When we speak of Italian cuisine, we are speaking of the varied cuisines of geographic entities that were the city-states before the Risorgimento, the unifying of Italy. There is another class of Italian cuisine, it seems to me, that of the worker.

The Vineyard Worker
Wineries in Italy, especially Piemonte, are more like small farms in which the workers (which often include the owner and family) have many tasks. Tasting rooms can close while the staff picks grapes in the fall. But work takes fuel, and one day we discovered some high-octane deliciousness.