A taste of a day in the Oltrepò hills: an outing to Borgo Priolo

Welcoming spring with a walk over very green meadows, breathing the scent of the first flowers blooming among the hills, scanning the horizon where the green of the vegetation blends with the blue of the mountain ranges visible in the distance, and admiring the contrast between the pale pink of the almond blossoms and the blue of the sky. Emotions we would hardly expect to feel just over half an hour's drive from Milan. Yet that is exactly what delighted us on the Sunday we decided to spend in Borgo Priolo, in the province of Pavia, a short distance from Casteggio. We are in the Oltrepò Pavese, in the valley of the Coppa stream, and although the establishment of the municipality of Borgo Priolo is relatively recent, the records testifying to the existence of this settlement date back to before the year 1000.

In reality, both the past and the present of Borgo Priolo are made up of the history of its hamlets. The municipality was created in 1928, from the union of two ancient municipalities, Staghiglione and Torre del Monte, recorded in documents from 950 and 1111 respectively. Both hamlets, together with the other nineteen that today make up the territory of Borgo Priolo, went through countless historical events, with families such as the Beccaria and the Malaspina as protagonists, along with a succession of events that linked the fortunes of these lands even to those of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1743 under the Treaty of Worms, and later, from 1801, to those of Napoleonic France, to which the territory of Staghiglione was annexed until 1814. During our walk we visit the historic centre of Borgo Priolo, which develops around the town hall square and the charming parish church.

Beside the town hall there is also a low wall with an extensive painted bas-relief depicting scenes of country life. Going round the various hamlets we reach the Castle of Stefanago, built between the 11th and 14th centuries. Although the Castle is privately owned, in April, thanks to the "Vivi il Castello" event, it is possible to visit it, also climbing the tower from which the gaze can range as far as the Penice and Brallo peaks of the Apennines, and you can observe several castles and villages of the valley. We take the opportunity to visit the fine fifteenth-century little church that stands in front of the castle. Taking the road again, in the ancient hamlet of Torre del Monte we visit the charming Parish Sanctuary of N.S. della Guardia, built in 1938.

The villages and hamlets of these wonderful valleys also come together on some festive occasion during the year, such as the Fiera di Borgo on 15 August, dating back to 1904. Our outing continues towards the hamlet of Schizzola, where an evening devoted to the best flavours of the area awaits us. We climb to Località Schizzola Alta along meadows that stretch among the woods inhabited by squirrels, hares and pheasants, and after a few minutes we reach the Trattoria Quaglini, set in a wonderful position, in an oasis of peace. "Our business was born in 1998 in an old school that we renovated ourselves. Since 2006 we have instead moved to this location, where we offer the typical dishes of the area, also through numerous themed evenings.

Besides the Restaurant, for those arriving after a day out, you can also find the brasserie with selected cured meats and cheeses paired with excellent wines, as well as tasty grilled meats," the owner, Mr Marco, tells us; he runs the place together with his wife Michela and Mrs Mariuccia, Michela's mother. We discover with pleasure indeed the existence of the Prelibar, an outdoor space where you can enjoy all this in an informal setting: during the warm season it must be a real delight. This time we take our seats inside, in the elegant setting of the Trattoria, and begin to enjoy cured meats of the area such as the coppa piacentina, as well as lardo marbled with acacia honey and almonds and chicken strips with curry.

After these tasty starters we have a fine risotto with scamorza and porcini with black truffle, as well as traditional agnolotti with beef stew and malfatti with greens and porcini sauce. We follow these first courses with sliced scottona beef with green pepper, baked coppa with Bonarda reduction and potatoes, and suckling pig fillet with plums and a vol-au-vent with its jam. Our day ends on a very sweet note with traditional home-made desserts such as fruit tarts and the brasadè of Staghiglione, ring-shaped cakes prepared in the wood-fired oven with two bakings so that they stay fragrant for a long time. Fragrant like our very pleasant memory of Borgo Priolo, where our craving for nature and delicacies will certainly bring us back soon.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Trattoria Quaglini Loc. Schizzola Alta Borgo Priolo (PV) 0383/892840