La Cucina Valdostana
The Val D'Aosta is tucked away between Piemonte and France. The similarities between the local dialects and French reveal the close ties between the valley and the French areas on the other side of the mountains, and one would expect to find a strong Piemontese influence too. After all, the Val D'Aosta's major river, the Dora Baltea, flows into the Po River in the middle of Torino. Not so, says Pierre Vietti, in the introduction to Ricette di Osterie e Ristoranti della Valle D'Aosta. The differences begin at the beginning of the meal; whereas in Piemonte one generally starts off with a long sequence of antipasti, in a traditional pranzo valdostano (Valdostan Lunch) there aren't any at all. Nor are they any of the Piemontese pasta dishes; pasta arrived on the coat tails of the merchants who came with the construction of the Chiavasso-Aosta railway in 1886. Before then, Mr. Vietti says, lunch was a substantial one course-meal, followed by bread and cheese if cheese wasn't the primary ingredient of the main course. The only antipasto one might have gotten was a slice of bread, slathered with fresh butter and mountain honey. One could have done worse. Dinner was a soup, followed by rye bread and cheese.
If the main meal didn't involve cheese it was meat-based, and consisted either of a variety of sausages and cured meats (which have now shifted to being antipasti), roasts, or boiled meats, with the latter often being salt-cured. On holidays, things started out with both boiled and roasted meats, which were then followed by soup. Family meals enjoyed without the presence of guests one had to impress were simpler, with dishes that have now increased in status and are served in elegant restaurants -- things involving less important cuts of meat, or the cuttings gleaned from preparing sausages and such. For example, the carbonada, beef or pork diced and stewed with onions, in wine, which was white in the higher reaches, and red down on the valley floor. Side dishes consisted for the most part of salads made from wild greens collected in the fields, and dressed with walnut oil, as it's too cold for olives to grow in the Valley (oil was therefore an imported commodity). For other cooking needs, people generally turned to either butter or lard.
Potatoes also figure prominently, appearing boiled, with or without skins, fried, and innumerable other ways; Mr. Vietti says they often took the place of bread, which was baked weekly and thus tended to get hard. And there was polenta, which helped many a family survive the winter. And finally, there was cheese. Much of Val D'Aosta is either too steep or at too high of an altitude to make planting crops feasible. But those highlands have wonderful pastures that are perfect for sheep, goats or cattle. The herders take their animals up into the mountains after the snows melt, and spend the summers making formaggio d'alpeggio, cheeses from Alpine forage. Tough, backbreaking work, but the results are spectacular. True fontina is a treat you won't easily forget, and one can say the same for the region's tome (singular toma, round, flat goat, cow, sheep or mixed-milk cheeses that range from smooth and mild to remarkably seasoned, and from runny to quite firm) and fresh milk cheeses, many of which end up in cakes as well as on the table.
This is the traditional cuisine in a brief nutshell; Modern Valdostani have to a degree adopted the more Italian custom of dividing the meal into optional antipasti, and then a first course followed by a second and a dessert of some kind. In the process some of the sausages and such that were originally part of the main meal have become antipasti, while the soups that used to appear at dinner have become first courses, and the roasts and other meats are now seconds, as is the fonduta alla valdostana. In adapting to the newcomers who now arrive in the valley, Mr. Vietti says some cooks continue to serve up the traditional dishes, while others are developing innovative variations based upon them. Lots going on in a small space, just a short drive from Torino. And an area well worth visiting, to hike in the summer, and to ski in the winter.
RECIPES AND OTHER THINGS
On Site:
Mocetta
Salt-and-air cured beef,
which is easy enough to make and will keep for a year or more.
Insalata di Verdure al Fromazdo
A
tasty salad with lots of things including cheese, and an unusual (for Italy)
cream-based dressing.
Polenta Grassa
Plain polenta is,
well, plain. Add lots of butter and Fontina, and heat it gently for a while,
and you'll have a dish fit for a king!
Fonduta
Though commonly associated
with the Val d'Aosta, cheese fondue was imported to the valley from nearby
Piemonte. But it's good in any case.
Frittata con il Salame
A hearty
salami-and-onion frittata that would have been a main course dish in the past,
and still could be today with a good salad. Or an antipasto
Fusilli al Formaggio
Hearty
fusilli baked in a cream sauce.
Salsicce e Patate
Sausage and
potatoes seems (and is) obvious. But it's also a classic from the Val D'Aosta,
and will keep the cold at bay like little else.
Crema di Zucca con Fontina
Some
people would find stale bread a problem. This Valdostan soup is a reason to
accumulate the stuff!
Seupa Vapellenentse
There is
cabbage soup, and then there is... Cabbage Soup. This classic from the Val
D'Aosta is very much in the latter category.
Gnocchi di Patata alla Bava
Gnocchi
in a deliciously stringy Fontina sauce!
Riso e Castagne
Rice and chestnuts,
very traditional Valdostan peasant food, but supremely satisfying
too.
Risotto Mantecato alla Fontina
A
rich, creamy, cheesy feast-day risotto.
Costolette alla Valdostana
This is
one of the newly developed dishes, cutlets filled with Fontina, breaded and
fried.
Carbonade
A classic stew of the
Valle D'Aosta, made with beef, herbs and spices.
Fricandò Valdostano
Aosta's
take on the French fricandeau, made with white wine up in the mountains.
Perfect with Polenta.
Gallo al Vino
A feast-day dish from
the Italian side of Monte Bianco.
Blancmanger
A close relative of
Piemonte's panna cotta, but made with almonds too.
Mele al Forno
Baked apples are
simple, but can be quite satisfying.
Pain Perdu
The progenitor of French
Toast! Great for lactating mothers, too.
Montebianco
Sumptuousness in a
dessert, and extraordinarily rich too: a chestnut puree mountain!
Caffè alla Valdostana
This
is related to traditional coffee, but adds a new dimension to friendship and
conviviality as well.
Off Site:
There
isn't that much, and most of these have little to do with the Valle d'Aosta,
other than including Fontina as an ingredient. In any case:
Pasticcio di
Penne alla Valdostana
Or, baked penne with mushrooms and
cheeses, the cheeses called for being Bel Paese and Parmigiano. I'd use Fontina
instead of Bel Paese.
Cabbage
Soup Recipes
A collection, including zuppa Vapellenentse,
aimed at those on the "cabbage diet." Though you won't get thin with the
zuppa...
Travel to the region:
Aosta in Italy
A ski site
put together by the Active Lifestyle people, with lots of information on the
principal ski areas of the valley. Maps, pictures, and hotesl too. A good
starting point for planning a vacation.
Gothic Val
D'Aosta
A quick overview of the region's towns and art
treasures -- you should certainly check it before you go.
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