From Renaissance courts to the valley of good wine: a day in Gattinara, part two

Our dinner, all about authentic recipes made with genuine, strictly zero-mile ingredients, begins with a board of Valsesia and Val d'Ossola cured meats, including salame preserved under lard, a speciality typical of the lower Vercelli and Novara area. We also taste the knife-cut fassona tartare and the excellent fraket, a cheese typical of Gattinara, worked with a fork according to a recipe from the grandfather of Mr. Tino. Accompanying these treats are fragrant focaccias baked to order. We continue with the flagship of the osteria, namely the Gattinara risotto. The children call it "purple rice", since it's a risotto cooked in Gattinara wine that tints the grains a warm ruby colour.

Some of our friends can't resist the meat-filled agnolotti, which depending on the season are also made with pumpkin or other vegetables, but the büsékka also enjoys great success, that is the tripe prepared in a soup of seasonal vegetables. The paniscia is also much loved, made the Novara way, with vegetables. Among the dishes we taste a fantastic bagna caoda, and the tapulòn wins us over too: minced donkey meat, cooked in Gattinara wine and spiced, served with polenta. Some of us instead opt for the mixed boiled meats to enjoy with green and pink sauces, but the mixed fried dish prepared in the pan is also much appreciated. Talking with the owners we discover that in July we'll also be able to taste frogs, caught in the rice fields, prepared in many ways: fried, stewed or in risotto.

After all these good things, we can only give in to the sweet temptation of the desserts made with flair and imagination by Rosanna, including a reworking of the stuffed peach: caramelised peach filled with a chocolate cream, three different types of amaretti and meringues. The spiced biscuits with honey, pepper and nutmeg are irresistible too, as are the baci di dama, the tiramisù and the zabaione cream with a selection of typical Piedmontese biscuits. Finally we also taste a board of cheeses including Novara gorgonzola and Valsesia tome at various stages of ageing, accompanied by mostarda made with the must of Gattinara grapes. We are certain that this succulent dinner would also have been much appreciated by Cardinal Mercurino, in whose footsteps, in our own small way, we will surely follow, singing the praises of Gattinara cuisine and wine in Italy and around the world.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Osteria La Briòska Corso Valsesia 1, Gattinara (VC) Tel.: 0163/835163