The Slowland culinary tradition offers tasty dishes and characteristic high-quality products.
Let’s start with a risotto, a symbol of the Vercelli area: Panissa, an ancient peasant recipe. It is believed that the name derives from “panìgo”, a quality of millet used before rice became the main crop of the Vercelli area. The main ingredients of Panissa are local rice, combined with beans (another Piedmontese product) and fat-covered salami called “salam d’la duja” in the local dialect. In the last week of August, the deliciousness of this dish attracts many visitors for the Panissa Festival (the Sagra d’la Panissa).
The Vercelli area epitomises the territory with the widest assortment of rice in Italy, see the page here.
Pork is known to be the basis of a tangible “culture” that our grandparents celebrated with the butchering ritual and closing party during which nothing was thrown away. The salampatata is the specialty of Settimo Rottaro: it is made from natural ingredients and some of the less valued parts of the pig, which, with boiled potatoes, give life to a lightly flavoured sausage, which is celebrated every year in January with the feast of the same name. It is part of the collection of typical products of the province of Turin.
Our menu continues with a delicious fish, typical of Lake Viverone: the whitefish. This fish has been a symbol of Lake Viverone for over a century. It can be enjoyed in many recipes: whitefish, whitefish agnolotti, whitefish meatballs, golden whitefish … and many more!
As a side dish, we return to the Vercelli area, where the typical Saluggia and Villata beans are produced, the first of which is used in the traditional Panissa recipe. These two products have reached our days thanks to the work of generations of farmers who handed down their farming heritage. Today the Saluggia bean and the Villata bean are recognized as regional specialties and they can wave the Coldiretti 2018 “Bandiere del gusto” flags (Taste flags).
With regard to this delicious legume, we cannot forget the famous traditional recipe of all the Carnivals of the area: i faseuj grass (fatty beans), or beans combined with meat and pork rind.
Dulcis in fundo, we end our culinary journey with two fruits, which in the springtime colour and characterize the local landscape: kiwi and peach.
What we have told you in these few lines is just a taste of what you can discover by entering into the flavours of the Slowland cuisine.
What are you waiting for to test your palate?