Region of Novara, Lakes District, Ossola Valleys: taste experiences

Our territory – the province of Novara, Lakes Maggiore, Orta and Mergozzo and the Ossola Valleys - offers not only the pleasure of environmental beauty but it also appeals to our taste! There are indeed so many food and wine traditions and a truly enviable variety of products, such as to attract every year tourists and enthusiasts who want to discover the most genuine flavours of these lands.

Starting from the Novara plain we can find its main product, rice, here grown in multiple varieties: from the more traditional Carnaroli, Arborio, Roma, Baldo, Vialone Nano, to the more recent Nero Venere and Artemide, Rosso Ermes and the historical Razza77. Every year the ExpoRice event, which takes place in Novara and in the rice-growing towns, promotes local rice through meetings, entertainment events, cooking shows and markets. Due to the central role of the rice production, one of the most representative and well-loved dishes from the cuisine of the Bassa Novarese region is the paniscia, made with rice enriched with vegetables from the kitchen garden (cabbage and beans are indispensable) and the salam d’la duja, a typical salami that is matured in fat in earthenware containers. Another tasty cold cut from the Novara area is the fidighina, a soft and flavourful mortadella made from liver. From the plains to the mountain, where as for first courses worth mentioning are the gnocchetti all’ossolana: home-made dumplings prepared with potatoes, chestnut flour and pumpkin flavoured with butter or local Ossola cheese cream and small dice of lard. Ossola mountain region is also known for its unique or even rare cured meats, such as the violino di capra (whole air-dried leg of goat shaped like a violin), the raw ham of the Vigezzo Valley (a real treat reminiscent of the resinous scent of the forest), the Brisaula Val d’Ossola (especially lean meat steeped in wine, then seasoned with spices and air dried) and the lard seasoned with herbs and spices. A great variety of cheese are also produced here: while Novara area is the centre of excellence for the production of Gorgonzola DOP (in Novara there is the homonymous consortium), in the Ossola Valleys let’s find the Ossolano DOP, the unique Bettelmat PAT produced exclusively in seven pastures of the Antigorio Valley or the Toma of Mottarone produced up among the tallest peaks between Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore. Why not savour then such specialities accompanied by local honey? In the Novara hills and around the lakes, it is produced in different varieties such as acacia, chestnut, rhododendron, linden and honeydew. There is also precious wildflower honey produced amongst the Ossola mountains by only high-altitude blooms. In the Medio Novarese region, we must point out the Slow Food Presidium Cipolla Bionda from Cureggio and Fontaneto, a yellow onion that is extremely sweet and keeps for months after harvesting.

Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta are home to a great variety of fish: trout, baked in tinfoil wrapping and seasoned with herbs; perch and white fish, usually fried or soused; then pike, brook trout, gardon and bleak. Absolutely a “must” of the most typical Piedmontese menus is polenta that can be served alone, mixed with cheese or added to pork meat (spare ribs and small salami) and mushrooms (boletus is the finest species) gathered in autumn on the hilly or mountain areas of the territory. Black bread with rye flour has always been traditionally prepared in Coimo (Vigezzo Valley) even though, nowadays, this bread is generally produced in the entire Ossola region. There is also a wide choice of baking products up and down our region. Other specialities include the Biscottini from Novara, small biscuits created by nuns in the convents of the sixteenth century, and the delicious Pane di San Gaudenzio (San Gaudenzio ’s Bread), a sweet bread made to celebrate the festivity of the Patron Saint of the capital of the province of Novara, and also the Brutti ma Buoni di Borgomanero, the Baci from Fara Novarese, the Beatine from Ghemme, the Gramolini from Galliate and the Busarola from Romagnano Sesia. In the lakes district there are tasty shortbread biscuits: Imperialine and Reginette of Omegna, Margheritine of Stresa, Fugascina of Mergozzo, Intresine from Intra and Amaretti of Pallanza. On Lake Orta the Bread of St. Jules is a rye bread filled with walnuts, raisins and chocolate, which is prepared fresh for the Patron Feast only, on January 31. Ossola’s Crescenzin is instead a sweet black bread filled with walnuts, raisins and figs. Torta del pane e latte is a typical cake from our mountains made with rye bread, fresh milk, cocoa powder and raisins, then baked in a traditional terracotta pan and finally decorated with pine kernels and rosemary or bay leaves. In Cannero Riviera several citrus fruit trees are cultivated thanks to the micro-climate of Northern Lake Maggiore. Lemon, orange, grapefruit, cedar fruits are used to prepare cakes, biscuits, tea and marmalades. The wines from these lands deserve a separate chapter. Starting from the Colline Novaresi, we go from the noble DOCG Ghemme to the DOC Boca, Fara and Sizzano. These are all full-bodied wines from the traditional vines of Nebbiolo, Vespolina and Uva Rara in the nearby hills. The wine list, which will satisfy the most demanding of palates, is completed but the wide range of young DOC Colline Novaresi, white and red wines that are excellent with every dish. To the north of the Toce river plain we find the panoramic terraced vineyards where the DOC Valli Ossolane are born, fearless wines that go well with local delicacies. Here is another natural wealth: precious mineral waters are bottled from the mountain springs of the Antigorio, Bognanco and Vigezzo Valleys, in the Ossola region. Two curiosities: Crodino, the best-known and most drunk non-alcoholic Italian aperitif, is historically produced in Crodo (Antigorio Valley), while in 1860 the recipe of famous Campari was created by Gaspare Campari in Novara’s small bar Caffé dell’Amicizia and has remained unchanged since then. From Novara, through the hills and lakes, to the Alps: this is a territory full of taste. Savouring our exquisite cuisine is so simple, visit for example our fine restaurants, excellent osterie and authentic farmhouses or spend some of your holiday time at our colourful country festivals. Great interest is also given to the topic of innovation by our starred chefs, whose recipes are quoted in the best international food guides. Finally, many local farmers and wine growers are used to welcome the public to their estates, where it is possible to taste and buy extremely fresh and organic products.