Granai della Memoria :: 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.

Gianluigi Bera

Gastronomic memory as a temporal bridge between tradition and contemporaneity

Gianluigi Bera manages a winery in the Canelli area that runs with respect for traditions. Nurturing a genuine passion for history, gastronomy, and the specificities of his territory, for years he has been engaged in historical research to bring the peasant civilization back to the centre of collective memory. A world to which Bera proudly belongs and from which, over the years, he has collected the last testimonies.

The bagna cauda gastronomic system is one of the topics he has most deeply explored and of which he can boast great expertise. Far from fanciful narratives and mystifications, in this interview he retraces the main historical stages of the gastronomic ritual from the 18th century to the present day, hoping that his testimony will help recover the original practices that constitute its cultural added value.