CASCINA ITALIA

Ceresole d’Alba lies within a vast plateau of clay-rich soils stretching from the Roero hills to the Po Valley: the striking “Terre Rosse” of the Pianalto di Poirino. A harsh land, naturally poor in water—so much so that its inhabitants were once known as “rasatà,” meaning “the parched ones.” For this reason, every farming family traditionally maintained a peschiera—called “tampa” in the local Piedmontese dialect—small ponds designed to collect rainwater, essential for watering livestock, irrigating fields, and daily rural life. Within these ponds, tench have been raised for generations, developing here a distinctive golden hue that makes them unique. The golden tench of Ceresole d’Alba has long been the town’s signature delicacy, drawing food lovers from afar, especially in early September during the village festival, when local restaurants serve it both fried and marinated in the traditional carpione style. In the 1950s, the drilling of wells made these ponds obsolete. Many were abandoned, and with them, the age-old tradition of tench farming began to fade. A turning point came in 1994, when the planned construction of a landfill at Tenuta Palermo—an enormous pit that threatened to contaminate the underlying aquifers—was successfully opposed. Faced with what could have become a symbol of environmental damage, Giacomo Mosso instead looked to the scattered tampe as a model of harmony between human activity and the land. From this vision, he revived and expanded tench farming at Cascina Italia. Today, alongside the fish ponds, the farm also hosts a processing laboratory, where tradition continues to evolve, preserving a unique heritage of the Piedmont countryside.