Bagna cauda is one of Piemonte’s best-known dishes. The name means “warm bath,” and that’s what it is: a sauce of garlic, butter, oil, and anchovy heated in a deep earthenware container set on the table over a little flame, like a fondue pot. Also on the table are arrayed a great variety of cut vegetables, raw and cooked, to be dipped in the piping-hot sauce, eaten, and savored. In Piemonte, bagna cauda will always include some of the fabulous vegetables for which the region is renowned, such as cardi gobbi from Nizza Monferrato, and the gorgeous long peppers of Carmagnola. At home I serve an assortment of seasonal vegetables: You’ll find some suggestions on the next page. This is a great starter on the table or for a buffet. To make more sauce for a crowd, simply multiply the ingredient amounts given in the recipe.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 cup of dipping sauce, for 6 appetizer servings with vegetables
Ingredients
Recommended Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
In a mortar and pestle or mini-chopper, mash the garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon olive oil into a smooth paste, and transfer to a small bowl. Mash (or chop) the anchovy fillets into a smooth paste. (Alternatively, chop or slice the garlic and anchovy by hand, separately.)
Step 2
Put the garlic (crushed, chopped, or sliced) in the saucepan with the butter, and set over medium-low heat or a tabletop heat source. Cook slowly until the garlic is thoroughly softened and melted in the butter. Stir in the anchovies and the remaining olive oil, and heat over a low flame, mashing the anchovies with the back of a spoon until thoroughly disintegrated.
Step 3
When the bagna cauda is piping hot, whisk the sauce briefly to blend and emulsify, and serve with cut vegetables alongside (see box on following page).
