Who are those “BÙGIANÈN”
Bùgia nèn: the most famous words in our dialect have also become a somewhat ironic nickname to define all of us Piedmontese.
“Wary of change, more prone to static than to evolutions,
capable of letting the winds of change drift over us.”
Today it is strange to think that at the origins of this expression there is a glorious and
epoch-making moment, when in the mid-eighteenth century in the Assietta valley the Savoy army did not bow to French overpower.
The Piedmontese commander, faced with his superiors' invitation to retreat, accompanied his refusal with the phrase, ``Noiäutri da si i bùgiuma nèn.`` As night fell, the battle ended, bravely won by the Piedmontese. The term Bùgianèn thus takes us back to a stubborn, resilient temperament capable of facing difficult times with firmness and determination. For us, resilience represents the willingness to open a Trattoria at a time when typical local cuisine and craftsmanship are declining in favor of standardization and culinary globalization.
To reread things from another point of view, bùgianèn also defines an unhoped-for richness nowadays. It is the pleasant custom, the being comfortable where one is, the pleasure and pride in daily habits. In the dining room and at the table, we propose the latter reading, the one that, thanks to the innate ability to circumvent change, allows us today to serve dishes so unscathed by the passing of time.
Above all, we convince ourselves that sometimes standing firm and steadfast means not betraying one's past and
still put conviviality and sharing at the center of the table.
The ``Bùgianèn``