Exploring the Unique Flavors of Brùsso: The Ancient Taste of the Alta Valle Arroscia

 

What is brùsso?

Brùsso (in western Liguria), Bruss (in Piedmont), Bruzzo (in Italian): fermented ricotta, which evokes the primordial age of the domestication of sheep and goats in the Mediterranean Alpine area (Corse features Brocciu). 

“Solo l’amore è più forte del bruss” (i.e., "only love is stronger than bruss") says an ancient proverb in Piedmont. Its routes through time and space connect to transhumance from mountain pastures: Brùsso is one of the symbols of this tradition, which once relocated livestock by the thousands. 

How brùsso is made

Brùsso derives from sheep’s milk – strictly goat’s milk in the Alta Valle Arroscia (i.e., upper Arroscia valley), an inner mountain area in western Liguria. Heated whey gives way to coagulation: after clots drain, fermentation is initiated thanks by adding alcohol, olive oil, and vinegar until the curd turns pungent. Once – long before the age of health regulations - aging took place in small barrels made of larch (or cherry) wood. 

Brùsso and the cucina bianca

Brùsso, sharp in colour, is the protagonist of the so-called “cucina bianca” (i.e., white cuisine) typical of the high valleys of western Liguria, the perpendicular connections between sea and mountain. There - Mendatica, Cosio d’Arroscia, Montegrosso Pian Latte, Rezzo, Pornassio, and several other centres - breeding has been the trade of generations (the same goes for Triora, in the Argentina Valley, and Pigna, in the Val Nervia. Brùssu is the travel companion of shepherds; it is a commodity; and – lastly - it is one of the stars of the Ligurian recipe handbook. 

Miss-not dishes include Sugeli con Brùssu, fresh pasta discs (only flour and water) shaped by the quick motion of the thumb (“còrpi de dìu”) and served with a sauce made of melted Brùssu. Frugality is the mother of invention, and the Brussusa is a flat savoury pie made with bread dough filled with garlic and Brùssu 

My English abstract of this article was published on LiguriaFood

Luisa Puppo

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