A Miracle Of Hazelnuts
Piemonte’s well-known products are wine and rice. But hazelnuts are an important produce too and are found everywhere in Piemonte. The local variety is called ‘tonda gentile’, known for its rich taste. Since long hazelnut has been considered as useful for making sweets and for Ferrero company a reason to have its has its main seat in Alba, close to the hills richly covered with hazelnut trees.
It was Piemonte’s star-chef Damiano Nigro to come up with the brilliant idea to show that the hazelnut has much more possibilities in gastronomy. Hazelnuts offer a lot of taste and can be used in a multitude of fine dishes. Result is this wonderful event ‘La festa della nocciola’ in the picturesque setting of Villa d’Amelia at 600 m height in the Langhe hills above sea level near Benevello. Hunderds of journalists and food-lovers could enjoy fine dishes prepared by a group of 20 prominent star-chefs from Italy and abroad.
The importance of the hazelnut for Piemonte’s gastronomy is also recognized: soon there will be a special ENOTECA DELLE NOCCIOLE at Benevello castle, as announced by Alba’s tourism director Mauro Carbone!
Italian chefs are famous for their creativity and this event was no exception, it was really an amazing experience to taste the various creations by chefs like Damiano Nigro and colleagues. The dishes were varied, there were starters, soups, first dishes, main dishes and of course some desserts and sweets. All to show the various possibilities of the hazelnut as ingredient for fine cuisine.
Piemonte’s typical hazelnut variety, called ‘Tonda gentile’. 
Great ambience at the festa delle nocciole in Villa d’ Amelia. 
Chef Paco Zanobini of Locanda Mariella from Calestano near Parma at work. 
Chef Igor Stepanovski from Macedonia, preparing his dish. 
At the seminar for the press before the event Alba’s tourism director Mauro Carbone announced the arrival of a real ENOTECA DELLE NOCCIOLE in the castle of Benevello (CN).
To complete the offer there were a number of Piemonte’s best wine producers to show that the dishes can be combined fantasticly with Piemonte’s wines.
The list of the chefs present at this wonderful event with the names of the dishes they proposed:
- #DamianoNigro – Relais Villa d’Amelia (Benevello CN):
- ‘Wafer nocciola e vicciola’
- #StefanoMazzone – Ristorante Rendez-Vous presso Hotel Quisisana (Capri NA):
- ‘Broccoli, acciughe e nocciole’
- #PacoZanobini – Locanda Mariella (Calestano PR):
- ‘NoccioLatte e biscotti’
- #AlfioGhezzi – Locanda Margon (Ravina TN) Michelin **:
- ‘Trota alla maniera del Principato Vescovile di Trento’
- #PiercarloZanotti – Ristorante San Francesco del Cappuccini Resort (Erbusco BS):
- ‘Crema di zucca delicata , croccante di semi di zucca e nocciole salato e macaron al fegato grasso d’anatra’
- #GoranAmnegard, Blaxsta Vingård (from Sweden):
- ‘Caramelized cream from moose milk with cloudberries, hazelnuts and natural cave aged cheese from north of the arctic circle’
- #IgorStepanovski – Macedonia:
- ‘Crema di nocciole e fagioli bianchi su formaggio di pecora, filetto di trota affumicato con pasta disidratata e poi fatta rinvenire nell forno con gramola di pasta brise e nocciole tostate con polvere sumak’
- #DorianMassè – Restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic (Francia) Michelin ***:
- ‘Marrone, birra e cazzetta’
- #MichelangeloCitino – Michelangelo Restaurant (Linate MI):
- ‘Terrina di pollo e fegato , burro alla nocciola e bollicine al tartufo’
- #BoffaGabriele – Locanda Sant’Uffizio (Penango AT):
- ‘Riso raschera e nocciole’
- #AndreaFerrucci – Ristorante Marcelin (Montà CN):
- ‘Salmone vellutato nocciola’
- #AlessandroCaliolo – Ristorante Pizzeria Il Vulcano (San Vito dei Normanni BR):
- ‘Acqua sale alla nocciola’
- #LuigiBonadonna – Chalet Fontana (Firenze):
- ‘Cioccolato delle Langhe, sale affumicato in casa e olio alle nocciole’
- #MicheleBeber: ‘Canederlotto di spinaci e porcini con cuore morbido al casolet e salsa leggera alle nocciole’
- #FabrizioRebollini – Il Belvedere (Cantalupo Ligure AL):
- ‘Focaccina alla nocciola con carrè di maiale nero affumicato al faggio e dressing di mele Carle, senape e nocciole’
- #ChristianMilone –Trattoria Zappatori (Pinerolo TO) * Michelin:
- ‘Ceci e nocciola’
- #GaetanoBasiricò – Serisso 47 (Trapani):
- ‘Capone (lampuga) farcito con Sgombro, Lardo e Carciofo Spinoso, Crema di Ceci all’Aglio Rosso e Nocciole fritte al Fior di Sale’
- #PaoloGhidini – Pizzeria Al Fienile (Palazzolo sull’Oglio BS)
- #UmbertodeMartino – Florian Maison (San Paolo d’Argon BG) * Michelin
- #PinoCuttaia – La Madia (Licata AG) ** Michelin
- #DomenicoCandela – Ristorante George’s presso Grand Hotel Parker’s (Napoli)
- #IvanCenteleghe – Pasticceria Centeleghe (Farra d’Alpago BL)
- #VetulioBondi – I gelati del Bondi (Firenze)
More photos of the event are published at the page WINEFOODMEETING at Facebook