terms of the First course (primo piatto) soup could be minestrone, a mixed vegetable hotpot or minestra di legumi, a thick brew with pulses. In Valsesia they serve up warming traditional skilà, broth with cheese and rye bread, whereas the Canavese valleys offer soupa coüssot, a thick baked affair with soft bread, sausage and corgette. Straightforward pasta dishes such as pasta con ragù (meat sauce) or pomodoro (tomato) are widely available. In the valleys of the Maritime Alps keep an eye out for ear-shaped cruzet moistened with melted butter and sage. Agnolotti, bundles of home-made pasta bulging with a mix of minced meats often come in a drizzle of oily sauce from roast meat, whereas finely chopped noci (walnuts) may be used on ribbon tagliatelle. Traditional Occitan fare may mean raviolas de Blins, tiny dumplings from the Bellino valley, or sebos abausos, onions stuffed with rice, egg and minced meat.
Speciality sausages
Valle Tanaro (at the walk start) is known for polenta saracena, so-called for its main ingredient, tartary buckwheat, dubbed ‘Saracen’ in Italian for its dark colour, reminiscent of the long-ago invaders. Potato is blended with flour, and served with a sauce of milk, leeks and wild mushrooms. The Valle Varaita offers a simpler version known as polenta de trifolas e fromentin. More widespread is polenta concia, steaming yellow cornmeal smothered in either funghi (mushrooms), formaggio fuso (melted cheese) or spezzatino in umido, stewed meat. Game (selvaggina) is not unusual and menus offer capriolo (roe deer) or cervo (venison). A must for gourmet carnivores (not put off by the name) is fragrant brüscitt, minced beef simmered in red wine with cloves. Continuing with the second course (secondo piatto), you will occasionally be offered fresh trout (trota), especially in the Valsesia where fly-fishing is popular. Unconsumed fish are then fried and pickled in onion, herbs and vinegar, to produce flavoursome trota in carpione.
Piedmont cheeses deserve a guide all to themselves. In general, farm-made cheeses are called toma and produced from either latte di mucca/vacca (cows’ milk), pecora (sheep), capra (goat) or a combination. The smaller, more pungent, rounds are tomini, sprinkled liberally with chilli powder or aromatic herbs. One notable cheese from the Ligurian valleys is raschera, made from cows’ milk, usually in traditional square forms and originally flavoured with grape residue. Connoisseurs will also appreciate testun, whose ochre-coloured crust protects a well-seasoned sheep’s cheese. A sister to the mighty Gorgonzola is Murianengo, produced in the Susa valley. The Valle d’Aosta boasts a milder but full-fat creamy cheese known as fontina which comes in oversized 15–20kg rounds and is delicious melted in risotto or fonduta. The Canavese valleys produce curious brüs, a highly peppered cottage cheese, while Valsesia boasts fragrant delicate rounds of piodino made from cows’ milk as well as the unusual salugnun, a fresh cheese flavoured with pepper and cumin. Ricotta, a fresh soft cheese that is totally unsuitable for rucksack travel, demands consumption on the spot.
Desserts are topped by luscious bônet, vaguely reminiscent of crême caramel but flavoured with rum and amaretti, bitter almond cookies. Somewhat similar in taste are baked apricots topped with the same crushed biscuits plus chocolate. The ultimate for the sweet-toothed is to indulge in the renowned, unbelievably rich chocolates invented in Cuneo and appropriately called Cuneesi. These are treacherous masses of soft dark cocoa mass moulded around an unbelievably rich soft centre of rum-flavoured cream, the classical flavour al rhum, though they also come with hazelnut fillings. (The best come from elegant café Pasticceria Arione in the city’s main square.)
