Fruit

The smell and taste of the Alpine microclimate of the Aosta Valley within a juicy fruit.

Apples are the most cultivated fruit in the Aosta Valley. It is also the fruit which preserves its original freshness in every season, because it ages very slowly and has the capacity to maintain its healthful properties intact almost to the end.

In the Aosta Valley, due to the altitude and to the dry windy summer, the apple reaches an excellent level of maturity, without running a great risk of disease. The low rate of rainfall also contributes to a good final result. It is therefore a healthful fruit which does not undergo all the pesticide treatments needed in other areas.

There are four typical species, two of which are recognized as traditional agri-food products (PAT): the Renetta from the Aosta Valley, and the Golden Delicious from the Aosta Valley.

Rather large orchards are found in the areas of Saint-Pierre, Sarre and Villeneuve, where varieties such as the Pippin Apple (Renetta apple) are cultivated, a symbol of the fruit-growing tradition of Val d|"Aosta, with very delicate fragrant flesh and rough rusty-yellow skin. The Pippin apple is particularly suitable to be used in making pies, fritters and other culinary specialties.

The Golden delicious, with its juicy, sweet, crunchy flesh and yellow-pinkish skin, is a highly aromatic apple, indeed meriting the name of "pearl" of the table. The Golden delicious is highly affected by the microclimate and its best characteristics are brought out in a mountain environment.

Other varieties of apples grown in the region are the Red delicious, a bright red and very sugary apple, known and appreciated in the starking variety, and the Jonagold, with its characteristic sweet-sour flavor that derives from the crossing of two different qualities, the golden and the jonathan, which give rise to a mixed color: yellow background with red streaks. Its pulp is very crunchy and particularly juicy.

Delicious sign of Autumn and produce with a 'sweet' tradition

The chestnuts produced in the Aosta Valley, small in size but of great quality, are incredibly tasty and have always played a very important role in local gastronomy.

Primary ingredient for the preparation of many specialties, chestnuts are traditionally combined with famous typical cured meats, usually mocetta and Arnad D.O.P. lard. but also served in soups.

They are also very popular as desserts: in jam, glazed, in honey syrup and accompanied by whipped cream or chocolate.

This tasty autumn fruit is found above all in the area between Châtillon and Pont-Saint-Martin and at the entrance to the Lys Valley, where 80% of the region's chestnut groves are concentrated. Chestnuts are often dried to then be consumed throughout the year.

The martin sec is a small pear with rough rust-colored skin and whitish and grainy pulp, not very juicy but very aromatic and fragrant.

It is an autumn fruit widespread in the Aosta Valley which is traditionally consumed in syrup or cooked in wine, taking on a reddish color and acquiring a particular softness. Pears are served with their cooking liquid or sometimes accompanied with whipped cream.
It is recommended to wait at least 20-30 days after harvesting if you want to enjoy it raw.

Beautiful and majestic, the walnut is part of the rural landscape of the Aosta Valley.
Nowadays these trees are considered valuable for their wood, raw material for furniture and for the creations of local craftsmanship, but once upon a time they were cultivated above all for the collection of walnuts in order to produce oil.

Walnuts contain an unsaturated fatty acid from the omega-3 group, alpha linolenic acid, and a good number of antioxidants. They are a real delight to pair with cheeses, honey and to prepare desserts and salads.
Walnuts have a high caloric content and, precisely because of the fats they contain, it is possible to obtain by pressing them an oil whose preparation is complex and furthermore the quantity of walnuts necessary to produce one liter is considerable.

Walnut oil is a traditional agri-food product (PAT). It is obtained by cold pressing, a technique that allows the typical taste and olfactory characteristics of the raw material to be maintained.
Once upon a time, however, the paste obtained by grinding the kernels was heated and mixed before being placed in the press. The solid residue of the pressing is called troillet, a hazelnut-coloured block used for animal feed but delicious to eat especially with the addition of a little sugar.

Walnut oil is suitable for dressing salads and enhances the aromas and flavours of the dishes it accompanies: raw meat, fish, grilled vegetables, delicate cheeses.