Lhe Meschia di Casola is a cornmeal polenta enriched with beans, black cabbage, potatoes and lard, seasoned to taste with oil and Parmesan cheese. The ‘origin of this dish is not well defined but it can be said that it carries on the so-called “cucina povera” tradition of preparing food by mixing  (meschia), with ingredients available from the people.

It is also known in the rest of Lunigiana as “chained polenta” or frascadei or fr’gadèi, according to the dialectal inflection of the area.

It is a very tasty and hearty dish that is also good the next day, in fact once it is cooled and cut you can fry it and accompany it with slices of cheese. You can taste it at the  “Meschia Festival” at the “Papastrel Fest“ in Casola in Lunigiana at the end of July!

E’ one of the best-known traditional food products (PAT) of Lunigiana. It is grown in the municipality of Bagnone, around the village of Treschietto, and is characterized by a sweetish flavor that allows it to be eaten raw, in pinzimonio or as an ingredient in special dishes such as Barbotta or Onion Pie baked in the oven, best in the traditional cast-iron testo.

If you want to taste or buy it, we recommend going to the traditional festival held in Treschietto in the first half of May. 

Treschietto onions are used to make the delicious Arbadela

Èa typical dessert from the area of Fivizzano and Comano, prepared on special occasions such as the feast of the patron saint, looking like a very tall focaccia and inside it contains raisins, pine nuts and anise seeds. We do not know its original recipe because, like many cakes and other typical dishes of Lunigiana, each village, each family had a variant , so it was difficult to find a written recipe with the right doses and the precise rising and baking times since everything was entrusted to the skill of the women of the house, who often handed down the secrets from generation to generation.

This cake in the Sassalbo (Fivizzano) area is linked to an ancient ritual, that of betrothal. The ancient ritual stipulated that after the feast on the day of St. Michael the Archangel, when the attraction between the two lovers was publicly manifested by dancing, the woman’s family sent the groom’s family the “carscenta”; if the boy’s family viewed the engagement favorably, they returned half of the carscenta to the girl’s family, otherwise they sent it back in full.

 

Lhe Marocca di Casola is not only a bread made with chestnut flour, it is something more, with its ancient and modern history, it is the essence of Lunigiana… Let’s start from the past: the marocca was born as a peasant bread, baked in the communal ovens in the villages of Eastern Lunigiana, and made with what was available at the time i.e. little wheat flour, a lot of chestnut flour, a little potatoes and the precious oil. The result was a bread that was not very malleable, in dialect marocat, but that kept very well, thanks to the presence of the potatoes in the dough.

As is often the case, this precious recipe was lost in time, until Fabio Bertolucci came along, who after leaving his university studies rediscovered this ancient recipe and decided to bring it back to the tables of the Lunigiana people. He bought a small bakery in Canoara, a locality of Regnano, in the municipality of Casola in Lunigiana, and after several attempts he succeeded in restoring the Marocca to its rightful notoriety, making it known, thanks to its goodness, even in neighboring regions and even making it to the television limelight!

Today you can buy it in many local stores or from the hands of Fabio himself, who is present at many events in the area. It is excellent with local cured meats such as Lardo di Colonnata IGP or cheeses, perhaps accompanied by Miele DOP della Lunigiana.Marocca has also been recognized as a Slow Food Presidium.

Ct was a period in history, roughly the Napoleonic era, that we witnessed reverse immigration: from Switzerland many families arrived in Lunigiana to open stores and grocery stores. Many traces of them still remain today, such as the small cemetery “of the Swiss” in Fivizzano and the presence in many Lunigiana villages of a “Helvetic café.” In one of these, precisely in Pontremoli in the central Piazza della Repubblica, the “amor”, the sweets that have become the symbol of the town.

A soft heart made of a kind of chantilly cream, but whose recipe is still secret and jealously guarded, enclosed between two crispy wafers. At one time the wafer was homemade, it was the most difficult part of the recipe, because it did not have to be too soft or crispy, but today two wafers are used instead, specially packaged by a large northern company.

Perhaps the name “amor” comes from the way they are eaten, because after the first bite the cream spills out to the sides and to enjoy them you take bites that resemble very passionate kisses. If you want to taste them we suggest the art nouveau venue of the  Café Pastry Shop Aichta, Swiss for six generations….

An the shadow of the Apuan Alps, in addition to the famous Marocca di Casola made with chestnut flour, we find many other types of bread, more classic but always unique and delicious. To the layman’s eye and palate they may look very similar, but small details such as the texture of the crust, the crumb and fragrance or the ingredients used, water and flour, will make you appreciate the merits of each.

Our itinerary starts from Agnino, a village in the municipality of Fivizzano from which there is a beautiful view of much of Lunigiana. Here in the local bakery for years they have been baking the  Agnino bread of round shape, with a size of about 700 grams, suitable for storage several days. We also recommend the excellent focaccia prepared with the usual dough.

We move a little further north of Fivizzano and in Signano we find another type of bread, made in a small family-run wood-fired oven with flour from the local mill, still round and large in size, but characterized by a very soft crumb and a crisp crust.

We go up the Strada Statale del Cerreto road again and turn in the direction of the village of Po, where we find a bakery that for decades has been making a very well-known and popular bread, baked in a wood-fired oven and which can be enjoyed on site, freshly baked, accompanied by local cold cuts.

We change valleys and to Vinca, a village at the foot of the peaks of the Apuan Alps we find the local bread dark in appearance and is generally round in shape. The size is about 2.2 kilos. the dough is made from wheat flour, bran, water, yeast and salt. After dividing the dough into loaves, they are allowed to rise for 12 hours, and then baked in a wood-fired oven.

We end our trip in Regnano, in the municipality of Casola in Lunigiana, to taste Regnano bread made from wheat flour and boiled potatoes. Local potatoes, grown up to the high elevations, were added to lengthen the fragrance of the breads.

Type of pasta made of wheat flour (50%) mixed with chestnut flour (50%), that represents one of the many local dishes derived from chestnut. It is usually served with olive oil and parmesan cheese.

There are different recipes to make focaccette, which can use either wheat or corn flour. Focaccette are cooked into terracotta moulds, similarly to panigacci, or, sometimes, using cast-iron moulds, and then served with soft cheese and cold cuts. They are very popular in particular in Amola, Vaccareccia and Monti, where each summer dedicated food festivals are organized.

Sort of pancake made of chestnut flour wrapped in chestnut leaves and cooked in a wood oven or in testi. It is usually served with ricotta cheese and honey.

Cake made of honey, bread, various spices and dried fruits. There are different recipes from Liguria to Parma to prepare it.In Lunigiana it is popular in Pontremoli where you can find it at the local bars and restaurants.