Alba White Truffle: Gastronomic Journey to Northern Italy

The 23rd edition of the Alba International White Truffle Fair auction was held yesterday in the Piedmontese town, located south of Turin. On site and online, bidders around the world have spent thousands of dollars on these mushrooms (profits are donated to charity), which belong to the category of the most expensive foods on Earth.

Piedmont is the birthplace of the culinary diamond and, every autumn, it is found on the menu of the best tables in northern Italy. This is the case, in Lombardy, at the Al Lago restaurant of the Sereno hotel, in Torno, on the shores of Lake Como, to which the Michelin guide again awarded a star last week. Its chef, Raffaele Lenzi, a 38-year-old Neapolitan, even takes part in the Alba fair (until December 4) where, this year, he will lead a workshop and a masterclass.

“We supply ourselves in two regions: in Langhe, in Piedmont, and in Acqualagna, in Marche, in the center of the country, and only from mid-October to the end of November because it is the best period, explains Raffaele. Lenzi. Flavor is the determining factor and as it is a wild product we cannot control this parameter. Year in, year out, we have to rely on nature. This year, for example, the prices are higher and the quality lower.” Thus, customers who request the creation of a four-course menu including 16 to 18 grams of white Alba truffle pay 280 euros (276 francs) per person, a price that varies according to the market price.

It is precisely thanks to a vintage like 2022, where the professional cannot hide behind the exuberance of the truffle, that we can judge his talent. At the Al Lago restaurant, the white is especially present in two apparently simple dishes. First an association with other mushrooms, in this case cardoncelli (oyster mushrooms) or porcini mushrooms, lovage bread, chestnut cream and… coffee! Another proposal, more conventional at first sight: the risotto. This classic is an exercise in style. Raffaele Lenzi works with carnaroli rice from the San Massimo reserve, whose crunch contrasts with the creaminess of the rabiola di Raoccaverano. This Piedmontese soft cheese is made with three raw milks (cow, goat, sheep). The truffle aromas complete the explosion of flavors admirably.

Splendid for the sight and the palate, the shore between the city of Como and Bellagio is dotted with good addresses of all categories where the chefs work the white truffle of Alba. It is certainly not a gastronome like George Clooney, who lives in a villa just opposite, who will say the opposite. We can mention, among others, the Osteria il Governo 1801 which overlooks the lake, L’Aria at the Mandarin Oriental, the Filo at the Filario hotel. For example, at Mistral, a one-star restaurant at the grand Villa Serbelloni hotel in Bellagio, chef Ettore Bocchia concocts cappelletti (egg pastry) stuffed with liquid parmesan, beef consommé, chestnut purée and pumpkin, all garnished slices of the famous mushroom.

Three kilometers away, in the same town, Luigi Gandola, a former Villa d’Este, runs the Salice Blu. The chef organizes on request a mushroom and black truffle hunt in the surroundings (see the video above). The walk with dogs is followed by a cooking workshop, then a meal. And if the weather or the mood does not lend itself to it, we will be content to taste the dishes of this charming restaurant.