February 17th Again

Put on your Sunday best traditional Valdesian outfit. 

(Also known as Waldensen)

Strike up the band

Fly your colors and flags

Walk with your friends and neighbors to the next village

And worship together in celebration of your liberation 

February 17, 1848

Free to worship as you see fit and free to vote and become a full citizen denied for way too many years.

Our valley has a long history of persecution for it inhabitants that sought to escape and live their lives in peace. That goal finally became a reality with the unification if Italy and the process of healing as Catholics and Protestants found their way to continue to live and work side by side with each other. 

It''s a fascinating history and I have written about it a few times and have links to other sites with various information. So if you are interested I ail post a few links below to previous posts. 

• Valdesians or Waldensens Walking Proud and Free
• Viva la Valdesian Liberazione 2011
• 2010 Valdesian Waldensen Liberation Day
•  "Lâ Calhëtta dë Prâl" a Valdesian Soup
• Waldensen or Valdesian Liberation Day February 17, 2008

Viva La Liberazione! Valdesian (Waldensen) Liberation Day

Today is a special day in our valley. Val Chisone, Val Germansca and Val Pellice are collectively called the Valdesian (Waldensen) valleys. We are part of the province of Torino, but over the years we have been part of the last defense of the Savoy family for keeping the French at bay and as a refuge for the people  called Valdesian (Waldensian), an ancient  religion that broke with the Roman Catholic church and paid dearly for their beliefs. They were persecuted until on this date, February 17, 1948, the Savoy ruler,  King Charles Albert of Sardinia, granted them their freedom. You can read about them on Wikipedia, which has some interesting historical Waldensian reading. I did find there are some mispelled local towns and differences of the history as told here locally, but it really is a wealth of information on this ancient religion that is alive and well here.

Traditional Valdesian Costume

Liberation day is commemorated every year on the evening of the 16 February with bonfires up and down the valleys and a march in traditional costume to join in fellowship including worshiping and eating together, no matter the weather. You can read my previous posts with photos on the celebration here and here. You can find a traditional recipe or"Lâ Calhëtta dë Prâl", a Valdesian Soup in my recipe list and on the live link on the name of the recipe.

Valdesian symbols that you will decorating furniture and doors

 Come and discover the many charms and secrets our valleys have to offer. 

We'll help.

Post Script

I forgot to mention that this is also the start to the celebration of this being the 150th year of Italy being a united country. March 17th, 2011 will be the day we all celebrate together, "l'Unita' d'Italia". Viva l'Italia. 

Valdesian (Waldensen) Liberation Day, February 17

 

This is a special day for our valley, Chisone, Germanasca and Torre Pellice, as it is home to about 70% of all Protestants in all of Italy, and the spiritual home of the first religious groups to break away from the Catholic church and were persecuted for it, for many long years, centuries actually. 

Prepared  Bonfire ready to light

We can hear the beating of the drums from down in the valley, as they prepare to march in traditional costume to meet their neighbors in the next village and  worship together, afterwards they will eat and drink a few celebratory dishes and generally enjoy the day with frineds and family.

Last night there should have been bonfires recreating the proclamation, granting them citizenship, in 1848, to finally be able to vote and practice their religion out in the open without fear of persecution. It was a long time coming.  Our valleys are known as the Valedesian valleys, from being followers of Waldo of Lyons, he is buried in Torre Pellice and  as they are a bit remote and tucked up into a large expanse of mountainous region that is scarely populated. It may seem inhospitable to some, but it is a beautiful part of the alps and has afforded a life to many in a sometimes harsh enviroment, but one where it's easy to feel close to the heavens and yet grounded here to a land that yields a modest living.  It's a day to celebrate and be thankful for what we have and we are grateful. 

I have a couple of other post about this celebration if you would like a bit more information a pictures click here or a traditional recipe of filled cabbage packets in a broth recipe, click here.

A Brief Winter Reprieve, Time to Work on the Ramie Vines

The past few days have been delightfully sunny, although not all of them have been all that warm. Today it was warm enough, although windy, to bring out the assorted bikes, trikes and strollers, to make a noticeable increase in the number of folks that were out and about. We had errands to run that took us down to Pomaretto, the small village that we gaze at every day and provides us with quite the light display, if not a conspicuous consumer of energy for such a small mountain village. It also provided us with a bit of bare ground and a wee bit of green here and there. The view above is looking back to Bella Baita which is on the right side of the mountains in the saddle there are two little white streaks and we are sitting in that one, but to day we were looking back into it.

It was the kind of clear blue sky that just begs to be enjoyed and we needed to wait an hour for the stores to open back up after siesta, so we wandered up the terraced steep hillside admiring the handiwork of some very diligent wall builders though our only small vineyard in this valley. This only produce 800 bottles a year from the very local grapes called ramie. It's not well know outside or our immediate vicinity, but is has a DOC (denominazione di origine controllata), which is a designation for authenticity for the grape used and area that it is grown on. They are a part of our soon to be inaugurated "La Stada delle Vino Pinorolese", wineries.

The vines have been there for over a hundred years and the terracing of the hill side is a work of art. We wandered to the end of the paved road and followed along the footpath admiring the handiwork of those who tend the grapes. There was evidence of new wood poles to replace the old and worn out or broken ones. Each vine had been recently pruned and freshly applied willow trusses to keep them in place for the coming season.

