Traditional products
The Valleys’ gastronomical and food tradition is fundamentally based on produces of the farmers’ culture. Being a matter of mountain districts, rather destitute in the past, not many are the produces directly linked to the territory but they are however important.
Among them, dairy products are the most outstanding. Well known is Toma di Lanzo, a cheese the production of which slightly varies according to the villages or pastures, but it always refers to cheese produced in high mountain pastures during the summer time.
“Toma del lait brusc”, obtained from a slightly sour milk, is also appreciated.
Various goat cheeses, called “ciavrin”, may be consumed fresh or seasoned.
The mountain butter, particularly that produced in summer alpine pastures, is also very well known.
The cold cuts are the most important produces among cured meats: goat, wild boar, “della rosa” and black pudding salami, “mocetta” and lard. The best known of all being the “salame di Turgia”, obtained from old cattle cuts of meat, which can be consumed fresh or seasoned.
Among bakery products, bread is particularly savory also due to mountain water quality; hand stretched breadsticks have a particular link to these valleys as it was a Lanzo baker to produce them for the first time to meet the young duke Vittorio Amedeo II food requirements.
The “torcetti”, a natural leavening pastry specialty and the “paste ‘d mèlia”, corn flour cookies, are other bakery products. Other specialties are now quite common on the territory: crackers, apple and mixed berries jams, various honeys according the territories’ flowers.
There also is a fair fruit juices and liqueurs production.
The typical products are essential in the preparation of traditional courses, worked at times in new and modern entries that are on the territory restaurant menus.
