Another food festival in the piazza! I love how all these winter events are starting to fill up otherwise-empty Piazza Cadorna. This past weekend it was the Stresa nel gusto con il gorgonzola festival, which featured, naturally, gorgonzola cheese. Restaurants around town who chose to participate were also featuring gorgonzola on their menus, and at lunchtime Polenta Concia was served from a large tent in the center of the piazza. Polenta Concia, translated as 'Dirty Polenta,' is a comfy-sounding sort of mix of polenta, ragu, and gorgonzola cheese.I took a walk around the piazza in the afternoon; it was nicely crowded, and not only that, I saw many people purchasing, from all of the vendors.
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It looked like everyone was getting an early (and delicious!) start on shopping for Christmas gifts. Many of the items were clearly wrapped or packaged as gifts, and were attractively priced. Tables featured vendors with different types of foods or from different regions:
Locally made honeys and jams, labeled by the type of flowers the honey was made from.
Locally made salami.
Toma cheese from the Valle d'Aosta,
A closer look at the Toma cheese.
Mozzarella di Bufala balls.
In the spirit of Christmas, I love how they reminded me of Christmas decoration balls.
An artigianale chocolate maker with some beautiful selections designed for Natale.
Solid chocolate Prosecco bottles.
Likewise, solid chocolate bars with white chocolate Auguri messages.
Tables such as these featured products from different regions, in this case, Trentino, with all my Trentino favorites, such as canederle, spatzli, bratwurst, and sauerkraut.
Shops surrounding the piazza joined in the mood -- it's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Stresa.
