A SIMPLE AND NATURAL COOKING

The most traditional foodstuffs of the Brembana Valley are diary produces well known in Italy; they are Formai de Mut, Branzi and Taleggio. Each of them has a guarantee of typicality. Formai de Mut is a rich, half-cooked paste cheese with a delicate and scented flavour, not too salted or spiced. It's made in Alpine huts from July to September. During the rest of the year it's made in the dairies at the bottom of the valley. Formai de Mut has to ripen for at least 45 days like BRANZI a cheese that can have either a mild and a delicate flavour or a strong, aromatic and a bit spicy one. Polenta, Formai de Mut and Branzi are the chiefly ingredients of lots of traditional dishes. The most famous is of course Polenta Taragna where the cheese is melted with butter in the Polenta (maize porridge).

The Polenta, served hot is excellent with sausages, Cotechini (a kind of spiced italian sausages) and even small birds according to a secular tradition of the valley. There are other traditional dishes made with Polenta, like Polenta Cunsada, cut in slices and covered with cheese or Taleggio and then seasoned with butter and sage. Originate from the Val Taleggio is of course Taleggio now produced in the whole Lombardy plain. It is a rich, soft paste cheese made only with cow's whole milk. The typical pungent smell corresponds to a mild and aromatic flavour. Other traditional dishes of the Brembana Valley are: stuffed chicken, stewed rabbit with potatoes, jugged hare and jugged venison.

Among the vegetables you can find: mushrooms, frèr e perseghì (a particular kind of mushroom) and also black or white truffles and among the main dishes the Casoncelli alla Bergamasca have a place of honour. They are filled with grated cheese and bread, minced cotechino, parsley, garlic and sometimes eggs and milk. You can also find Nosec (rolls of savoy cabbage), potatoes bread of Carona, and the cheese and beer of Valtorta.

        CUCINA BERGAMASCA - PRODOTTI TIPICI VALLE BREMBANA