Franca Garesio Piercarlo Albertazzi
Protecting the hunchback thistle
Piercarlo Albertazzi is Vice President of the Protection Consortium and Head of the Slow Food presidium for the hunchback thistle, Spadone variety: roles he has taken on to preserve its traditional production. A vegetable that has found its perfect habitat in the Nizza Monferrato area thanks to the frequent floods of the Belbo stream, which has made the soil nutrient-rich and particularly suitable for this crop.
In his interview he highlights the most salient points of the strict regulations that rule its production and the current and future projects to further develop its cultivation, which currently fails to meet demand.
The hunchback thistle, which originates as a crop in line with the dictates of agro-ecology criteria, has recently been made even more sustainable thanks to the initiatives of the Protection Consortium that, for instance, has taken care of its new packaging.
Video table of contents
Interview information
Country: IT
Region: Piemonte
City: Asti
Locality: Nizza Monferrato
Piercarlo Albertazzi
Date of birth: 05-15-1954
City: Alessandria
Profession: Other
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.
