Buseca d'Äicq

The tripe festival that warms up Acqui Terme

The Buseca d'Äicq is one of the most cherished and traditional culinary events in Acqui Terme, a spa town in the province of Alessandria, in the heart of lower Piedmont. Every winter, the Acqui Terme Pro Loco, supported by the Alpini Group and the local municipality, prepares and serves buseca d'Äicq, or Acqui-style tripe: a steaming, hearty dish that draws both residents and curious visitors to the city.

What is Buseca d'Äicq?

Buseca, or Acqui-style tripe, is an ancient, simple, and flavorful dish deeply rooted in the local rural cuisine. It is prepared by slow-cooking tripe according to the Piedmontese tradition, seasoned with tomato sauce, beans, and potatoes. It requires long cooking times and great patience; it was once the substantial, warming meal for those facing cold market and fair days, traditionally consumed from the early hours of the morning in taverns and rural settings.

A community ritual

Over the years, Buseca d'Äicq has become much more than a simple tasting event: it is a gathering for the Acqui community, where volunteers, Alpini, and Pro Loco members work together to bring hundreds of portions to the table. The tripe is distributed until supplies run out and can be enjoyed on-site at tables set up at the Alpini headquarters, or ordered to go: for some years now, the organizers have provided airtight containers for those wishing to take the dish home to share with their families.

Flavors of the Acqui territory

The event is part of a calendar of initiatives through which the Pro Loco promotes typical products of the Acqui area, alongside events like the Cisrò d'Acqui, a chickpea soup served in autumn. Buseca d'Äicq is thus an opportunity to rediscover an authentic flavor of the Monferrato and Alto Monferrato regions, in one of Piedmont's most famous cities for its thermal baths and food and wine traditions.

• Where: Alpini headquarters in Acqui Terme, with entrance from the former Cesare Battisti barracks square
• What to eat: Acqui-style tripe (buseca) with sauce, beans, and potatoes
• How: Dine-in or takeaway, while supplies last
• Organized by: Pro Loco of Acqui Terme with the Alpini Group