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The secret for good mountain cuisine can be found in the respect for simple, genuine, traditional recipes, prepared using only high quality natural ingredients. This is what contributes in making the Val di Fassa unique. Among traditional foods and delicacies, one cannot miss speck, cold meats, cheese, bread, pastries and honey.
Delicious Ladin cuisine
Delicious Ladin cuisine
Gourmet holiday in the Val di Fassa
Gourmet holiday in the Val di Fassa
A journey through the tastes of the Val di Fassa
 | Ladin culture and hospitality reign in every restaurant of the Val di Fassa. From family-run restaurants in typical Tyrolean style, where to order the classic dishes of the Ladin tradition, to gourmet restaurants which offer creative haute cuisine and are listed in the most famous Italian and foreign food guides. In addition to this, mountain huts, mountain dairies, bars and pastry stores in the villages where to have a yummy break. Also hotels in the Val di Fassa offer their guests menus inspired by the local tradition. |
The Val di Fassa in your dish
 | Which are the most typical dishes and foods to taste in the Val di Fassa? Of course canederli, famous bread dumplings available in various versions: savoury with speck, Puzzone cheese from Moena or spinach, or sweet with cottage cheese, apricots or strawberries. Among soups, zuppa d’orzo (barely soup) should be given a try, while pasta fans can choose among "ciajoncìe", ravioli stuffed with potatoes and dried figs, tagliolini with Boletus mushrooms or pappardelle with game ragout as first course. Second courses, more robust, include polenta cooked in a traditional copper pot, served with melted cheese or sausages and sauerkrauts, roe deer hotpot or pig’s knuckle. When it comes to desserts, one can’t miss "fortaes", delicious snail-shaped fried pastry, served with cranberry jam, or apple strudel with custard and whipped cream. Forget dieting for once and enjoy the many delicacies the Val Fassa can offer you. |
Gourmet-appeal
Speck
Produced by the master butchers of the valley, who follow an ancient recipe, speck is king among starters. The traditional recipe recommends "a little salt, a little smoke and lots of good air" according to a method which combines Nordic smoking and Mediterranean seasoning. Its spicy taste matches well with rye bread, pickles and herb butter. It can be tasted alone or with other typical cold meats, such as deer salami and roe deer ham.
Where to buy speck in the Val di Fassa: shops which sell traditional foods and delicatessen
Cheeses
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Puzzone di Moena is king among the Val di Fassa cheeses. It is called "Spetz tzaorì" in the Ladin language and is produced in the local dairies of Moena and Predazzo (this cheese is running for becoming a DOP - Denomination of Protected Origins - product). It is impossible to mistake its robust aroma and rind odour, which won the cheese its name. Puzzone is a semi-hard cheese with scattered small-medium holes, whose maturing varies from four to eight months. The "Malga" version, branded with an "M" is a Slow Food exclusive. Only the rounds with this letter can boast being produced with milk taken in summer from the mountain pastures at between 1.700 m and 2.000 m of altitude. Cows are fed with OGM free fodders containing neither silages nor industrial by-products.
Instead, Cher de Fascia (Cuore di Fassa), another local cheese and leading product of the Val di Fassa, is tasty but with a sweet hint. The "Mèlga de Fascia - Caseificio Sociale Val di Fassa" (with new base in Pera), is the repository of its original recipe. It is a cheese obtained from non-skimmed raw mountain milk drawn from cows from local farms and manufactured in copper pots with rennet and salt and no preservatives. At the local dairies one can buy not only cheese but also yoghurt, cream, cottage cheese, butter and many other milk products.
Where to buy: shops which sell traditional foods and delicatessen in the Val di Fassa
Bread
Entering any baker’s in the valley means breathing the aroma of freshly baked bread, seasoned with fennel, caraway or poppy seeds or enriched with potatoes and cereals. A must-try is "Schüttelbrot", originally from Alto Adige, crispy, seasoned, round, flat, dried rye bread which is displayed on a wooden rack. "Puces", also made with rye but softer, represent instead a perfect snack when accompanied by speck and cheese.
Honey
Honey from the Val di Fassa holds the essence of the Alpine flowers in each of its precious golden drops. Open a jar and smell the exhilarating aroma of the Millefiori or fir variety. Try also rhododendron honey, from beautiful protected bushes which grow only at an altitude of more than 2.000 m. Honey is also a genuine, "cheap & chic" gift idea.
Where to buy: shops and stores of typical foods in the Val di Fassa
Itinerary among the tastes of Trentino
Local cheeses are the most longed-for by gourmands. To get to know ancient local secrets there is an interesting gourmet itinerary, Strada dei Formaggi delle Dolomiti, which involves three valleys: Fassa, Fiemme and Primiero. The itinerary includes visits to dairies, restaurants, agriturismi (farm houses) and stores where to taste the best products of Trentino.
Val di Fassa in the inns
Osteria Tipica Trentina, an association of restaurants and inns which promote tradition, include also the Val di Fassa. Cosy, hospitable restaurants offer menus prepared with local ingredients and seasonal products - cold meats, cheese, bread and fruit - and a wide range of local wines. The dishes proposed are a triumph of flavours and colours.
Appointments and gastronomic events in Val di Fassa
There are two important gastronomy events which take place in the Val di Fassa every year, both of which have been devised by four restaurants in Moena, Foresta, Rifugio Fuchiade, Tyrol and Michelin-starred Malga Panna, which belong to an association called Ristora Moena. The first event, called "A tavola con la Fata delle Dolomiti" (Dining with the fairy of the Dolomites), takes place in March and throughout the years has become the highest expression of gourmet of Trentino thanks to its quality and fame. It is a week devoted to traditional Ladin food of the Val di Fassa, prepared with a touch of creativity and innovation by the chefs of the restaurants that take part in the event. The latter, Sapori d’Autunno (Autumn Tastes), takes place in September. Menus are characterised by autumn flavours and colours, such as the yellow-brown of Boleti, finferli mushrooms and chestnuts, the bright orange of pumpkins, the dark green of savoy cabbages, the beige of barley, the pale pink of arctic char and porker. All dishes are accompanied by the best wines and spirits from Trentino.
Gluten-free holidays in the Val di Fassa
Coeliac guests can enjoy a carefree holiday in the Dolomites, as the Val di Fassa offers hotels, restaurants, pizzerias and mountain huts which guarantee maximum accuracy in the preparation and service of "gluten free" menus. Camping Vidor in Pozza and La Ginestra in Pera are restaurants verified by AIC (Associazione Italiana Celiachia - Italian Association of Coeliac Sufferers). Besides pizza, a wide range of guaranteed gluten-free typical dishes is available.
The Val di Fassa: food temptation on the mountaintop
Cuisine is another ace in the hole of the Val di Fassa. Lunch or dinner at one of the mountain huts and refuges is an experience that cannot be missed. After going uphill (by lifts oron foot) one can have a break on the terrace of one of the many panoramic refuges and mountain huts to enjoy the sun and fine typical food, and why not, listen to live music. After all, you can enjoy nature while you are relaxing.
In the Ladin wooden rooms, whose walls are covered with old wood from the barns, one can breathe the smell of fir and arolla pine, in a rustic and welcoming atmosphere. Guests can taste the typical Ladin dishes of the Val di Fassa and hobnob with friendly refuge keepers.
Refuges and mountain huts open in summer in the Val di Fassa
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