Racks of Spumante bottles are cellared twenty meters below ground at Piedmont wine producer Fontanafreddo.

      When it comes to sweets, Turin rules Redmontese cuisine. As early as 1600, the art of working with cacao was so well-developed in this city that Swiss chocolate makers came to Turin to work as apprentices. The chocolates with hazelnut known as giandujotti (because they resemble the hat that Gianduia, a Turin Carnival figure, wears) are native to Turin. The diablotin, givo, and alpini created by-Turin's confectioners are equally tasty.

      Piedmont may be known for its cosmopolitan pleasures, but Valle d'Aosta is a region of peaceful mountain lanscapes—one of those areas in which cows potentially outnumber people. Much of the milk from those cows goes to the creation of fontina and other milky fresh cheeses. An old Valle d'Aosta proverb says, "II formaggio fresco ha tre fondamentali qualità: toglie la fame, la sete, e lava i denti," which means "Fresh cheese has three fun-damental qualities: it takes away your hunger, it quenches your thirst and it brushes your teeth."

      Cheese in general is crucial to the cooking of the Valle d'Aosta, but it is Fontina that is the region's lifeblood. Fontina has been made in Valle d'Aosta for at least 700 years; 7.7 million pounds are produced yearly. One of the many ways in which it is put to good use in Valle d'Aosta is in fonduta, or fondue. As with the bagna caoda of Piedmont, diners share a communal pot.

      Perhaps because of the cold weather, hearty soups are the most common primi. These include all types of vegetable soups, usually with cheese and bread included. Chestnut soup is a seasonal treat.

      Other first courses include polenta or gnocchi with melted cheese. Potatoes are eaten not just in gnocchi, but boiled or roasted as side dishes.

      Main dishes often feature local game such as venison and chamois: Valle d'Aosta has a long and valiant hunting tradition, not least of all because the House of Savoy, the Italian royal family, had its hunting grounds there.

      The area's most famous entree is carbonada, a salted rump steak slow-cooked with onions, butter, bacon, cinnamon, and wine and served over polenta. Cotoletta alla valdostana is a fried veal cutlet topped with prosciutto and fontina, Boudin, or blood sausage, also appears frequently. Cured products include mocetta, a leg of veal, chamois or goat, and prosciutto di San Marcel, prepared with eighteen different herbs.

      As if its wine tradition could never flourish in the shadow of the wildly successful vineyards of Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta has never developed well-known labels. (It does have this distinction though: its vineyards enjoy the highest elevation of any in Europe.) The one renowned drinking tradition in Valle d'Aosta is not a wine, or even a cocktail, but a drinking vessel, the grolla—a. container with side spouts that is filled with coffee, grappa, and sugar. The grolla—sometimes known as a "friendship cup"—is passed around the table in yet another communal ritual that builds bonds between people in the way that only shared food and drink can