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The draw was first the gorgeously restored Michelin building housing the Bibendum restaurant, and second, the massive Conran shop behind the landmark building. We didn’t eat at Bibendum, which I regret, but we were just walking around and window shopping at the time.

The windows were a cheery Christmas red with fake snowmen… this was two years ago, not this season.

Inside were all manner of doodads and kitsch for the holidays. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed how kitschy it had all become. I somehow remember a finer selection of items at Conran’s several years ago. But it was colorful, festive and seasonal in a young, modern kind of way.

The decor for trimming trees looked almost disposable, and it wasn’t that cheap either… I wonder if folks change the trimming on their trees every year. A lot of this stuff screamed China, if you know what I mean.

The way goods were displayed and merchandising was brilliant. Things of all colors on tables with different levels and it was just visually assaulting.

Items often grouped by color.

A terrific selection of wrapping paper.

Classic books in attractive modern bindings and covers.

There were several tablescapes set-up throughout the huge store. But I wasn’t a fan of many of them. Not sure why I was getting a “not like” vibe, I am normally quite happy to browse through a housewares store but somehow this just wasn’t my type.

Another tables cape..

…and another. Are you getting the same feeling I am? Or am I just getting old?

Uh?

Double uh?

Glass jars and bathroom dispensers.

Bath towels and bubbly stuff for baths…

…a wall of colorful soap.

More soap in jeweled tones and shapes.

Stockings.

.

Beautifully designed graphics/coverings for card cases, game table items, etc. After just 15-20 minutes in the shop, we left empty-handed. But that Michelin building next door… Wow. :)

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I am often fascinated with the “value” of a brand. I think brands do have value, but it’s really just a question of what premium one is willing to pay for the brand and what you get in return. In a tangible sense, some brands do use better quality materials, professional and artistic craftsmanship, careful attention to detail, leading edge creativity, etc. Then add on the acquisition experience of the shop, staff, packaging, etc. and that adds on a bit more. But more often that not, what people are consciously or unconsciously acquiring is something intangible and harder to value — it is bragging rights, exclusivity and exclusion of others who don’t have it, and “keeping up with the Joneses” or Ramoses, or whomever. I do have some favorite brands, amongst them Apple (since I used their FIRST EVER computer while it was being tested in colleges back in the mid-1980’s), Coca-Cola (since childhood a family favorite, and NEVER Pepsi, thank you), Singapore Airlines (a vestige of business travel eons ago, and now I just can’t afford them in comparison to other carriers), Loro Piana (fantasy more than reality) and Hermès for leather goods, silk scarves and ties (of which some 30+ still hang in my closet untouched for years now)…

So that’s a longwinded way of saying that on a recent jaunt through airport duty free shops, I spotted this bright red leather envelope in the window of Hermès. I like to organize receipts, notes, papers, bills in leather envelopes so this caught my eye. A quick inquiry inside led to the jaw-dropping price quoted at $1,200 or so. At least that’s what I think it was, I was doing currency conversion with severe jet lag. At any rate, I suspect it was definitely over $1,000. Yipes.

Back outside the store, I reached into my bag, pulled one of my leather envelopes and put it up against the window. Not bad for $16, no? Does exactly the same thing, is handcrafted in nice real leather, was actually made by Filipino artisans, and the leather envelopes are monogrammed to boot. These are the colors I happen to use now but I also gave away bright orange ones for Christmas once, though I don’t recall seeing red ones when I purchased these. They were from S.C. Vizcarra, and I have had them for a couple of years now. So yes, I do like brands, but I wouldn’t pay a premium of nearly 80x for something that does exactly the same thing… Did your Lola ever organize her bills in white envelopes that she folded and put in her stiff leather handbag? Mine did. And these envelopes are just the upscale version in leather. She wouldn’t approve of the “waste” of money compared to her white paper envelopes. :)

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One of the reasons we did a side trip to Alba in the Piemontese or Piedmont region of Northern Italy was to visit the Castello di Grinzane Cavour, a modest castle with fascinating food/wine history that is now home to the Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba (Order of the Knights of Truffle and Wines of Alba). “It is a food and wine confraternity which sets out to preserve, protect and re-introduce local traditions, practices and customs. In its Charter, the purpose of the Order is declared as being ‘to promote and defend the authentic gastronomy, wines and all the marvellous, unmistakeable produce of the land of Alba and the Langhe’.”

