The Home Of The Slow Food Movement Smells Like A Cheese Festival
September 20-23rd, the streets of Bra will be awash with cheese.
I'm sure you're pondering: there exists a town named after a woman's undergarments? Where can I find this magical sounding place? Why will the pavements of Bra be alive with dairy products?
Well, Bra is a small city in Northern Italy in the region of Piemonte near the French border. The etymology of the word Bra is derived from the word brayda, from the Piedmont dialect, and roughly translates to "a large rural house." Bra is a sleepy town located in Italy's premier wine country. The territories of Barolo, Barbaresco and Dolcetto are all next-door neighbors, and the area is well-known for high-quality foods. It's also where the Slow Food Movement was born.
The founder of the movement, Carlo Petrini, spends his downtime there; it is also the home of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, a new baby of the ethical eating movement. Bra is aptly located between two of the most renowned dairy-obsessed countries in the world, so every two years, Slow Food holds a three-day cheese conference to promote sustainable cheese consumption. There are also workshops and bringing to light traditional cheeses from the surrounding regions.
Taste workshops run the gamut from South African raw milk cheese production to the fine art of paring artisanal beers with Stiltons and Cheddars. There will also be a range of decadent dinners, with chefs like Enrico Crippa of the noted three-star Piazza Duomo focusing on traditional Piedmontese food, with wine pairings from the personal cantina of the Ceretto family of Alba.
The crème de la crème, if you will, of the top cheese producers will be present and offering copious amounts of samples. The exhibitor's list promises more than five producers of burrata, possibly the most unctuously ridiculously delicious evolution of milk known to man. Cheese lovers may have found their mecca.
For more details, check out the official website.
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