Lombardy
Valtellina - Food and wine

Valtellina - Food and wine

Valtellina is an extraordinarily land, rich in unique traditional products.

So just go and taste them, discovering the close relationship between its wines and the terracings on which they originate, as well as between its cheeses and the mountain pastures over 2.000 meters where animals graze free, or between the bresaola and the traditional preservation practice by salting and drying the meat. A pleasant journey discovering Valtellina's wine and food, during which apples, honey and pizzocheri, emblems of Valtellina's cuisine, are not to be missed.

In Valtellina your holiday is not completed if you don't taste the products of the cuisine.

This land's gastronomic history is strictly linked with the country environment and the rustic tradition. The popular pastures cheeses - Bitto and Casera- are perfectly combined with Valtellina's unique wines, one of them, for insance, is Sforzato.

Bresaola and pizzocheri (black flour noodles) are other symbol products of this land and also represents the ideal beginning for a pleasant journey in order to discover many other food joys, such as the valley's apples and honey.

Furthermore there are the traditional recipes and the right places where to taste them. Here are some suggestions.

Sciatt Small pancakes made from black flour, filled with Casera cheese. In Valtellina's dialect they means "toad", a bizarre name due to to their irregular shape. They are served with salad and a good glass of red wine.

Chisciai Tirano's area traditional specialty, black flour- based, less popular than pizzocheri and sciatt. It is a kind of very delicious focaccia bread or pancake to be prepared with Valtellina's original local products.

Bisciola Valtellina's rustic cake made of nuts, figs and raisins which is served either as it is or with vanilla sauce or a sauce made from Braulio, the Valtellina's renowed liqueur. It might be an ideal sweet to bring back home to recollect the savours of a special holiday.

Goat ViolinThe most typical specialty in Valchiavenna. The Violin is a mature and smoked ham which is obtained from the leg or the shoulder of the goat. It is sliced as if playing a musical instrument, putting it near the neck and using a knife instead of the bow.

Prosto Biscuits For hundreds and hundreds years it has been a very popular product on Valchiavennasche's tables. Simple ingredients- wheat flour, sugar and butter- have been combined togheter by the Del Curto's family with an incomparable result. Packages are usually handmade with a special colored paper wrap.

Rye bread Forget rosetta bread and white bread. A ring-shaped black cake, rye bread represents the most popular food on Valtellinese cuisine. It is usually slightly covered with white flour. It perfectly matches with salami and cheeses, as well as with jam and honey.

Taroz Valtellina's traditional dish made of vegetables cultivated also in the mountain. It is a single dish composed by mashed potatoes mixed with beans and French beans,which are abudantly seasoned with Valtellina's butter and cheese.

Crotti Cellars vaults formed under the stone blocks caused by landslides. From here the "sorel" blows, a constant temperature draught, which contributes to the wine ripening and to the aging of cheeses, salami and hams. They are in Valchiavenna: some of them are open to the public and have been transformed into restaurants where a genuine cuisine is prepared.

Text courtesy of Provincia di Sondrio Ufficio Turismo

© 1997-2010 Enrico Massetti
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