Aosta Valley
The Aosta Valley is Italy's smallest and highest region, wedged among Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa. It cooks accordingly: Fontina cheese, butter, rye bread, bread-and-cheese soups, air-dried meats and mountain wines. French is an official language, and the dish names show it.
Around 128,000 inhabitants, one province, and the four highest massifs in the Alps ringing it: Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso. The main valley runs east to west along the Dora Baltea river and opens into thirteen side valleys, each with its own microclimate. Italian and French are both official, and villages still speak a Franco-Provençal patois. The dish names give it away: jambon, lard, boudin, seupa. This is preservation cooking, because for half the year nothing grows.
Fontina DOP is the centre of everything. It is made from raw milk of the local Valdostana breed, one make per milking, and aged at least three months in natural caves or tunnels at close to 90 per cent humidity, where each wheel is turned and brushed with brine every other day. The alpine version is made only in summer above 1,800 metres and tastes markedly grassier. Fonduta is not Swiss fondue: Fontina, milk, egg yolks and butter, with no wine or kirsch, poured over polenta or toast.
The cured meats come from high altitude. Jambon de Bosses is made at Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses at 1,600 metres and aged with mountain herbs in wooden lofts. Lard d'Arnad matures in wooden vats filled with brine, herbs and spices, and is eaten on dark rye bread with honey, an unexpectedly good combination. There is also motzetta, salted air-dried lean meat, and boudin, a blood sausage bulked with potato and beetroot.
The wine is an extreme case. Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle grows up to 1,200 metres beneath Mont Blanc on ungrafted vines that phylloxera never reached, and makes a sharp, feather-light white. Lower down the valley the varieties are Petit Rouge, Fumin, Cornalin and Petite Arvine. Meals end with tegole, thin hazelnut and almond biscuits, a chocolate custard from Cogne, and coffee served in a grolla, a lidded wooden cup with several spouts, passed around the table.
Signature dishes
- Fonduta valdostana (Fontina fondue with egg yolk)
- Seupa à la valpelleunentse (baked bread, cabbage and Fontina soup)
- Carbonade (salt beef stewed in wine and onion)
- Polenta concia (polenta enriched with Fontina and butter)
- Costoletta alla valdostana (veal chop stuffed with ham and Fontina)
- Motzetta (air-dried salted lean meat)
- Jambon de Bosses (high-altitude cured ham)
- Tegole (thin hazelnut and almond biscuits)
Foods from here
When to go
On 30 and 31 January, Aosta holds the Fiera di Sant'Orso, a craft fair more than a thousand years old that turns into an all-night street party with mulled wine and cheese stalls. July brings the Jambon de Bosses festival at Saint-Rhémy, August the lard festival at Arnad. Between late August and September comes the Désarpa, when decorated herds walk down from the high pastures with their bells, and when the summer's alpine Fontina is released. From spring to October, the Batailles des Reines pit local cows against one another in a bloodless traditional contest. Winter is fonduta, carbonade and polenta concia: food built to warm.
Frequently asked
What food is the Aosta Valley known for?
Fontina, and nearly everything built on it: fonduta, polenta concia, a veal chop stuffed with ham and cheese, and seupa à la valpelleunentse, a baked soup of bread, cabbage and Fontina. The other pillar is high-altitude charcuterie, including Jambon de Bosses ham and Lard d'Arnad, eaten on rye bread with honey.
What is Fontina cheese?
Fontina DOP is a semi-soft raw-milk cow's cheese made only in the Aosta Valley, from the milk of a single milking of the local Valdostana breed. Wheels age at least three months in caves or tunnels at close to 90 per cent humidity and are turned and brushed with brine every other day. Look for the consortium mark with the Matterhorn stamped on the rind, and for the grassier summer version made above 1,800 metres.
Is fonduta the same as Swiss fondue?
No. Fonduta valdostana is made from Fontina melted in milk with egg yolks and butter, with no wine and no kirsch, so it is richer and much less sharp than the Swiss version. It is not usually eaten by dipping bread on long forks either: it is spooned over polenta or toasted bread, or served as a sauce.
What should I eat after a day on the slopes?
Carbonade, salt beef stewed slowly with onions and red wine and served with polenta, is the standard mountain refuge order. Alternatives are polenta concia enriched with Fontina and butter, or the baked bread-and-cheese seupa. Meals often end with coffee in a grolla, a lidded wooden cup with several spouts, laced with grappa and génépy and passed around the table.
Is wine made in the Aosta Valley?
Yes, though this is Italy's smallest wine region by volume, and most bottles never leave the valley. Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle grows up to 1,200 metres beneath Mont Blanc on ungrafted vines that phylloxera never reached, among the highest vineyards in Europe. The reds to look for are Petit Rouge, Fumin and Cornalin, all under the single Valle d'Aosta DOC.