Wines and Recipes

of the Bologna family

VEAL TOPSIDE WITH TUNA SAUCE

LA MONELLA
Barbera del Monferrato Frizzante DOC

PIEDMONT-STYLE TONGUE IN GREEN SAUCE

ASSO DI FIORI
Langhe Chardonnay DOC

AGNOLOTTI WITH BUTTER AND SAGE

IL BACIALE’
Monferrato Rosso
DOC

HERBY VEAL “TAGLIATA”

BRICCO DELLA BIGOTTA
Barbera d’Asti
DOCG

RABBIT LIVER WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR

MONTEBRUNA
Barbera d’Asti
DOCG

HORSE CHEEK WITH RED WINE

BRICCO DELL’UCCELLONE
Barbera d’Asti
DOCG

CHOCOLATE BUNET

VIGNA SENZA NOME
Moscato d’Asti
DOCG

ZABAIONE PARFAIT

BRACHETTO D’ACQUI
Brachetto d’Acqui
DOCG

POTATO GNOCCHI WITH RAGOUT

BRICCO DELL’UCCELLONE
Barbera d’Asti
DOCG

TRATTORIA
``DA BRAIDA``

Thinking about our grandparents:
Giuseppe, who made us all “Braida”,
and Caterina, who brought together family
and friends around the most wonderfully
laden tables time and time again

This whole story is set in just one place: at the crossroads where two streets meet, in the heart of the little village of Rocchetta Tanaro, in the province of Asti. It is the story of a family, the Bologna family, spanning several generations. Giuseppe Bologna was known as “Braida” in the village, on account of his resemblance to a well-known horse trader and handball champion. Like Braida, Giuseppe loved horses too and, being a carter by profession, he had four. He also shared his skill for the game of “balon”. Besides being a carter, Giuseppe owned two hay fields and a Barbera vineyard.

His wife was Caterina Quaglia and she had golden hands in the kitchen. Their first son, Giacomo, was born in 1938; Carlo was born four years later. On 3 February 1953, the Bologna family opened the Bar degli Amici in Rocchetta Tanaro. Unfortunately, a few weeks later Giuseppe died after falling from his cart on his way home from delivering some wine. Five years went by and the Bar degli Amici became “Trattoria Braida”: it was April 1958. As always, Caterina did the cooking. She was helped by Luigina Schialva, who had worked in numerous aristocratic households and was well versed in the secrets of gastronomy.

In the dining room, Giacomo and Carlo held court among an increasingly
glittering clientele of sportsmen, artists and intellectuals, all united by their love
of good food and good wine.

In 1962, the house wine, traditionally served in unlabelled bottles,
was labelled by Giacomo as Barbera di Rocchetta Tanaro
cru La Monella 1961.

This is where it all began.

1989, Anna and Giacomo Bologna in Rocchetta Tanaro:
the Bologna family has an inbred
talent for hospitality

``BRAIDA`` DI GIACOMO BOLOGNA

Braida’s Barbera was an immediate success, as were Giacomo’s other wines: Grignolino, Moscato d’Asti and Brachetto d’Acqui. Giacomo studied, travelled and compared notes with other producers, creating the cellar of his dreams (“Build a large, spacious, well-ventilated cellar and brighten it up with lots of beautiful bottles…”), in Rocchetta Tanaro of course. Bricco dell’Uccellone arrived in the 1980s, definitively consecrating Braida. Then came the turn of Bricco della Bigotta and Ai Suma. When he died in December 1990, Giacomo consigned some of the undisputed treasures of Italian oenology to his wife Anna and children Raffaella and Giuseppe.

Despite being very young at the time, Raffaella and Giuseppe embraced Giacomo’s legacy and expanded the estate, purchasing vineyards between the Monferrato and Langa regions. They built a second facility, opened a Wine Resort and launched new labels, including the white wines of Serra dei Fiori, without ever forsaking the legendary culture of hospitality that characterises the Bologna family. This attribute, combined with their love for Rocchetta Tanaro, translates into a real value of sustainability. Thanks also to the work of Norbert Reinisch, Raffaella’s husband, Braida is now internationally synonymous with Barbera. Sixty vintages after that first bottle of Barbera di Rocchetta Tanaro cru La Monella, the family business has been joined by the fourth generation, represented by Giacomo Bologna Jr.

TRATTORIA I BOLOGNA

While Giacomo inherited his father’s nickname and the first Barbera vineyard, beginning the “Braida” epic, his brother Carlo chose to follow in the footsteps of his mother Caterina, “an unrivalled cook who prepares traditional Piedmontese dishes so good as to make the bells of an entire village chime in celebration” (La Stampa Sera of 30 January 1976). Carlo, who embodies the legend of the innkeeper – persuasive and wise, jovial but firm – relaunched the family trattoria, where his wife Mariuccia worked alongside her mother-in-law Caterina in the kitchen for years, learning under her guidance.

After studying at catering school and spending several years working in prestigious restaurants in Italy and abroad, in 1992, their only son, Giuseppe, joined his mother Mariuccia in the kitchen of the beautiful farmhouse that welcomes guests at the entrance to the village of Rocchetta Tanaro. “Trattoria i Bologna” continues the tradition of Grandma Caterina, offering local cuisine served with renewed elegance in the dining room by Giuseppe’s wife, Cristina, and the ever-present “vini di Giacomo”. For thirty years now, the menus prepared by Chef Beppe have been a declaration of love for Piedmont: from starters to desserts, from steak tartare to tajarin with creamed basil and agnolotti del plin, from horse cheek to Asti-style bunet, all of which can be found in this recipe book.