Lombardia
Lombardia is located in northern Italy, between Venice and Piemonte. This region has high mountains in the North, but it also has a huge part of the Po Valley running through it, meaning there are a lot of flat lands as well. Excellent wines are produced in the Pavia area, located in the southwest area of the region, in the hills.
The most important population of this region is the Camuni people, which is an ancient population located in Cal Camonica during the Iron Age. I decided to dig a little deeper into the population and here is what I found:
This population was referred to as the ancient Camuni to distinguish them from the people who were already living in the area. This population was some of the greatest rock art producers in all of Europe, so much so that their name is linked to the famous rock engravings of Valcamonica. The area of Cal Camonica in which they inhabited was already being populated since the Neolithic period. This population of people was dominated by the Romans, then the Barbarians and Lombards. The Lombards used the area of Lombardia for many years as their capital. People began fleeing back to this area around year 1,000/1,100 because of Charles the Great.
The cuisine of Lombardia is very much divided into the areas that make up the region, but it is strongly influenced by the French, Spanish, Romans, Austrians, and Venetanso. Here are the big areas and the times of cuisines that they have:
- Como, Varese, & Lecco: cuisine of the lakes with a lot of rice in Varese
- Bergamo & Brescia: polenta, rice, and casonsei (similar to cassoulet)
- Mantova: stuffed pasta and a lot of sweet items
- Cremona: Bolitto misto, fruit mustard, nougat
- Milano: Cassoeula, risotto, ossobucco, Trippe, panettone
- Sondrio: Mountain items - buckwheat flour & cheese
- Pavia: rice and frogs
A very interesting Slow Food product from this region is salame d'oca, which is made with goose meat. This was made in the Roman times but was made popular in the Middle Ages. It was made in an area with a lot of Jewish people because they could not eat pork. Nowadays, we add pork fat for a better consistency sausage. It is then stuffed into the neck of the goose, as a natural casing. This is then boiled, therefore it is a cooked sausage.
In the production of wine from Lombardia, we see a lot of different vineyard times. There are areas of flat lands which grow many different grapes. In the high mountains of Valtellina there are also vineyards, but again, they are on mountains or terraces. Then we go to the southern hills of Paiva in the vineyards of Oltrepo Pavese. Also, there are vineyards along the lake. These 4 different areas are within the same region, but they produce very different wines.
Fun Fact of the Day
List the DOCG and DOC wines of Lombardia.
- Cellatica DOC
- Valtellina DOC
- Franciacorta DOCG
- Garda DOC
- Lambrusco Mantocano DOC
- Botticino DOC
- San Martino della Battaglia DOC
A very unique wine of Lombardia is sfursat, a wine made with Nebbiolo grapes. The difference with this wine though is the grapes must rest on straw mats until December. This creates a very strong red wine, with a lot of tannins and alcohol content.
Here are my final tasting notes of the cuisine of Lombardia:
- They use a lot of polenta and cook it many different ways. Whether it is leftovers or made sweet, polenta is seen in a lot of dishes.
- A lot of risotto is made because of the rice fields in this region.
- Many different types of pasta!
- Use of a lot of buckwheat flour
- Cheese & Butter are used in a lot of dishes; very little olive oil because it was expensive to buy
- The herb I would say subs up this region is sage.
- Because there are a lot of woods, there are a lot of mushrooms harvest and used as well.
- There are a lot of nuts used in dishes from sweets to pasta.
With love,
Baylee
The most important population of this region is the Camuni people, which is an ancient population located in Cal Camonica during the Iron Age. I decided to dig a little deeper into the population and here is what I found:
This population was referred to as the ancient Camuni to distinguish them from the people who were already living in the area. This population was some of the greatest rock art producers in all of Europe, so much so that their name is linked to the famous rock engravings of Valcamonica. The area of Cal Camonica in which they inhabited was already being populated since the Neolithic period. This population of people was dominated by the Romans, then the Barbarians and Lombards. The Lombards used the area of Lombardia for many years as their capital. People began fleeing back to this area around year 1,000/1,100 because of Charles the Great.
The cuisine of Lombardia is very much divided into the areas that make up the region, but it is strongly influenced by the French, Spanish, Romans, Austrians, and Venetanso. Here are the big areas and the times of cuisines that they have:
- Como, Varese, & Lecco: cuisine of the lakes with a lot of rice in Varese
- Bergamo & Brescia: polenta, rice, and casonsei (similar to cassoulet)
- Mantova: stuffed pasta and a lot of sweet items
- Cremona: Bolitto misto, fruit mustard, nougat
- Milano: Cassoeula, risotto, ossobucco, Trippe, panettone
- Sondrio: Mountain items - buckwheat flour & cheese
- Pavia: rice and frogs
A very interesting Slow Food product from this region is salame d'oca, which is made with goose meat. This was made in the Roman times but was made popular in the Middle Ages. It was made in an area with a lot of Jewish people because they could not eat pork. Nowadays, we add pork fat for a better consistency sausage. It is then stuffed into the neck of the goose, as a natural casing. This is then boiled, therefore it is a cooked sausage.
In the production of wine from Lombardia, we see a lot of different vineyard times. There are areas of flat lands which grow many different grapes. In the high mountains of Valtellina there are also vineyards, but again, they are on mountains or terraces. Then we go to the southern hills of Paiva in the vineyards of Oltrepo Pavese. Also, there are vineyards along the lake. These 4 different areas are within the same region, but they produce very different wines.
Fun Fact of the Day
List the DOCG and DOC wines of Lombardia.
- Cellatica DOC
- Valtellina DOC
- Franciacorta DOCG
- Garda DOC
- Lambrusco Mantocano DOC
- Botticino DOC
- San Martino della Battaglia DOC
A very unique wine of Lombardia is sfursat, a wine made with Nebbiolo grapes. The difference with this wine though is the grapes must rest on straw mats until December. This creates a very strong red wine, with a lot of tannins and alcohol content.
Here are my final tasting notes of the cuisine of Lombardia:
- They use a lot of polenta and cook it many different ways. Whether it is leftovers or made sweet, polenta is seen in a lot of dishes.
- A lot of risotto is made because of the rice fields in this region.
- Many different types of pasta!
- Use of a lot of buckwheat flour
- Cheese & Butter are used in a lot of dishes; very little olive oil because it was expensive to buy
- The herb I would say subs up this region is sage.
- Because there are a lot of woods, there are a lot of mushrooms harvest and used as well.
- There are a lot of nuts used in dishes from sweets to pasta.
With love,
Baylee
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