For reasons I will bare in the next post, I felt it necessary to visit the home of the Knights of Truffle to better understand both the product, the region, the history and the whole food culture of the Piedmont region. It’s amazing to me that a dedicated group of people formed an association for the sole reason of preserving, promoting and enjoying the food and wine products of a particular region. How I wish we have a version of this here at home for the preservation of heirloom kakanins, ingredients, dishes, etc.

The castle sits on a hill with spectacular 360 degree views towards the surrounding Piedmont region. Verdant hills, vineyards, patches of forest are all visible from every side of the castle.

It’s a fortification really, with the first two or three floors without windows (except those recently added) to ensure that unwanted visitors didn’t just clamber on up and into the bedrooms…

This particular hall is where some of the meetings of the Knights of Truffle are conducted, and it is where the annual charitable auction of white truffles is conducted for a worldwide audience of bidders. On some years, a nearly 1 kilo truffle can yield a stunning Euro200,000++ in bids, all proceeds going to a selected charity. White truffles normally retail for Euro3,500 or so per kilo, but that’s for smaller nuggets of fungus…

The ceiling of exposed wooden beams and flooring were incredible, probably dating back several hundreds of years. It wasn’t the most appealing set of rooms, but who am I to quibble when it comes to one castle vs. another?! The stairwells were incredibly narrow as well.

The castle had a wonderful courtyard where you could get some sun if it was not safe to head outside the castle walls… Today it is the setting for a little cafe, there is a cellar nearby, and a wonderful store that carries wines from all over the region.

The man of the castle.

The selection of regional wines in their enoteca is impressive. If we weren’t headed to Rome on a puddle-jumper with 20K luggage allowance, I would have been tempted to buy a grocery cart worth of goodies in this place…

…wine along with nuts, torrone, pastas, sauces, pastes, etc.

Gorgeous bottles.

And the “selection” of wines made by the Knights themselves… :)

See this link for more on the Knights of Truffle & Wine of Alba.

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Back at La Casa del Trifulau after an hour hunt in the woods, our hosts/guide laid out the spoils of the day… one medium sized black truffle and some modest sized white truffles. You don’t get to keep the truffles found on your hunt, but you could offer to buy them if you liked. At Euro3,000 per kilo, white truffles are a luxury, but dial that gasp back and realize that 5-10grams shaved over your risotto or pasta is enough to give you a heady experience, at say Euro20-30 per serving. So while it is incredibly pricey, a little goes a long way. In London, New York or Tokyo you might be charged anywhere from $100-150 for a shaving of truffles (say 5 grams), so that’s 4-5x the price at the source, but when in the heart of white truffle country, I say what better time to indulge…

Our guide had found this rather substantial white truffle earlier in the day, but note that the dogs had scratched the surface of the truffle, so it was “damaged” goods so to speak. At roughly 60 grams in weight, it would be worth approximately Euro180 or $200 but could serve some 7-10 people.

Natale bought out a dish of sliced robiola (or at least I think it was robiola, a cheese made with cow’s, goat and sheep milk)…

…took a stainless steel shaver and picked up the nice white truffle…

…and proceeded to shave…

…shave…

…and shave a VERY GENEROUS amount of white truffles on the cheese!!! We were quite taken aback by this snack for peckish guests while sitting outdoors enjoying the view of the Alban countryside.

The combined aroma of the freshly found white truffle combined with the tasty three-animal milk cheese was definitely a once in a lifetime taste experience, for sure.

Natale also took out a sampling of recently found black truffles that had been brushed clean of dirt, cross sections that showed the density and patterns within. These were fragrant, but again, a different level of aroma and intensity than the white truffles.

Now this, is REAL truffle oil. Most food experts would worry about chopping up a moldy bit that has come out of the soil and may contain several kinds of bacteria that would happily breed into a deadly cocktail in a bottle of oil, but at least this is the real thing. Almost all commercially sold truffle oil is made with synthetic flavoring, so you aren’t getting any real truffles at all.

