is seasoned and dredged through flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and fried. The vegetables are put into a poaching liquid that is half vinegar/half white wine, gently poached, and then cooled, and the two are served cold with a bit of the poaching liquid. It was very simple and quite delicious.

The other remarkable dish was CIPOLLA RIPIENA DI CIPOLLE E AMARETTI, CREMA DI CAROTE, which is Onions that have been boiled slightly, and then all but the outermost layer are removed, and then choppe up--to be stuffed back into the shell and mixed with ground almonds or amaretto biscuits, seasoned with clove, then baked and served here with a carrot sauce. THe whole meal was amazing, and more importantly so different from food I had had that I could have gone back the next day, had the very same meal all over again and been quite pleased.