How Varese Ligure Became the Capital of Organic Farming in Liguria

 

A stone's throw from the Riviera di Levante and the Cinque Terre, at an altitude of about 350 m, Varese Ligure is the epicentre of the Val di Vara (the largest valley in Liguria): an area of woods, vegetable gardens, and pastures that leads to Parma via the Cento Croci pass. Public transport connects to the shores of the Italian Riviera, namely to Sestri Levante and La Spezia. 

A treasure trove of biodiversity and history

The Val di Vara is a valley of squared-off dwellings, often huddled together to protect themselves; here and there, dry stone walls and terraced belts extract tillable soil from the hill's slopes. The area features oil mills, watermills, huts to shelter animals, and seccherecci, small stone buildings where chestnuts are dried the old way. Local fauna includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Over the years, Varese Ligure has earned countless awards for its commitment to environmental quality. 

The historical centre - with the Borgo Rotondo and the castle (complete with tower) - originates from the Fieschi, a pro-Guelph and pro-French family in constant conflict with the Doria household. Every 1st May, the area hosts the Cantamaggio, a festival of pagan origin, which "propitiates" thriving harvesting seasons. The territory is also home to three sites (SCI) of geo-naturalistic value, such as the beech forest surrounding Mount Zatta (1,406 m), a popular trekking destination. In the hamlet of Cassego, along the ancient route towards the Bocco pass, a touching Farmers' Museum - created on the initiative of the parish priest and essayist Don Sandro Lagomarsini - displays documents and objects from the most traditional valley crafts and trades (carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, weavers). 

Exploring the local cuisine of Varese Ligure

As for gastronomy, Varese Ligure offers a cornucopia of delights: vegetables, fruit (plums are the protagonists of a delicious distillate), figassette made from corn flour, fresh pasta (tagliatelle and bean zimino), the famous croxetti, testaiêu cooked on traditional ciappa, vegetable pies, baciocca, and potato cuculletti, polenta incatenata with cabbage, tomaxelle and crocchini fried in wafer, cheeses, and yogurt, meats (including lamb and rabbit), sausages and salamis, the tradition of asado and wild boar, sweets and cakes (almond sciuette, roette, amaretti, pandolci, busciulan), eels and trout, chestnuts, honey, seasonal mushrooms (fit both for cooking or as a sauce for lasagne and drying (Gioacchino Rossini wrote about them), wines from very unconventional blends in the village of Salino.

 

My English abstract of Umberto Curti's article as published in Liguria Food

Luisa Puppo 

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