A meeting place between history and nature: a trip to Prasco

An ancient castle set in the intense green of the Monferrato hills, inside which, in a silent room whose windows look onto an inner garden, a scientist works. He studies the plants, classifies them, describes them. He devotes himself assiduously to fruit trees, of which he knows more than anyone else of his time. Now and then he receives a painter, to whom he assigns the task of portraying a series of trees, and their branches laden with fruit: peaches, apples, pears, plums, apricots and very many other species. The protagonist of this imaginary period postcard from Prasco is Giorgio Gallesio, a famous botanist, author of the celebrated work "Pomona Italiana", born in 1772 at Finalborgo, but who lived, in the last ten years of his life, for long periods in the Castle of Prasco.

We reach Prasco travelling along the very panoramic road of the Turchino that leads from Ovada to Acqui Terme, crossing, bend after bend, a landscape of rare beauty. We begin to discover this small village, but laden with history, right from its ancient manor: the Castle of the counts Gallesio-Piuma dates back to the 12th century and lies within a large park. Its imposing quadrangular structure is admired also thanks to the three semicircular crested towers. In the armoury hall of the Castle we visit a small but fascinating museum, which gathers ancient everyday objects that tell how the vineyard used to be cultivated and what the methods of beekeeping were. In the park of the Castle we also admire an ice-house: a large pit where snow and ice were once stored.

If Prasco is also famous for the natural sciences, then a botanical garden certainly cannot be missing: you can visit it at the Casa dei Mandorli, in the locality of Mongiut. Continuing our walk in the centre, we admire the Parish Church of Saints Nazario and Celso, built in the second half of the sixteenth century, as well as the Oratory of San Giovanni Battista and the very ancient cemetery church, built around the year 1000. We also go to see the Chapel of San Rocco and the country Church of Sant'Antonio, and then we move on to the hamlet of Orbregno, the most significant in Prasco, where we visit the small church of San Defendente. We stay in Orbregno for dinner too, at Il Ritrovo, a restaurant born back in 1984. "At the time there was nothing at all here; we had been the first pizzeria in the area outside the town.

We had started in an old farmhouse, and after years of work we moved to this building," Mr Antonio, known as Tony, explains to us, as we take a little tour of the spacious garden of the restaurant, surrounded by green meadows and the vegetable plots cultivated by the family. We are in a green oasis, which is green from the energy point of view too: on the ample roofs of the restaurant shine the recently installed photovoltaic panels, which allow the building to be independent in its use of electricity. In the spacious dining room we are welcomed by Mrs Angela and Mrs Anna, mother and wife of Antonio, as well as by their children Federica and Riccardo. The heat has already made the inner wall of the wood-fired oven very white, and now they begin to take out the excellent pizzas, the great strong point of the restaurant, which also offers them for takeaway.

So we taste some wonderful Ritrovo pizzas, very richly topped, while some of us choose the Vegetariana, a true explosion of imagination, with plenty of vegetables. We also taste some spelt pizzas, prepared with organic flour, ideal for a diet low in gluten. Many of us, even while tasting the pizzas, decide not to give up enjoying the restaurant's specialities, starting with a very rich starter that includes, among other things, stuffed eggs with pink sauce, the vegetable pie, rolls of ham in jelly, the tuna capricciosa, the tomini with herbs. We also taste some pecorino and salami served on a board with "dal bosco di Toni" written on it. We follow these delights with the gnocchi made by Anna, dressed with the pesto prepared with basil from the garden, the ravioli with wine, and the pansotti with walnut sauce. We also taste some excellent fresh orecchiette and cavatelli, prepared at home.

In choosing the main courses we range between grilled meat, veal chops, lamb ribs, fillet with pepper and grilled sausage, while some of us enjoy the steamed perch fillet and the fried calamari. We wash it all down with Dolcetto d'Ovada from the hills of Prasco, and with a few glasses of good Cortese from the area. We crown this Lucullan dinner with the tronchetto with chestnut cream and cream, the tiramisù, the nougat semifreddo, the meringata and the chocolate salami. At Il Ritrovo we felt as if we had been guests of friends, in a family, and not in a public place. We will gladly return here at the first opportunity, happy to find this lovely human warmth too. Francesca Bertha FOR INFORMATION: Ristorante Pizzeria Il Ritrovo Fraz. Orbregno, 19 Prasco (AL) Tel.: 0144/375880