One of Italy's greatest cultural exports has to be its cuisine with each area competing to say that theirs is the best food in Italy.

It is often said that where there is great wine, there is great food and nowhere is this more apparent than in Piedmont. The ingredients are already there, rice and corn in the Po basin, fruits around Cuneo, nuts abound in Langhe and truffles and wine in Monferrato. Add to the mix a gourmet obsessed former king and a large French influence and you have some of the best food in the world.

A typical meal in Piedmont will consist of at least four antipasti dishes, at least two pasta dishes and a main dish. The ingredients will be the freshest and taken from local suppliers. Seafood is reserved for special occasions and as such, the local fish restaurants are of an exceptional quality being only one hour from the coast. As for dessert, each local area of Piedmont believes that their cakes and pastries are the finest.

Many restaurants do not print menus and you learn from the owner or the chef what's available that day. Sometimes you do not get that luxury and you are brought out vast quantities of excellent food that seems never ending. Numerous courses of local specialities, all the wine you can drink, water, dessert, coffee and liquor will set you back about €30 ($40 or £20) Quality and value you will rarely find anywhere else.

Space does not allow to do justice to the range of choice and high quality in the local restaurants but needless to say we have a recommendation list in Casa Collina that you can use and add to.

Barbera, Dolcetta, Barolo, Friesa, Nebbiolo and Moscato are just some of the more well known locally produced wines.

Unlike other wine producing areas, vineyards here are a local family run affair with smaller producers selling to a cooperative or bottling their own. Harvest time is a family enterprise with everyone helping out even the children who get special days off school to assist. At the end of the harvest, everyone who helped is treated to an al fresco banquet washed down with a few bottles from last year.

Should you wish to visit a local vineyard to sample or buy direct from the farmer or even to see how wine is made, we can recommend and organise wine tours during your stay.