Bagna càôda (or cauda)

Famous Piedmontese sauce, prepared with abundant oil, butter, anchovies (in massive doses) and garlic. Bagna cauda is served boiling in a container placed on a lit stove in the middle of the table. Various types of raw vegetables are dipped in this sauce: celery, peppers, radishes and above all very tender thistles. In fact, it seems that the bagna càôda was born in the countryside around Chieri, where the cultivation of large but very tender thistles is very developed.