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Perhaps the main reason for our journey to Piedmont and the area around Alba, was to savor eating, and just as importantly, experience “hunting,” for the prized white truffles of the region. This is definitely one of the items crossed off my personal food bucket list. While our trip to the region fell two days short of the official start of the white truffle “season” for 2016, we were hopeful that we would be able to find something or at least experience what it would be like to traipse through the woods in search of fungus…

Mrs. MM had booked a private hunt through a tour expert that booked La Casa del Trifulau, and we ended up going with another couple of guests for an hour or more long trek through hilly woodsides. Truffle hunting is a passion and the skills are handed down through generations… in this case, our guides Natale and Giorgio having hunted truffles for decades and their ancestors did it before them. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical that the hunt would include “planted” truffles, but I really don’t think that was the case in our experience…

We entered the woods owned by the family of Natale across the road, these were once planted with grapes, and several decades ago allowed to return to wild forest and underbrush. It’s a continuing battle between wine and truffles in Alba, with the latter requiring natural forested areas to thrive. It is said that when it is a good year for wine (generally a hot late summer, minimal rain, etc. so you end up with very intense robust wines) it is a horrible one for truffles. Truffles prefer wet, damp and cold conditions and this year it was not that at all…

So the key is man’s best friend, the dog, in our case his name was Brio. They once used pigs to do the sniffing, but they were rabid about eating their finds so dogs were trained instead. The dogs help locate the truffle, and are more easily distracted/rewarded with a grocery liver treat while yielding the truffle to their masters. In this case, our wonderful companion was Brio, a mixed breed of English(?) pointer mine with a local Italian breed. Truffle hunters work with their dogs from birth, and the first two years are really spent training the dogs how to find the elusive white truffles.

The first clue is that truffles grow around the root systems of only 3-4 types of trees, poplars being one of them. The root systems of oaks and possibly hazelnuts were also a desired home for white truffles. So basically the dogs and humans tend to perk up near the right kinds of trees…

…after several minutes heading uphill, and looks between Mrs. MM and myself that it obviously wasn’t going to be a leisurely stroll on flat land… Brio our hound started sniffing excitedly and quickly started digging furiously, kicking up dry dirt and leaves…

…it was incredibly fascinating and exhilarating to watch. And Giorgio immediately got in there to intervene should the truffle be close, as scratch marks and nicks to the fungus totally diminish their value and desirability amongst the cognoscenti…

…in this case, the first find was a tiny white truffle, smaller than a marble, but Brio got a treat nonetheless. Truffles are unusual in that they ripen at a particular time, with no regard to shape or size, so they could be tiny or enormous, up to say a kilo in weight. And you could apparently hunt through a part of the forest in the morning and turn up empty-handed, but find a ginormous truffle in the late afternoon.

A little further down the path, Brio started circling and getting excited and went full force into digging furiously…

…to yield this pretty hefty black truffle. I had no idea they grew together, black and white (though that was obviously a duhhh moment), and frankly, Giorgio was a little cross/disappointed with Brio as apparently he is trained to ignore the black and just look for the white truffles. The locals poo-poo the black variety and I had visions of his tossing the black one into the woods and my scrambling to go find it myself.

The truffle, caked in dry mud, was incredibly fragrant, but noticeably different from the intense fragrance of white truffles. It looked pretty big to me, but apparently wasn’t of the most ideal shape and condition.

A close-up of the black nugget. Brio happily gave it up for two treats. As with many delicacies around the world, it seems poop plays a role here. Animals eat the truffles, poop and leave spores all over the forest. The spores develop when the conditions are right, and they have a two month cycle to ripen and they are eaten by animals and pooped out again. Civet coffee is another example of having to be associated with poop. And so are wild mushrooms. :)

A little further down the path Brio found something else, another tiny white truffle, and I was beginning to think the larger ones would be elusive that day.

Notice how “pleased as punch” Brio is with any discovery. The symbiotic relationship between master (who could be rather strict and firm) and lovable hound was almost as interesting to watch as the actual truffle discoveries…

And then about 45 minutes into the hunt, Brio found this beautiful white truffle — it had a nice shape, heft, density and amazing amazing fragrance. We were so excited and in that one hour our trip seemed to have been made so special, so complete. We would go on to find a few more white truffles of a diminutive size, and our guide Giorgio kept shaking his head about the weather and poor conditions for truffles this year.

Meanwhile, between the diggings, I noticed the abundance of wild laurel plants all over the paths. Such lush, and when you crushed the leaves in your fingers, fragrant fresh laurel.

There were two interesting distractions for Brio during the hunt, one was several sirens from ambulances that careened some 300-400 meters away. He got so discombobulated by the sounds that he stopped following instructions and just kept looking in the direction of the sirens. And as the walk was ending, he really perked up, looked like he was on the hunt for something alive, and kept looking in a particular direction. Giorgio said he had probably smelled a rabbit or hare, and we didn’t see a thing or hear any movement in the underbrush.

