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Friday, March 31, 2017

Food and cheese for hungry Pilgrims on the Via Fancigena in Val d'Aosta

By the time we finished our tour of the prison cells of Forte di Bard, Estela and I were famished, so we tried the "Polveriera" (translatable as the Gunpowder Room of this old fort) Restaurant.
 
An antipasto we had at the
Museum restaurant at Forte
di Bard, featuring "tagliere
di Salumi e Formaggi
Valdostani" (Valdostano is
the adjective for
Val D'Aosta, and this was
a board with cold cuts of
lunchmeats and cheeses).
Price 12 Euro, delicious
and worthwhile.

Pollo speziato accompagnato
da Riso Basmati con verdure
 
The most important meal of the day for these mountain people,the Valdostani, is their "la colazione" or breakfast. First of all a good espresso ocappuccino, with a brioche or some pastry.
 
We were treated every morning at our
chalet-styled boutique hotel in downtown Aosta
with a variety of  home-made pastries.

 Strudel pastry with blueberries.

Lemon cake.
 
From left to right, "Jambon de Bosses",
"Cotto alla Brace di Saint Oyen" and
"Coppa Aromatizzato di Ginepro"
 
 In the above picture, the typical lunchmeats of the Val d'Aosta are very aromatic and hearty. The Coppa aromatized by juniper wood was a delicacy.

This cheeseboard features
at the top
"Toma di Gressoney".
 
At this point you might have noticed that many names used in Val d'Aosta are not Italian, but French. The entire Val d'Aosta, as well as most of the Piedmont, was part of the Kingdom of Savoy, which also included a part of southeast France, east of the Rhone. Young people in Val d'Aosta are all Franch-Italian bilinguals.

To the right of the "Toma"
is the "Fontina Valdostana"
On the bottom left is the
"Caciotta Fresca"

On the right is the aromatic and seasoned
"Toma alle Erbe di Montagna Val d'Ayas"

A mid-morning Espresso at the Piazza Chanoux

Reading and resting at Piazza Chanous, Aosta.
 
This display window of a store in downtown
Aosta specializes in sweets and chocolates,
and on the trays on the top, the emblematic
"Bugie" cookies.

As Estela shows us, the
"Bugie" is a delicious light
cookie for a mid-morning
bite.

Many stores in Aosta offer freshly baked bread of
all types and sizes
 
 
For an appetizer at dinner, I had a "Pizza alla
Valdostana", with Fetti di Lardo
 
Estela ordered a Pizza typical of
another part of Northern Italy,
namely from Cortina d'Ampezzo
"Pizza con Patate".
 
A simple plate of Risotto with red wine is always
 a heartwarming dish for dinner in Aosta.
  
Vitello con Polenta.
 
 
 



gry

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