France differs from all the other countries with a list of features and one of them is that it celebrates the greatest number of events dedicated to gastronomy. The French believe that the sense of taste and understanding of well-cooked food should be brought to people from childhood, like the ability of reading. France is famous for its cuisine and fine wines. The process of preparation and absorption of food here is just as important as love and the ability to maintain a conversation. Cooking is certainly also a kind of art. A beautiful and tasty dish is a reason of pride for any cook.
Chestnuts Holiday
In France, you practically cannot find places that offer so-called “fast food”. What could be better than steak, roasted on coals, or fillet of sea bass with sauce? Therefore, we cannot ignore such an unusual date as a holiday of chestnut. This product is the French very much appreciated and is considered to be one of the national symbols. In France, they grow some kinds of chestnuts – Cordonniere.
The emergence of chestnut on the earth is based on the legend which tells how the nymph Ney decided to kill herself to escape the persecution of Jupiter. The gods transformed her body into a beautiful tree with carved leaves and prickly, but very tasty fruit. The tree was named castanea (Casta – virgin and Nea – the name of the nymph). It is noteworthy that the word remains the same in almost all languages in Europe.
In late October the whole country is being enveloped with the aroma of roasted chestnuts. They are being cooked on the street, the smell is so captivate that simply passing by is impossible. Nobody can deprive himself of the pleasure, which carries a small bag of chestnuts. Unusual, like nothing on earth taste of this delicacy is hard to describe, but impossible to forget.
Main dishes on this day every one with chestnuts – salad with asparagus, scallops and chestnut risotto with prawns and chestnuts, chocolate and chestnut mousse with orange marmalade. Doesn’t this sound to be something really tasty?
This event is a continuation of the week of taste, which takes place in all regions of France, beginning with the third Monday of October. In turn celebrate Shukruta where you can try sauerkraut with sausages, watered the beer festival spices, cider festival, the Fish Festival.
In addition, this event could not be held without folklore, music and various competitions. In the squares there are various sports competitions, contests arranged. Another cool thing is the fact of having various theatrical performances depicting the path of chestnut from the Balkans to France. By the way, I forgot to say that the Balkan Peninsula is the actual home for chestnuts.
This is an opportunity for the tourists to learn a lot about the history and numerous ways of working with the chestnuts and tips on how to use this valuable plant, visiting a museum La Maison de la Chataigne or Chestnut House in the French countryside or Murzha.
Holiday of Truffles
What? You might think that this is just another French holiday. Well, France is known for its black truffles, but they pale in comparison with white truffles of Alba, which is not in France but rather in Italy. At the annual Festival of truffle in a small Piedmont town attracts the most famous chefs from around the world.
These exotic white tubers have an indisputable reputation in world culinary circles.
White truffle – the most expensive mushroom in the world. Tuscan truffles sell for around 4,000 euros per kilo and the price of more rare and valuable truffles of Alba in Piedmont can reach up to 7500 euros per kilo. Isn’t this crazy?
Some fixed prices for large specimens are also available, while at the same time almost every large mushroom is being sold at the auction. in 2009 the 750-gram truffle “White Diamond” was sold in Italy for 100 thousand euros! Its owner has become a true foodie, who paid for the right to eat a delicious delicacy.
During the festival there are various interesting things: usually the organizers held an auction, make a less expensive truffle market and a special fair. They say that “white diamonds”,sometimes referred to as white truffles, make “women more tender and men – more affectionate.” And who said or believed that the diamonds are actually women’s privilege?
These mushrooms are this popular due to the fact that they give an unforgettable taste to various sophisticated omelettes, fresh pasta or risotto. And then there is Piedmontese butter sauce and Piedmontese equivalent of a Swiss fondue – fonduta and truffle oil and truffle cream, and even rice and all of this is being offered to the visitors of the tasty festival… Can you imagine how many pounds will you add when participating in it? Of no… I was just joking!
In addition, the festival is held also many different events – the holiday of chocolate Il Cioccolato, Wine Festival, costume parades, the Palio horse races, the choice of the queen of truffles, theatrical performances, exhibitions, pyro-musical show. The streets are filled with Alba counters, which wish to prepare a variety of cuisines and dishes. All of this gives an unusual liveliness to the town, which is rather quite at the rest of the seasons of the year.
But if you have plans of enjoying the taste of the unusual truffles here you are unlikely to succeed – they are buying up and taken to expensive restaurants all over Europe. So your wish might only turn into reality if you have plans to have an immediate visit to one of the luxurious restaurants in Europe, well it might be somewhere around the territory of Alba.
But here you can feel the atmosphere of one of the most important gastronomic events of the world and see the unusual show, for example, the race for donkeys or costumed procession dedicated to the ancient cults and bacchanalia, which will truly feel up your high spirit and will give you unforgettable memories.
This awesome holiday is being held annually in October – November, which gives you a wide range of timing to be able to get acquainted with the tasty fun of Italy.
