Valle Varaita - our origins and territory

Just a few kilometers from Turin, in the province of Cuneo, lies a valley that rises to the slopes of the "King of Stone" and together with five other valleys (Infernotto, Po, Maira, Grana and Stura Valleys) goes to form that extraordinary strip of Piedmont recognized by UNESCO as the "Monviso Biosphere Reserve." The peak (3,841 m) dominates the entire territory with its grandeur, defining its climate, environment, character and, last but not least, socio-economic conditions.

From subsistence agriculture to identity heritage

In the Cuneo area, alpine culture finds maximum expression in many agricultural and gastronomic productions, often merging with the Occitan matrix that transversally unites all the "Lands of Monviso" with the preservation of the language, popular customs, and recipes. This is also the case in the Varaita Valley, where an originally poor and laborious agriculture has developed over time, through resilience and thanks to attachment to the territory, a thriving agrifood and gastronomic heritage, guardian of its identity and pillar of the local economy.
Today, the peculiar productions of the valley, in many cases, are structured on a business dimension but always in the groove of tradition and with a strong artisanal imprint.

Gastronomic specialties of the area

Among the specialties the Toumin dal Mel stands out. Originating in the middle valley (Frassino and Melle), it is a 200 g tomino cheese made from whole cow's milk and probably invented towards the end of the 9th century by two peasant women. With a soft texture, it can be eaten fresh or aged and is one of the basic ingredients of the valley's queen recipe, ravioles: once the festive dish, not to be confused with ravioli or agnolotti (meat or lean). Ravioles are more like gnocchi, as they are made with local potatoes, flour, eggs and Toumin dal Mel. On the other hand, the name comes from the act of rolling the dough (raviolé) on the work surface, which allows them to be given their classic tapered shape.

Savor local specialties, we are waiting for you at the Emporio del Gusto.

Productions and harvests

Not to be forgotten are medicinal herbs, destined for the production of infusions and herbal teas, honey from artisan farms, mushrooms that grow wild in the chestnut, oak and beech forests of the lower and middle valley, and chestnuts, particularly the variety known as Bracalla, formerly the staple of the diet of the poorer mountain and peasant areas. It is no coincidence, in fact, that the chestnut tree was called the "bread tree": its cultivation has been attested in the valley since the 12th century, and Venasca has become, over the centuries, such an important center for the precious fruit that even today in October every day there is a market dedicated exclusively to the trade of this product.

Toumin dal Mel fresco e stagionato Emporio del Gusto

The mountain pasture and the Piedmontese cow breed

There is always cheese in the local dairies, as well as our own, like the toma cheese produced during the summer directly from mountain farmers at their pastures where there is still a big herd of cows from the Piedmontese breed. The Piedmontese transhumance represents, besides an ancient custom, an important form of protection of the mountain’s territory, despite that genetic selection has brought with time a consolidation of the meat’s aptitude, nowadays protected by COALVI Consortium for Protection of the Piedmontese Breed. Our Fassone Sausage, made with cow’s meat from the Piedmontese breed, is the only one certified by the Consortium.

Il Sapore della Libertà, I PORCI COMODI Brizio

The butchering tradition - Our cured meat

It is the butchering tradition that comes from raising pigs outdoors near homes or in the small stables of yesteryear, not far from cattle. We continue the tradition by raising our I Porci Comodi pigs outdoors.
Exactly as in the lowland farmsteads, pig slaughtering was a feast and the moment when the most experienced men showed all their skills, first preparing lard, bacon, sausage and the fresh products, and then moving on to cooked and raw salami without wasting any part of the animal.
The recipes became a shared local heritage, but only a few, in particular Nonno Materìn Matteo Brizio, were able to codify them and put them to use through a production that was no longer subsistence, but destined for trade, but always artisanal, genuine and respectful of the territorial identity.

The woods

Valle Varaita is also known for the richness of its deciduous and, in the upper valley, coniferous forests, which fuel the tradition of carpentry and the timber trade. From a naturalistic point of view, mention should be made of the Alevé Forest, which covers about 825 hectares between Casteldelfino, Sampeyre and Pontechianale: this is a unique forest in Europe because it is made up of about 90 percent stone pine, the spread of which over the Alpine arc has been drastically reduced in the past to make room for grazing areas.

Traditional events

Finally, the famous events such as La Baìo di Sampeyre and the Beò di Blìns (Bellino), testimonies of ancient Occitan culture and events of great ethnographic value that in the popular collective imagination mark the end of winter and the advent of spring.