Aosta - Surrounded by mountains, and other countries

Searching for a very special sausage

Two years ago, at Terra Madre, I learned about the Aosta Valley, not far from where I am. Mountains surround the valley — in fact, four of the highest peaks in Europe — which makes it prime skiing land, but more importantly creates a unique part of the world to raise animals and vegetables, and to make some really amazing meats and cheeses.

You’ve heard the expression “you are what you eat,” but it’s actually much more than that — the true saying should be “you are what you eat eats.” Because it makes an enormous difference in both the meat and the milk/cheese if a cow is being fed corn instead of grazing the long grass those four stomachs were designed to digest. And just imagine how delicious corn is when it’s not fertilized only with nitrogen, potassium, and herbicide.

Aosta cows enjoy mountain meadows, and Aosta hogs similarly enjoy a healthy diet. Berries and vegetables enjoy bright summer sunshine, and the winters are not too cold — the valley elevation is less than 600 meters. And over hundreds of years the citizen farmers have developed some tasty preservation techniques.

So I found myself booking passage — two trains and a bus, leaving Bra at 6:30a and arriving in Aosta around 10a — and doing some exploring, shopping, and learning.

Aosta is rich in history, with Roman structures and ruins dating back 2,000 years (thus several monuments to and statues of Caesar Augustus). And often built on top of those ruins, medieval houses from a time when the valley was a string of castles and fortresses monitoring people journeying to the other side of whichever mountain. And all around that, modern shops and stores.

And overseeing thousands of years of human history, wise old mountains look down on it all, perhaps laughing, or perhaps maybe not even noticing, for millions upon millions of years.

One of my first sights as I stepped off the bus. Perhaps someone can identify this mountain for us all? But I know on the other side is Switzerland.

This was my view on Sunday morning’s hike, with the village of Aosta underneath the aptly named Mont Blanc. Caesar’s Arch is getting some touch ups under the giant drop cloth, which cleverly still shows you how it looks.

Aosta belonged to France less than two centuries ago, so I had the added benefit of being deficient in two languages at once.

Several churches had paintings rather than sculptures, but I don’t know why. The paintings here are relatively new, but others were weather-worn, even being partially protected from the elements.

This Roman bridge is 2,000 years old, and still in use. The river it was built over diverted in a flood several hundred years ago, leaving the bridge both high and dry.

This picture taken from the bus shows one of many castles along the valley that once kept watch over a critical passage through the Alps.

Local wines, meats, cheeses, and bread, a.k.a. lunch. Can you identify any of it? Absolutely all of it is local to the valley.

You might not understand the delicacy that is lardo — quite nearly all pork fat, cured in salt and herbs. Lard d’Arnad — made by only three producers in the nearby village of about 1,400 people — is created under specific time and temperature conditions, from specific pigs, of specific age and weight. Razor-thin slices melt in your mouth, but I will also use it over polenta, and with rye bread and honey.

The sausage I was seeking! Boudin is a blood (and vegetable!) sausage, colored and preserved with beetroot, and also contains potatoes (red, of course, but that’s what grows best here), spices, and wine. In this valley it is a beef sausage, with pork lard added only for texture.

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