Franca Garesio Piercarlo Grimaldi
Traditions, folklore and bagna cauda in the Asti Langa
Professor Piercarlo Grimaldi, former dean of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, guides us through some reflections on his territory, the Asti Langa.
Starting from a traditional dish, the bagna cauda, and linking it to the period of the year when it is consumed, between Saint Martin's day, as a collective rite to celebrate the end of threshing and the tapping of new wine, and the presence of the last vegetables in the garden, he explains how certain "marker days" have a vital importance in the peasant world as they allow future predictions on nature awakening's time.
The topics he focuses on, from the conditions of extreme precariousness induced by the sharecropping system, to the proverbiality that governs the rhythms of the circular calendar, to bagna cauda as a mean to explain the complex concept of identity, help us to understand part of the traditions and folklore of this culturally reach territory.
Video table of contents
Interview information
Country: IT
Region: Piemonte
City: Asti
Piercarlo Grimaldi
Year: 1945
City: Asti
School: University
Profession: Teacher/Professor
Languages: Italiano
Document by: Laura Bugliazzini
Video by: Laura Bugliazzini, Luca Ghiardo
Created: 01-02-2025
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.
