NEWS :

07/02/2009
- Torino 2009 takes off towards the World Air Games
The desire for Olympic Games is always alive and kicking: it has been three years already since the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Paralympic Games and World University Games ended, but the Piedmontese region has became ever since an important site for international events designating the city of Torino as the ideal venue for sport competitions. For all these reasons and thanks to the Wag 2009 the city, Piedmont and Italy are expecting a new great success. The appointment with the entertainment, the emotions and all the challenging competitions through the skies of Torino, Avigliana and Mondovì is from the 6th to the 14th of June 2009.

Over 500 athletes representing the hundred federations member of FAI (Fédération Aéronautique International), 1.500 including officials, technicians and competition judges, 300.000 spectators forecasted over the three competition sites and more than 200 millions worldwide television contacts. Here they are the numbers of the Torino 2009 World Air Games. (The main event venues will be Torino-Aeritalia airport of Collegno, Avigliana and Mondovì).

The air sport competitions on schedule are divided in 10 sport disciplines which will bring to life the World Air Games: ballooning, microlights, hang gliding, paragliding, parachuting, aerobatics, helicopters, gliding, amateur-built and experimental aircraft and aeromodelling.

The World Air Games will attract thousands of fans, spectators and curioses: an enthusiastic audience keen to explore the interesting and beautiful universe of air sports in all its declinations. On our website we will you keep you updated with all the useful information on ticketing, spectators guidelines, all available merchandising items and side events. The city of Torino will host again ten days of "pure sky rocketing passion". We are sure you want to be a part of it!

da www.wag2009.com/eng

06/02/2009
- Piedmont: a vocation for food
Piedmont is a region where food comes first, with a host of specialities in an area which boasts centuries' old culinary traditions and outstanding, top quality local produce and raw materials, more of which have been granted protected, guaranteed status than in any other region of Italy, and which are used to make products which are much appreciated throughout the world.
This refined gastronomic panorama is complemented by the region's focus on the quality of life, and some truly picturesque places which offer not only good food and wine but also many touristic and cultural points of interest.

A tour of the palate of Piedmont has to start from the 52,000 hectares of vineyards which have brought it world renown: 60% of the unique wines made here have denomination of origin certification. Indeed this area boasts an unbeatable heritage in terms of wine: 44 bearing 'Denominazioni di Origine Controllata' (D.O.C.) and 10 'Origine Controllata e Garantita' (D.O.C.G.), the highest national standard, which has only been granted to 31 wines throughout Italy.

The wines of Piedmont need no introduction: Barolo and Barbaresco are the kings of a court thronged by whites and reds, like Brachetto, Gavi, Gattinara, Ghemme, Roero Nebbiolo and Arneis, Moscato d'Asti and Asti Spumante, which sells millions of bottles a year all round the world. Just like Vermouth, which was invented by the Torino producer Carpano, then made famous by the Martini and Cinzano brands.

After sampling one of these nectars, it's off in search of the many delicacies that only an area as outstanding as this can offer, and the finest culinary traditions render unique.

Meat, to start with. "Razza bovina piemontese" beef has the lowest cholesterol content of all and is distinguished by a standard which guarantees its quality. The meat from white Piedmontese calves features in some of the region's key specialities, from the famed "bollito misto" to raw steak, minced by hand or served all'albese. And then the pork salamis: raw or cooked salamis which are second to none.

But the pastures of Piedmont also mean cheese. The dairy sector in Piedmont offers a host of high quality products, as borne out by the existence of 8 products with 'Denominazione di Origine Protetta' (D.O.P.) status. These include flavoursome Gorgonzola and Taleggio, nourishing Grana Padano, and Castelmagno, the most noble of cheeses, a time-honoured crumbly cheese of outstanding quality produced in very small quantities. As well as Raschera, Bra, Murazzano and Robiola di Roccaverano: just a few examples of the vast galaxy of Piedmont's dairy specialities, produced according to centuries' old methods, often directly in the Alpine pastures which nestle among the peaks.

These are meats and cheeses of such renown that they generously lend themselves as a sauce or filling for the rice and pasta dishes that the area is famous for: such as tajarin, the thin tagliatelle pasta as yellow as the eggs it is made with; agnolotti, the most famous variety of pasta with filling, which in Piedmont is served with roast beef sauce; and rice, with Vercelli, the most important production area in Italy, offering the wonderful varieties Carnaroli, Baldo and Sant'Andrea.

The region's exceptional panorama of food products also features some prized traditional vegetable crops, cultivated on its fertile plains: the square pepper of Motta di Costigliole d'Asti, or the hornshaped variety of Carmagnola, leeks from Cervere, onions from Ivrea, asparagus from Santena, and the round cardoon of Nizza Monferrato: just a few of the vegetables traditionally served for dipping into bagna caôda, a hot sauce made of garlic, anchovies and oil, which along with fritto misto, is the definitive Piedmontese dish.

And then there is the real "king" of regional gastronomy: the white truffle, that rare prized fruit of a land which also conceals underground treasures. This little "tuber", worth more than its weight in gold, is found above all in the area around Alba, in the famed Langhe district, world renowned for its wines, but truffles can also be found in all the hilly areas of the region. A sprinkling of tiny slivers over tajarin pasta or even just fried eggs, releases the truly unique aroma.

Last but not least, come the sweets. Prized honeys, the famous hazelnut known as "Tonda Gentile delle Langhe" (the 'sweet round nut of the Langhe') and above all chocolate, which came to Torino at the end of the seventeenth century and is now one of the capital's most outstanding products – all feature as ingredients in many Piedmontese treats, like hazelnut cake, the hazelnut biscuits Nocciolini di Chivasso, pralines, dragé, Baci di Dama biscuits, nougat and the well known Gianduiotti chocolates, a blend of cocoa and toasted hazelnuts that Piedmont is known for throughout the world, thanks both to the handiwork of Torino's pastry chefs and the production of Nutella, the sweet spread that has become an international success story.

These are the prized fruits of the hills, vineyards, pastures and fields of Piedmont, made unique by the skill and talent of local companies and craftsmen.

Because in Piedmont a love of food is a virtue rather than a vice.

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