MocettaCured mountain beef
Lean beef (once chamois) salted and air-dried with mountain herbs, sliced thin over rye bread with butter and honey, the Valdostan cured meat.
Valle d'Aosta cuisine
Italy's smallest, highest region cooks for the cold: Fontina melted into fondue and polenta, rye bread and cured mocetta, cabbage-and-bread soups baked in broth, and beef braised in red wine. Its wines come from Europe's highest vineyards, the Alpine white Prié Blanc of Morgex, the perfumed red Petit Rouge of Torrette, mountain Nebbiolo at Donnas, and the sweet Muscat of Chambave, almost all bottled under the single Valle d'Aosta DOC.
Antipasto
Fonduta ValdostanaFontina fondue
Fontina melted slowly with milk, butter and egg yolk into a smooth fondue, eaten with bread or over polenta, sometimes crowned with white truffle.
Primo
Zuppa alla ValpellinentzeCabbage, bread and Fontina soup
Layers of stale rye bread, Savoy cabbage and Fontina soaked in meat broth and baked until set, the hearty 'soup' of the Valpelline.
Polenta ConciaPolenta with Fontina and butter
Slow-cooked polenta enriched with cubes of melting Fontina and butter until glossy, Alpine comfort food, often served with game or stew.
Secondo
CarbonadaBeef braised in red wine
Salt-cured beef stewed long and slow in red wine with onions and spices until dark and tender, served with polenta, the Valdostan winter dish.
Costoletta alla ValdostanaFontina-stuffed veal cutlet
A veal cutlet split and filled with Fontina and cured ham, breaded and fried until the cheese runs, the Valdostan cousin of the Milanese.
Camoscio alla ValdostanaChamois stew
Chamois (or venison) marinated and braised in red wine with juniper and mountain herbs into a dark stew, the game dish of the high valleys.
Dolce
Tegole ValdostaneAlmond-hazelnut wafer biscuits
Thin, curved almond-and-hazelnut wafers named for the roof 'tiles' they resemble, the region's coffee biscuit.
Typical products
DOP, IGP and traditional specialities of Valle d'Aosta.
Fontina DOPDOP
Fontina · Cheese
The great semi-soft mountain cheese of Alpine cow's milk, sweet and melting, the heart of fonduta and countless Valdostan dishes.
Vallée d'Aoste Lard d'Arnad DOPDOP
Arnad lard · Cured lard
Pork back fat cured in brine with mountain herbs and spices in wooden 'doils', sliced translucent and eaten on rye bread with honey.
Vallée d'Aoste Jambon de Bosses DOPDOP
Jambon de Bosses · Cured ham
A cured, herb-and-spice-rubbed raw ham from the high hamlet of Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, aged in the thin mountain air.
Fromadzo DOPDOP
Fromadzo · Cheese
A semi-skimmed cow's-milk cheese, eaten young and mild or aged hard and sharp, sometimes scented with mountain herbs.
Genepì della Valle d'AostaIGP
Génépy · Herb liqueur
An Alpine liqueur distilled from the wild silvery genepì wormwood of the high peaks, aromatic and bittersweet.
Miele della Valle d'AostaPAT
Valdostan honey · Honey
High-altitude honeys from Alpine wildflowers and rhododendron, delicate and pale.