Triora, the village of witches… and bread

The famous bread

Time stopped in Triora, a medieval hill town in the entroterra of the Imperia province (a few kilometres from the French border), known as the village of witches.

The alleys and the arched passages of the borgo – a long-standing stronghold of the Genoese Republic - still thrive with legends, histo

rical evidence and mystery. Our journey back in time (late 16^th century, to be exact) starts in a piazzetta coherently supervised by the statue of a witch, complete with the tools of her trade: broom, cauldron and potion. She represents the 32 women who, in the famine years between 1587 and 1589, were taken to trial in Triora on the charge of being witches and bearers of any kind of evil (diseases, acid rains, cattle deaths). According to local lore, women used to gather at night (preferably on Thursday) to worship the devil. Actually, those unfortunate women – tortured and put on trial for years - mastered the secrets of herbs and natural remedies. The magic of mystery still attracts tourists by the thousand up the Valle Argentina, where theme festivals celebrate witches in the summertime (mid-August is usually the time of the “Strigora” event). The Ethnographic and Witchcraft Museum (set in Palazzo Stella) is a must-see: recently restored, it features among Italy’s highlights in the field, one of its sections dedicated to herbs and tortures.

 

This mountain centre boasts gourmet traits of distinctiveness, too. Its last bakery, run by the Asplanato family, proudly prepares the genuine Triora bread: round, crunchy-crusted, soft on the inside, produced for the first time 60 years ago by Angiolino according to a recipe handed down orally from generation to generation. The same recipe is followed today, semi-whole wheat flour and a sprinkle of bran before baking (this is why its lasts up to one week). Local epicurean delights also feature bruzzo (cheese deriving from the natural fermentation of ricotta), savoury pies (artfully cooked through a combination of tripods, pans and embers) and turrun – walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and mountain honey blended in copper pots). A feast of treats ideally siding one of the borghi più belli d’Italia (Italy’s most beautiful villages), awarded the bandiera arancione (orange flag) quality label by Touring Club Italiano.

My English abstract of the article as published on LiguriaFood

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