But about 80 meters down the path, I snapped this, can you see it? What I would give to have the olfactory capacities of a hound. Overall, the truffle hunt was a fantastic experience, and now every time I savor shavings of white truffles, I will know exactly how they are discovered in the woods.

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While on the topic of trimming trees, I thought folks might be interested in this post on the ornaments at Liberty of London, photos taken on a trip to London a while back, but never posted/published. Liberty is a business that dates back to 1875, and if I am not mistaken, this wonderful old building on Regent Street is just as old as the company, if not older. It amazes me that a structure (much of it wood) has survived for so long, and in a commercial use at that. the creaky, uneven wood floorboards give the place a charm that is hard to replicate in cement and tile malls of the 21st century. It must have survived the horrible bombing of London during the war, and it’s a fascinating building to visit if only for the architecture and history of it.

While Liberty is best known for its beautiful and classic floral prints on the finest cotton, they have evolved into a full department store of sorts. On this particular visit, I was interested in seeing what was on offer on the Christmas floor, and was quite literally, floored. Wall after wall after wall of Christmas ornaments were just overwhelming, almost like crack for a Christmas decor addict. A lot of it wasn’t of the best quality, and it was incredibly pricey, but for sheer “golpe de gulat” — totally impressive.

Walls were arranged by color themes like more purple-y hues…

…to more classic reds and greens…

…reds and golds…

…Radko-like, painted blown-glass ornaments…

…and a whole wall of dogs, cats and other pets.

In another section, a good selection of Christmas crackers — those wrapped tubes that contain party favors.

A glimpse of the fabric selection. Liberty of London has apparently been acquired by Japanese buyers, and I have recently seen collaborations between Liberty x Uniqlo that looked nice from afar, but the quality of cotton is a world apart. The kid had wonderful liberty smocked dresses hand-made by her Tita that we keep all wrapped up like little treasures to this day…

More of that wonderful fabric.

These piggies caught my eye in another section of the store…

…as did the Astier de Villatte.

These piggy mugs also caught my eye, until my eyes went wide open at the glasses that were on either side?! How odd are they?! :)

The next time you visit London around the holidays (a phenomenal time to be in the city, btw), make sure to check out Liberty of London, and their Christmas floor in particular!

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After tasting wines at the local enoteca regionale of Barolo, we headed to the charming “cellars” of Agricola Gian Piero Marrone in La Morra. We were to have a “light lunch” along with tasting another5-6 local wines, this time from a much for economical Euro5-7 per bottle to perhaps a high of Euro30 per bottle.

Lunch tables were set out in a room filled with enormous barrels, just beside rooms were wine was made/bottled. The view from the terrace above the building was spectacular, so if you decide to tour this winemaker, make sure to reserve a table for lunch and the view.

Some of the oak barrels recently filled with wine.

Their retail area with several of their labels on offer, most at very economical prices.

The tasting lunch started with some classic bruschetta topped with tomatoes. In this case, the bread was very crisp, all the way through.

A platter of salumi followed next, and the salty, fatty cured meat was a welcome break from the several glasses of wine we had had so far… We finished this entire plank of salumi with freshly baked foccacia!

We each also enjoyed the chicken and artichoke dish, a bit like chicken salad really…

…with two kinds of their white wines, the arnais standing out as a fruity, light, very drinkable everyday wine.

A warm cheese and zucchini flan.

One of several reds.

A selection of local cheeses.

And a hurried finish of a chocolate panna cotta… we kind of rushed off before we could have a coffee as we had a very important appointment to catch at 2pm to go on a truffle hunt, up next.

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The 1998 film featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan of (almost) the same title changed the way people used the phrase… For centuries, “mail” referred to letters that were hand delivered or placed in one’s mailbox. In fact, I quote from Wikipedia:

“The word mail comes from the Medieval English word male, referring to a travelling bag or pack. It was spelled that way until the 17th century, and is distinct from the word male. The French have a similar word, malle for a trunk or large box, and mála is the Irish term for a bag. In the 17th century, the word mail began to appear as a reference for a bag that contained letters: “bag full of letter” (1654). Over the next hundred years the word mail began to be applied strictly to the letters themselves, and the sack as the mailbag.”

I used to collect postage stamps as a kid, and had hundreds of them (not sure where all those albums went actually) so it’s interesting to note that we have been using postage stamps on our mail for almost 2 centuries… So it was definitely a bit of nostalgia that drew me to all these wonderful mailboxes (of the last two centuries type) while walking through small towns all over Alba in Northern Italy.

