Description
Courses and tasting experiences
The expression of the strong cultural bonds that undeniably connect the people to their region, the traditional produce of Valle d’Aosta encompasses the best that the region can offer combined with the knowledge and mastery of the Valdostan people in cultivating it since time began.
Cheese in Valdostan gastronomy
Valdostan cheese satisfies every palate, even the most demanding, in the continuous search for age-old and sophisticated flavours.
- Fontina has obtained the European Union’s Denomination of Protected Origin (DOP), which unequivocally sets out that its production must be carried out exclusively in Valle d’Aosta.
- Toma di Gressoney is a highly regarded half-fat cheese which is produced directly in the pastures of the Lys valley and the central valley using traditional methods,
- Reblec: a small cream cheese, made from the cream that rises to the surface, to which raw whole milk is added.
- Brossa: now considered a perfect accompaniment, which can be tasted in the agriturismos or local restaurants offering traditional Valdostan cuisine. Brossa is a cream made from the whey of heated milk, to which vinegar (or other bitter substances) is added, allowing fat and small amounts of protein to come to the surface.
Valdostan cured meats Exclusive
Highly desirable delicacies that tempt the palate and enchant lovers of fine food.
- Jambon de Bosses (DOP) is a cured ham flavoured with mountain herbs, produced at an altitude of 1600 metres in the area of the same name, Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses.
- Lard d’Anard is a protected origin product that is obtained from pig’s back, suitably rendered and then cut into squares, and then subsequently aged in “doils”, antique wooden containers.
- Jambon alla brace di Saint-Oyen is a cooked, lightly smoked ham, sprinkled with a mixture of aromatic herbs and slowly browned on the spit above large braziers fired by wood of fir, larch, Scotch pine, alder or ash, from the upper Valley of Gran San Bernardo.
The fruit of Valle d’Aosta
Mountain apples, with intense colours and aromas, grow in the sun-kissed orchards of Valle d’Aosta, and small, rich chestnuts.
- Valdostan chestnuts, a small yet high quality product, is extraordinarily flavoursome and has always played an extremely important role in the local gastronomy; a primary ingredient in the preparation of many specialities.
- Apples are the most cultivated fruit in Valle d’Aosta. It is also the fruit that keeps its original freshness through all seasons, as they ripen very slowly and can keep their nutritional qualities intact almost to the end.
Traditional Valdostan wines
- Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle DOC is made using grapes picked in Europe’s highest vineyards, at the foot of the imposing Monte Blanc. Excellent as an aperitif, it finds its perfect flavour when combined with delicate antipasti and mountain trout; it also holds up as an accompaniment to pizza.
- Torrette DOC is a dry, harmonious red, whose qualities were already recognised in the last century. Torrette is ideal with meats, but also with local cured meats and mature cheeses.
- Chambave Muscat DOC is brilliant, golden-hued, straw yellow wine, full bodied, dry, with the right alcoholic strength, and a delicate bitter aftertaste that lends itself to drinking between meals, especially as an aperitif, and also as a fine accompaniment to shellfish and medium mature cheeses.
Honey of Valle d’Aosta
Valdostan honey does not undergo any thermal treatment, maintaining, therefore, its unvaried organoleptic properties. Beekeeping in Valle d’Aosta is prevalently nomadic, which involves the hives being moved from the bottom of Valley to higher altitudes. This allows the bees to collect nectar and pollen from many botanical species.
Valdostan Génépy
In Valle d’Aosta, the production of mountain herb distillates harks back to ancient traditions. Alpine herbs that grow at high altitudes and are known for their therapeutic properties, including peculiar essences such as glacier wormwood and artemisia weber, are the base components of Génépy, the famous liqueur from Valle d’Aosta. A pleasant-tasting liqueur with ancient origins, with digestive and balsamic properties.
Rye flour
wheat flour and water are skilfully mixed together with the "culture yeast" and, after a time-consuming preparation, take the form of long loaves of the traditional pan ner. Before being put into the oven, the bread is left to rise for as long as 3 hours; in the meantime, the oven is warmed up, and when it reaches the right temperature it is ready to receive the loaves. After the baking, the result of all this work appears: a black bread, rich with healthy fibre, tasty and with a delicious fragrant smell. Some enrich it with walnuts, raisins or fennel seeds, and aromas which give it a mouthwatering original taste.
The typical Valdostan dessert: Tegole
The typical biscuits of Valle d'Aosta are called tegole, prevalently made with hazelnuts, sugar, egg white, flour and, possibly, almonds and vanilla. These small round crumbly biscuits, created by bakers of Val d'Aosta in 1930, have become the sweet specialty of this small Alpine region; they can also be enjoyed with custard, ice cream, dark chocolate or cogne cream.
