Cuisine

The typical cuisine of the Valley of Zoldo is simple and genuine, and an authentic reflection of the habits of mountain people.
The morphology of the territory and the local climate have always conditioned the variety of its agricultural products; barley, potatoes, corn, beans. Vegetables have always been sparse, these being substituted by herbs such as nettles and some fruit trees, those resistant to low temperatures, such as apple trees and plum trees.

POLENTA is the typical dish of the area. Once it was a dish in itself, eaten for breakfast or as a main in the form of a soup. Today, it is treated more like a side-dish to plates of delicious and tasty game. Many houses still have a "fogher", the typical fire place where the Polenta was cooked. The location, together with the slow cooking of the Polenta directly on the flame of the fire, gave it a distinctive flavour.

For all but in particular for vegetarians, there is the FORMAI FRIT. This is fresh and low-fat cheese, cut into squares and quickly heated up in a pan, giving it a crisp texture outside and a delicate softness inside. It goes rather well with Polenta.

PASTIN, DOC product, is the most typical local product of the valley, both in terms of its particularity and its quality. It is largely ground beef and pork, marinated in white wine and flavoured. It is rolled into small balls and flattened, to allow it to cook through on a low flame grill. The perfect cooking point is when the meat is soft inside, still pink.

ICE CREAM is the symbol of the Valley of Zoldo both because of its tradition in the making of it and because of the Valley's emigration history. Ice cream was not invented amidst the beautiful mountains of the Valley but it was thanks to the abilities of the locals that the product made and sold worldwide gained such notoriety.

Finally, for the really sweet toothed, we recommend FORTAIE, the typical carnival pastries. These are made by dipping a batter in hot cooking oil, using a special funnel. To taste some particularly good ones, we recommend you visit the Gnaga in Fornesighe in the first weekend of February.