I guess I miss the anticipation, the joy of checking my mailbox and finding real (not junk) mail there. A letter carefully written, taking note of the penmanship, quality of paper, type of pen, the well-thought out content with the occasional crossed out word or words, and folding the paper just so to return the letter into the envelope… I could tell which letters came from my grandmother, parents, family, friends, etc. My college mailbox on campus saw an occasional letter from home halfway around the world, something that I would answer and only receive a reply to almost a month later. I got lots of typewritten rejection letters from potential employers in my mailbox, and an occasional phenomenal offer letter that made up for all the previous rejections. I guess I just miss real mail.

Email is so much more efficient, I will grant it that. But it is often soul-less. Now if only they had virtual mailboxes as gorgeous as these, maybe that would be the happy medium. :)

P.S. That post it note on the last mailbox is a message from the delivery man with a box ordered from Amazon.com. It tells the recipient that he/she came by, no one answered the bell, and it wouldn’t fit in the mailbox, so to call them so they could return to drop it off… I know, I read it, no? :)

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An enoteca regionale is the equivalent of regional wine shop/repository that stocks many wines from a particular region, and you have a wonderful opportunity to taste a lot of what that particular region has to offer. Rather than spending several hours each visiting particular vineyards and doing tastings at say 4 properties in one day, we decided to start our day at the enoteca regionale of Barolo instead. Apparently, there is an Italian saying that basically says the best time to taste wine is after breakfast and before lunch. Or I would say, around 10-10:30 am. :) Actually, it has to do with the freshness of one’s palate so the earlier in the day the better…

One of the reasons we hired a car/driver was to free us to taste as much wine that day as we could handle… The entice was located in a beautiful space and the various wines from around the region were displayed for all to see.

It’s interesting that NO OVERT RECOMMENDATIONS are made by staff at the enoteca, instead they want you to taste and decide for yourselves which wines appeal to you.

When we arrived, we were the only visitors at the enoteca, though it got busier just a few minutes later. On one wall were a line of say 30 bottles from various manufacturers from around the region and you purchased “debit cards” that entitled you to say 8-10 glasses of wine per person. Technically, between Mrs. MM and myself we could have tasted some 16 wines that morning, but I think we stopped at 8-10 or so generous tasting portions (about half a normal serving of wine).

Our guide explained some of the history of the Barolo region, and most importantly that there were three distinct areas of wine production based on the quality of soil, from sandy/sandstone based, clay and a mixture of the two. It’s amazing how different the soil is in such a small area of land, but it had to do with how far the sea used to to come up in this part of Northern Italy so there is a distinct dichotomy between one end of Barolo and the other.

After the briefing, we set out to taste wines from all three regions, following the guides suggestion of starting with wines from the sandy terroir and moving towards the mixed then clay. The latter had the best wines, in our opinion, but we are amateurs when it comes to wine, so who are we to say…

I took photos to record all of the bottles we tried, but honestly, I couldn’t be bothered to figure that all out now. Suffice it to say some were unremarkable, but others were both amazing in taste and color… The advantage of tasting so many wines in a short period of time is that you get to compare and contrast them. And if you aren’t disciplined and start spitting your wine into the provided buckets, you can’t possibly last until mid-afternoon without a serious nap. :)

The enoteca posts the price tags of each bottle so when you taste it, you are docked a corresponding amount for the wine. It also helps you decide if there is really a difference in quality/taste/appeal based on the price… and yes, for the most part, the pricier bottles did seem to be the more appealing…

Most of the wines we loved were in the Euro40-50 ($45-55) per bottle range, and I suppose these would be nearly 50-100% more expensive in a wine shop back home or elsewhere in the world. Not the cheap stuff, to say the least. But not outrageously pricey either.

This bottle of “Azelia” Barolo from Luigi Scavino was quite nice, and we would actually have more wine from this vineyard several weeks later, at a special dinner in Makati we attended the other night (more on that later).

Barolo are big bold wines with lots of tannins, and they are often best when aged for quite a while. Enjoy them with game, beefy stews or even steak tartare. Think heavier, winter like meals with a substantial wine… At this point of the morning, I was looking into packing and bringing several bottles of local wine, but the reality of non-existent luggage allowance on domestic puddle-jumpers meant that excess baggage fees would double or triple the cost of each bottle so we decided to just drink and be merry…

…and perhaps the reason so many people were amused by this photo I posted on instagram the very day it was taken, is that wine (too much good wine) must make you look better than usual. Hahahaha.

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