Soma d’Aj is a typical recipe from Piedmont. It’s a quite simple slice of country bread rubbed with garlic and then topped with extra virgin olive oil. In Piedmont dialect aj means garlic (abbreviation for aglio) and soma is related to the load put on the back of a beast. An approximate translation for this gastronomic metaphor could be: “Loaded with garlic”.
Asti is a city in Piedmont region in northwest Italy, and the capital of the province bears the same name. A world within a world with the same name. Asti spumante, the aromatic sparkling wine, has made the name of this city famous, and is one of the few DOCG wines of that category in Italy.
It’s wonderful observing people make courageous changes in order to make a dream come true.
Hoss Hauksson, my compatriot is one of those, and after 20 years of desk bound work he decided in spring 2017 to “dive” into a long-time passion of his, winemaking.
The hills of Monferrato, Piedmont are a perfect landscape. Their soft slopes, castles and little towns on top of what seems a sea of wine flowing down, are enchanting. It seems like walking inside of the most beautiful landscape painting, or in an era centuries away. Then as a “contour” you have the Alps embracing the whole scene.
The classical Italian pasta dish “Spaghetti (or) pasta alle cozze” , is very easy to make and its smooth texture, perfume and taste are irresistible (in my opinion). Both this classical “rosso” version and the “bianco” variant without the tomatoes. It’s one of those dishes that speak of summer, freshness and ripe tomatoes. The salty taste and scent of the mussels “speak” of the sea, the mild herbs and the bright red color of the tomatoes, make it an ideal summer dish.
