Traditional dishes = 0 Km products

Choosing traditional dishes means supporting the philosophy of eating with Km 0 products , that is, promoting environmental and social sustainability, enhancing the territory and also rewarding small producers and typical trattorias that source from them.
It also means eating fresh foods with an authentic flavor, used according to the rules of art since they have been walking the paths of local cuisine for centuries.

Since the Oltrepò Pavese has so much to offer in terms of ingredients and authenticity, it is worth knowing which are the most common typical foods in this area and not miss the opportunity to buy and taste them here.

Among the cured meats, the tasty Salame di Varzi Dop is famous , a raw salami that is traditionally accompanied by red wines from Oltrepò Pavese such as Bonarda, Barbera, and Buttafuoco, but also coppa al vino , cotechino .
Varzi is a beautiful medieval village in the Staffora Valley that has always attracted many tourists.

Image taken from the Facebook page of the Consortium for the Protection of Salame di Varzi

For cheeses, both cow’s milk and goat’s milk are produced locally.

Formaggella di Menconico (O Molanda del Brallo ) is a soft, raw cheese with a sweet flavour. It is produced with whole cow’s milk and with salt and lactic ferments. It is a Typical Agri-Food Product (PAT) . Goat’s cheese from Oltrepò Pavese is also a Typical Agri-Food Product and can have a creamy, soft consistency without a rind, or a harder consistency and a light aromatic rind. It is traditionally wrapped in chestnut or walnut leaves or in ash. Pizzocorno is produced in the village of Pizzocorno, in the municipality of Ponte Nizza. It is square in shape and has a delicate aroma when its fresh and a more intense and decisive smell when matured.

Images taken from Buono a Sapersi and Mercà.

Among the side dishes we have seasonal fruit mustard , lentils , mushrooms which can be enjoyed in various ways (used in risotto, as a filling for ravioli, with corn polenta, with roast meat) and truffles: it is in the woods around Casteggio that you find mainly the white truffle, while in Varzi the black truffle.

Among the vegetables we have peppers – in particular the white pepper of Voghera (which is actually light green, initially, then becomes yellow/orange-yellow once ripe), aubergines, courgettes and courgette flowers, pumpkin which in particular we find in the filling of ravioli and in risotto.

Local fruit is mostly represented by apples, pears, peaches, strawberries and cherries from Bagnaria , a municipality in Alto Oltrepò recognized as one of the Cherry Cities.

Chestnut flour is used to make fresh pasta, gnocchi, and castagnaccio, a typical autumn and winter dessert in the Oltrepò Pavese (also called torta patùna).

In Broni they make sweet breadsticks , which are usually accompanied by a good glass of sweet Oltrepo wine, such as Moscato or Passito.

Images taken from Quatarobpavia

The restaurants and delicatessens in the Oltrepò Pavese have a strong connection with the local cuisine, made of recipes with local products of excellent quality. Come and taste all of them!