From the snow-capped Alps to the pristine lakes to the flat green countryside, Lombardy plays host to amazing ingredients. Here are 8 vital foods of Lombardy that reflect the varied landscapes of the northern Italian region.
1. Bresaola
This PGI beef salami from Valtellina is made with beef (usually from the suggestion of the hip) that’s been salted and treated for a couple of months. Lean and delicate, bresaola complements fresh fruit and vegetables in oil.
2. Grana Padano
Today Grana Padano is also produced in other areas of Italy, but it’s one of the most emblematic foods of Lombardy as its birth can be traced back to the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of Chiaravalle, a district of Milan that’s about six miles southeast of the city center. A thousand years earlier, the monks started to make a tough cheese so that none of the milk they had at their disposal would go to waste. Aged for up to 16 months, the cheese has a flavor similar to milk and when aged from 17 to 20 months, it becomes a little bit more intricate with scents of dried fruit and hay. Cheese aged for 20 months or more becomes a Riserva and has sophisticated, intricate nuances.3.
Goose Salami from Mortara
Goose salumi is rooted in the Jewish communities that settled in this area of southern Lombardy. They created it as an option to pork, and it evolved into today’s variation, which blends lean goose meat with lean and fat pork which is then seasoned with salt, pepper, and herbs, and covered in goose skin (usually from the neck). After a few days off, the salami is cooked and, as soon as cooled, it’s ready. It has a delicately hot taste and a soft texture. There’s also a kosher variation that’s completely pork-free.
4. Zucca Mantovana
Also called the “priest’s hat”(Capèl da Prèt) for its shape, this pumpkin range from Mantua has a hard, dry pulp and sweet flavor that makes it quite popular in the cooking area. A timeless for ravioli dough in addition to the filling of Mantuan ravioli, Zucca Mantovona is also outstanding when oven-baked and acted as a side meal along with breast meats.5.
Taleggio
Named for the Val Taleggio where it stemmed, this DOP cheese is fat, short- or medium-aged, with a soft texture and cleaned skin. Made with cow’s milk, it has a strong, subtly sweet taste that’s stabilized by acidic notes. It’s excellent along with fruit or melted in polenta and risotto.
6. Bitto
This cow’s milk DOP cheese from the mountain pastures and stables of the Orobie Alps. The prepared semi-hard cheese is produced in round shapes of 17-26 lb (8-12 kilos). It has a delicate taste with traces of mountain herbs. In addition to the Bitto DOP, there is the Storico Ribelle, or “historic rebel” variety. This Slow Food Presidium cheese has a lot more rigid production guidelines than the DOP. Fun truth: It appeared in the Lombardy episode of Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy.
7. Salami di Varzi
Another product whose origins can be traced back to monks, however in this case the Benedictine order who, at the start of the Middle Ages, found the best mix of lean pork and fat, salt, and spices. Today it holds DOP status and is amongst the finest salamis in Italy. It was born in the Staffora Valley, in the Oltrepò Pavese, an area around 40 miles south of Milan. It undergoes a long aging procedure that leads to a sweet and delicate flavor with a somewhat bitter aftertaste.
8. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil from Lake Garda
This olive oil is amongst Italy’s many desired thanks to its sophisticated and delicate flavor and its light aromas of fresh turf and artichokes. This DOP item is produced with the Casaliva, Frantoio, and Leccino olives and may have the additional geographical indications of Bresciano, Orientale, and Trentino. All show the particular microclimate of Lake Garda, which likewise enables the growing of citrus fruits additional north of Italy.
From goose salami to charming olive oil, here are eight foods of Lombardy to watch out for the next time you’re in Italy.
