The place that pleased the sons of Noah: A day in Costigliole d'Asti
A beautiful hill overlooking the valley, all green, surrounded by countless vineyards, fields and woods, with over a castle that appears out of a fairy tale: large, with four circular towers and red decorations. A place like this could only invent a child, but there really is, and is not even far from the big northern cities such as Milan, Turin, Genoa or Alexandria. To quote the words of the historian Gian According to De Canis, who lived between the eighteenth-and nineteenth centuries, "Costigliole lies on its back and around the conical shape of a hill, on whose summit is the massive square castle in excellent was flanked by four large round towers. "
In fact, the Castle of Costigliole d'Asti, which could be called the monument a symbol of this beautiful town located between Asti Monferrato and the Langhe, was built between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and rebuilt in the Gothic style current in the nineteenth century. Over the centuries it was the residence of several noble families, local, and here resided characters as the expert oenophiles Asinari of St. Philip Marzano, who gave an impetus to viticulture of his era, but also the Countess of Castiglione Verasis Virginia, which Cavour gave the job of ambassador of Piedmont to the Parisian court of Napoleon III.
After these illustrious historical figures who have gone from here, we begin to discover the beauty of Costigliole d'Asti, starting from the Church of Our Lady of Loreto, located in the highest part of the country, called "the rock" in front the Castle. And 'the original of the late sixteenth century, and has been expanded and enriched with works of art over the centuries. The other church is the best known of Costigliole of the Brotherhood of St. Jerome, in which we visited the Museum of Sacred Art, which houses the most significant of the religious heritage of Costigliole the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Around the narrow streets, where you will find several outlets on the beautiful surrounding hills, we find that the history of Costigliole is deeply linked to the history of its surroundings. If the beauty of the castle made us stand open-mouthed, chatting with the locals, we learn that there is another in the village Burio important castle, which probably owes its name to the ancient strain of Ligurian euburiati, as well as several more villages where they are still the remains of ancient castles now demolished, as the Tanagra Motta, Bionzo, Cavorro, or Lu, Mount Leucio. The area is also rich in Costigliole myths and legends, including the best known is the one linked to Laureti, ie the fraction of Loreto, the first legendary certificates would even go back to one of the first places inhabited by the sons of Noah after the Flood Universal.
After this walk through history costigliese, for our dinner back at the foot of the Castle, which charmed us so much, sinoira at the restaurant, in the central Piazza Umberto I. "The term" sinoira "refers to an ancient peasant tradition of Piedmont, snack sinoira, for his kindness and for its abundance tends to replace the meal itself. In view of our local, it comes to eating and drinking well, in a warm and friendly environment, "explains Stephen Sconfienza, the owner who runs the restaurant along with Henry and chef Diego Baretta Bongiovanni. We reach the elegant dining room, which Opsite regular temporary exhibitions of local artists, through the colorful and elegant wine bar. We start with an excellent veal with tuna sauce, very soft due to the low temperature cooking, a fillet of cod on Iceland Gold potato salad and a pumpkin pie with sauce and Parmesan cheese. We follow these delicacies from the ravioli del Plin to the gravy, gnocchi with Castelmagno, the ravioli with scallops and shrimp in a sauce of tomato and a nice risotto with taleggio cheese with liquorice sauce. We continue with the second area of ??exquisite, served on the plates decorated with nice choreography of local, such as braised veal with cream of potato, pigeon breast with apples and pork tenderloin panure of spices, with vegetables. Let's water these goodness of Barbera d'Asti Superiore, Piedmont wines as well as other Timorasso, but also the excellent Chardonney.
Our dinner in this quaint town ends in sweetness, with a warm chocolate cake, an excellent hazelnut semifreddo and a specialty that has almost as much enchanted castle, Pistachio "blown", ie a real sphere inside a dark chocolate mousse with pistachio.
Frances Bertha
FOR INFORMATION:
www.costigliole.it
www.sinoira.it
Restaurant sinoira
Piazza Umberto I, 27 Costigliole d'Asti (AT)
0141/966012