Cheeses maturing at Alpe Maccagno (Stage 41)
On the wine front, Piedmont is arguably Italy’s leading region for the production of memorable vintages, dominated by reds. While very drinkable house wines (vino della casa) are normally served, special occasions warrant splashing out for a bottle. Sturdy tannic Barbera, prestigious Barolo and Nebbiolo rank among the top reds, with Freisa and Grignolino not far behind. Another favourite is softer Dolcetto. In a class of its own is excellent Gattinara, which hails from the vicinity of Varallo. Little-known wines include Ormeasco, a light fresh young red from near the GTA start, while deep-coloured Carema from the lower Valle d’Aosta is gaining attention for its quality. There are fewer white wines, but noteworthies include Chardonnay and lightweight special Blanc de Morgex from the Valle d’Aosta region.
Strong liquors made with aromatic alpine herbs with digestive properties range from Genepy to Arquebuse (so-called in France as it was used to treat wounds inflicted by firearms!). A common Italian after-dinner spirit is fiery grappa, made from grape lees. Flavoured with everything from rue to violet and gentian root it also comes with uvetta, sultanas bloated from months of steeping in the highly alcoholic liquor.
If you’re part of a group a memorable – and warming – experience on a chilly day is to order a coppa dell’amicizia aka grolla. Hailing from the Valle d’Aosta (but believed to be of German origin with links to none other than the Holy Grail) it consists of an attractive hand-carved wooden bowl with numerous spouts. Participants take turns sipping the piping hot spicy blend of coffee and grappa. A highly recommended non-alcoholic alternative is heart-warming cioccolata calda, divinely rich thick hot chocolate that only the Italians seem capable of producing.
Mineral water (acqua minerale) is available but hardly necessary in a region so rich in natural springs –at eateries it is usual practice for a carafe of water (acqua dal rubinetto) to be brought to the table. Birra is available, and a refreshing version similar to shandy is panacea, a 50/50 mix of beer and lemonade. Otherwise there’s fruit juice (succo di frutta). Coffee comes as a tiny cup of strong black espresso, or topped with frothy hot milk as cappuccino, or in a long glass (or bowl at breakfast time) as caffè latte. Tè is usually served black with limone unless you specify con latte (with milk).
Vegetation
The early stages of the GTA are characterised by plants and flowers typical of the Mediterranean – the sea is a mere 40km to the south. Bushes of scented golden broom are abundant, as is divine French lavender, which grows as high as the 1500m mark. Pungent thyme, on the other hand, can be found along the entire trek. Its name derives from the Greek for ‘burn, sacrifice’, a reference to ancient funeral customs.
One group of aromatic – if rather nondescript – plants are the widespread wormwoods or artemisia, the scent of their clustered, woolly-looking flowers reminiscent of an anaesthetic. Varieties known as genipi are keenly sought after for their medicinal properties; an aromatic oil is extracted from the leaves, while flowered tips are left to steep in spirit for the renowned drink. Pickers need to have a permit, as over-enthusiastic gathering means it is now rare, and therefore protected. It can still be spotted growing in pockets in out-of-the-way valleys up to the 2000m mark. One rare type of wormwood used to be the essential ingredient in the yellowish-green aniseed-flavoured liqueur absinthe, which turned cloudy when water was added. Fashionable in the 1900s, it was banned once its toxicity was discovered; it was believed to cause hallucination and mental disorders! The popular French drink Pernod was manufactured in 1918 to act as a substitute. A similar flower, but with larger whitish or sandy-coloured heads, is a type of sneezewort of the Achillea family whose namesake – the Greek hero – was familiar with its therapeutic properties.
Another curiosity endemic to the Ligurian-Maritime Alps is the wild and moderately poisonous marmot plum, also known as Briançon apricot. The stone of its yellow fruit was crushed to produce an oil that was once used to extract the active ingredients from rhododendron galls, which in turn went into an ointment for treating rheumatism. The confusing name ‘marmot oil’ gave rise to the mistaken belief that the fat of the animals has anti-rheumatic properties, leading to senseless marmot hunting in the 19th century!
Only extremely lucky visitors to the Maritime Alps will have the opportunity to admire the endemic saxifraga florulenta, known grandly in English as the Ancient King. A cactus-like plant with a sizeable
