Franca Garesio Luigi Berzano
The sacredness of bagna cauda
Luigi Berzano has combined his teaching in sociology with a religious vocation throughout his life. leading the small parish of Valleandona for the past fifty years.
His interview opens us to metaphysical perspectives on the practice of bagna cauda, capable of going far beyond the necessities dictated by nourishment. Berzano suggests the existence of four "paths of food" that help us experience conviviality with wonder, gratitude, sacredness, satisfying aesthetic needs and giving bagna cauda the new dimension of collective ceremony.
Video table of contents
Interview information
Country: IT
Region: Piemonte
City: Asti
Locality: Valleandona
Luigi Berzano
Date of birth: 07-08-1939
City: Asti
School: University
Profession: Cleric
Languages: Italiano
Document by: Laura Bugliazzini
Video by: Laura Bugliazzini, Luca Ghiardo
Created: 21-03-2025
Questo video fa parte del seguente archivio
Nourishing Piedmontese Identity: Bagna Cauda’s tales
Nourishing Piedmontese Identity: Bagna Cauda’s tales
Bagna cauda is a complex and multifaceted gastronomic system partly constituted by its ingredients and, above all, by a repertoire of cultural aspects capable of conveying symbols, traditions, and knowledge of the communities of Southern Piedmont, from which it is considered an identity food.
A dish in which every variant of the recipe is evidence of a different tradition: hundreds of possible preparations that differ from each other, connected by distinctive traits such as conviviality, sharing, irony, and the celebration of a non-solemn festive event. A unique convergence that represents the common thread of this repository that contains interviews with farmers, cooks, and those who experience the practice of bagna cauda as a moment of communion with food and collectivity.
A meaning that, in the last twelve years, the Astigiani Cultural Association has been able to grasp, proposing to the Piedmontese communities all over the world the participation to the Bagna Cauda Day. A very successful initiative that involved over 30.000 diners in the 2024 edition.
