Accordion melodies: A day in Stradella

"In the heart of Stradella, which is that town where all the accordions of this plain were born, and someone plays them like this," sang Paolo Conte way back in 1975, and after him also Nada and Gianni Morandi. But while the protagonist of "Le fisarmoniche di Stradella", the famous song that pays homage to this pretty municipality, was a little sad because of the night fog and the girl who fell asleep beside him during the car journey, we arrive in Stradella by day, without fog, and all wide awake. To reach this town, whose name comes from Stricta Via, you just need to exit at the Broni-Stradella toll booth of the Turin-Piacenza motorway and in a few minutes you are already in the historic centre, of probable Roman origins, on the route of the ancient Via Postumia. Thanks to the fertile land, this area was inhabited since the time of the Ligurian tribes and later by the Celts.

The wine-making tradition, which is one of the area's attractions, dates back in all likelihood to Roman times, but the bread is also famous here, in particular the micca of Stradella. We begin our visit at the Accordion Museum named after Mariano Dallape, who in 1876 set up his first workshop in Stradella for the construction of accordions after the resounding success of the first prototype he produced. In the following years there was a genuine accordion boom in the town: the factories of Ercole Maga, Enrico Massoni, Paolo Rogledi and Carlo Pasquin were also born. Between the two world wars, more than a tenth of the town's population was employed in accordion production, and in this field Stradella established itself as one of the most important centres in the world. The Accordion Museum, housed inside Palazzo Garibaldi, also preserves Dallape's first prototype.

Another very interesting museum to visit in the town is the Natural History Museum, where, besides the botany, ecology and environment sections, we also saw a fascinating palaeontology section, with finds from the area's geological past. The town of Stradella is dominated by the Rocca di Montalino, an ancient castle situated in an isolated position at the top of the hill. Mentioned already before the year 1000, today the Rocca is used as private residences. The town's symbolic monument, however, is the Civic Tower, a beautiful and mammoth battlemented tower which, after the demolition of the ancient gates and the lower Rocca, has remained the only witness to the "strong town" of old. In the central square there is also a bronze statue dedicated to Agostino Depretis, who had his constituency here.

On the other side of the road rises the Parish Church of Saints Nabore and Felice, the town's patron saints. Near the church we noticed the staircase leading to the Oratory, and we stopped for a long while to photograph the river of graffiti, this time beautiful and legal, that the young people of Stradella have made on the wall alongside the steps. Although we are in the oratory area, there is no lack of a few friendly monsters, including some highly original bats. The Stradella Oratory is very well known in the province of Pavia for the excellent sporting results of numerous young footballers who have come from there. Long before today's aspiring cartoonists, a famous painter was born in Stradella, Giuseppe Baldrighi, who lived in the 18th century and is particularly admired for his portraits.

We stayed in the artistic vein too in choosing the restaurant where we stopped for dinner, opting for the Ristorante Leonardo, in via Garibaldi. It is a historic establishment, operating for about seventy years. "At the start it was a cellar, then it became a bar and a sandwich shop. We've been running it since 1984," the owner, Leonardo Decorato, tells us as we settle at the table. "My son Mauro is very good too, he makes delicious desserts," he adds. We begin our dinner in the sign of the flavours of the Oltrepo Pavese with an abundant mixed house starter, including a mix of grilled vegetables, a board of cured meats, sweet-and-sour spring onions, Roman-style artichokes and a vegetable quiche. Since risottos are a speciality of the area, we can only continue with a lovely risotto with radicchio and Oltrepo Bonarda.

Some of our group choose instead the pappardelle with wild boar ragu and someone opts for the excellent gnocchi with Castelmagno. For the main courses we split between the typical donkey braised in Bonarda, the mixed boiled meats with green sauce and the fiorentina. We wash these delicacies down with Oltrepo Pavese Bonarda and with a very good Gutturnio from the Piacenza hills. As promised by chef Mauro, we close the dinner in great sweetness, tasting the house panna cotta, the berry tiramisu and the Fondant au chocolat cake. In Stradella we found harmony in every sense: in music, in art and also at the table.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Leonardo Via Garibaldi, 14 Stradella (PV) 0385/40293