Ristorante del Cambio, Turin Italy

Ristorante del Cambio is a gorgeous Grande Dame of a restaurant, where guests are transported back in time to a very elegant and gracious age.

In October 2004, Edward F. Nesta and I visited Turin, Italy and experienced a wonderful lunch at the Ristorante del Cambio, (www.THI-Hotels.com) which was built in 1757, expanded in 1859, and has been in continual operation since 1859. It is a gorgeous Grande Dame of a restaurant, where guests are transported back in time to a very elegant and gracious age. Chef Giuseppe Fonsdituri demonstrates his culinary excellence, and graciously shares three of his typical Piedmontese recipes with Luxury Experience, which include two main courses and a dessert. Grazie mille Chef Fonsdituri!

Read our article on the Ristorante del Cambio in our Restaurant section.

Agnolotti Alla Piemontese

Ingredients for 8 persons

For the filling:
400 grams       roast white meat
300 grams       roast red meat
500 grams       boiled beef
½                    boiled hen, boned (save the broth)
½                    Savoy cabbage (baked with the roasts)
4                     whole eggs
200 grams       Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
                        nutmeg, to taste
                        salt and pepper, to taste

For the pasta dough:
1 kilo                flour
10                    egg yolks
4                      whole eggs
1                      tablespoon olive oil
10 grams          salt

For the sauce:
All pan drippings from roasts
150 grams        butter
1                      clove garlic
1                      branch rosemary
                        grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, to taste

To make the filling, finely mince the roast meats, the boiled meats and the cabbage. Put them in a bowl and add the 4 whole eggs, the cheese, the nutmeg, and the salt and pepper. Set aside. To make the sauce, add the butter, rosemary and garlic to the juices of the two roasts; simmer for 10 minutes. Mix the dough ingredients; knead and roll out, filling the agnolotti using the mixture prepared earlier. Boil in the chicken broth for 5 minutes. Drain agnolotti thoroughly and cover with the sauce from the roasts and sprinkle with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Braised Veal With Barolo Wine

Ingredients for 4 persons:
800 grams       veal
1 litre               aged Barbera wine
1 litre               Barolo wine
2                      cloves garlic
1                      bay leaf
4                      cloves
1                      cinnamon stick
1                      branch rosemary
2                      red onions (coarsely chopped)
10                    grains pepper
10                    juniper berries
6                      pieces of dry porcini mushrooms
2                      carrots (coarsely chopped)
1                      branch of fresh thyme (or dry thyme)
                        flour, salt, olive oil, to taste

Boil the Barolo down to half its volume; set aside. Put the meat in a steel pan along with the Barbera wine and all the other ingredients; refrigerate. After marinating for at least 8 hours, drain the wine from the meat and set aside. Dust the meat with flour and brown lightly in a kettle in a small amount of olive oil. Salt the meat and cook in the heated marinade wine.

On the side, sauté the vegetables and spices from the marinade and pour over the meat as it is cooking. Cover and simmer 2 hours, turning meat from time to time. Remove the meat from the wine and keep warm. Put the pan juices and vegetables through a vegetable mill to obtain a rather thick gravy. Bring mixture to a boil, adding the thickened Barolo set aside earlier. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut the meat in slices and cover with gravy. Serve with grilled polenta and little sweet and sour braised onions.

Bonet Langarolo

Ingredients:
330 grams       granulated sugar
50 grams         unsweetened cocoa powder
1 litre               whole milk
8                      whole eggs
1                      small cup espresso coffee
½ cup               dry Marsala wine
8                      almond macaroons

Bring the milk to a boil in a small kettle with the crumbled macaroons. Beat the eggs in a bowl with 250 grams of the sugar; add the cocoa, coffee, Marsala wine and finally the boiled milk with the macaroons. Blend thoroughly. On the side, caramelise the remaining 80 grams of sugar and pour into a rectangular mould: once the caramel has hardened, pour in the batter and bake in bain-marie for approximately 60 minutes, or in a steam oven at 92-93°C. Serve chilled.

Ristorante del Cambio
Piazza Carignano, 2
10123 Turin, Italy
Telephone: (+39/11) 546690, (+39/11) 543760
Fax: (+39/11) 535282
Email: cambio@thi.it
www.THI-Hotels.com