We came around the corner and there were the workers whose handiwork we had been admiring. They were now enjoying the sun, trying to stay out of the winds cruel ways and having a laugh. The ladies wouldn't hear of having their photos taken as most women always protest, so while Fabrizio chatted away with them in dialect, a slightly different version from the one spoken on our side of the river, I snapped a couple of photos surreptitiously. Pomaretto is on the Valdesian side of our valley, (ie Protestant versus Catholic) where the flavor of the language is more French than the local Piemontese. It's all pretty tough for me to follow. They will be celebrating their liberation day next week. I hope to attend some of the festivities and have a fresh report. In the meantime the vines were tended and the day enjoyed as the cycle of the grape and wine continues on even during the winter, all under an alpine sky.

A info poster in the Frossaco "Museo del Gusto"

"Lâ Calhëtta dë Prâl" a Valdesian Soup

Back to the Valdesians and eventually a soup recipe.
Our valleys have been referred to as the Waldensen valleys because at one point 97% of all Protestants of Italy ( they say it's about 70% now) resided in Pellice, Germansca and Chisone valleys with Val Pellice being the home of the governing body of the church and site of their university for many years before moving to Rome. The Chisone valley was divided by the river, with Protestants on one side which leads into the Germansca valley and Catholics on the other side of the valley and never the twain shall meet. Fortunately, time heals all wounds(at least so they say) and there really is peace in the valley today. Michelle of "Bleeding Espresso" left me a message about a village down in Calabria named "Guardia Piemontese" which is part of the same Protestant movement of the 12th century. Valdese, North Carolina, USA was founded in 1893, by a group of 11 Valdesian families who emigrated from the foothills here in the Cottian Alps to settle in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, when this area could no longer support the growing numbers of people. Historic Valdese, NC, has built upon their rich heritage and offer not only a wide variety of activities the have painstakingly reconstructed 15 buildings from Val Pellice in what they call "trail of Faith"
Others emigrated throughout Europe, South America, and other parts of the United States. We, in fact, hosted guests here at our Bella Baita Inn, this summer from Utah who were in quest of their family roots. They stayed with us during their exploration of the town of San Germano where Ronda Bonous's family had originated. San Germano is just a couple of villages down the valley from us and Fabrizio was able to facilitate them meeting with the mayor of San Germano and subsequently they met many helpful people in their quest for ancestry discovery. It was a fun adventure for everyone involved and lots of phone calls, translation, and running around the hills trying to locate towns, house, graveyards and distant cousins. We had fascinating daily updates of their progress. One other fun fact, was that Ronda's Uncle Junior Bonous, who had visited here years before is a world class skier and ski instructor. He was also an Olympic torch bearer for the Salt Lake City Olympics. They brought a fantastic DVD showcasing his skiing accomplishments and donated it to San Germano's Ski museum.

It was an interesting connection, since, we had the 2006 Winter Olympics here in our valley, of course. This past week we received a visit from the cousin of San Germano's mayor, who very kindly brought us a copy of a pictorial book of the Bonous-Crockett, summertime adventures in search of Ronda's heritage here and about the Waldensen history. What a delightful surprise. They certainly put a lot of effort into it and thoughtfully sent us a copy. I think they distributed a number of copies to their family and friends and very kindly recommended staying with us. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Ronda and Charles. We have so many interesting guests leading intriguing lives, that I could tell some tales, but I refrain form writing about our guests as I want to consider their privacy and would not mean to offend any one by admission or omission. I do think the Crocketts are happy for me to share their story and proud of their Waldensen/Valdesian heritage from Val Chisone.

The painted stones in the photo above are Valdesian women in traditional costume painted by a local Valdesian painter, Loredana Micol. Her depictions of village life and local costumes are charming and capture some of the local flavor.

Lâ Calhëtta dë Prâl recipe, (Patois dialect, which is different from Piemontese) is from a local collection of valley specialties. A flavorful broth with cabbage bundles, uses all the things you would find mid winter in your kitchen cupboard, sausage, farmers cheese, and savoy cabbage, ingredients most farmers would have put up for the winter. Add some crumbled grissini bread sticks, a Torino original creation, and found on most tables in this area and you have the makings of a simple filling meal. Perhaps many years ago they used hard bread instead of grissini, but I like the texture the grissini gives. The savoy cabbage is out of my little garden patch that is still under snow in spite of spring like weather, and always occupies a row in the family garden all winter for us and the chickens to make sure we have something green on the table.

Lâ Calhëtta dë Prâl

• 250 g grissini or other type of dry hard bread stick

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 75 g grated Toma, (staginata, aged) cheese (Parmesan or some other type of firm cheese)

• 1/2 - 1 cooked sausage, a mild and flavorful Italian style sausage

• Medium large Savoy cabbage or Swiss chard leaves, remove the hard stem, cutting up into the green leaving a v when removed.

• Good quality chicken or beef broth

• Makes about 8- 10 bundles depending on the size of leaves and amount of filling used.

Crumble the bread sticks, I did it by hand with a bit of pounding as I wanted some texture Add the crumbled cooked sausage. Then the beaten egg and mix thoroughly. Add a small amount of stock to moisten. Mix in the grated cheese. Let set for a while so the liquid absorbs and the bread sticks soften. Take several tablespoons of filling and squeeze into a oval. Place the filling towards the v at the bottom of the cabbage or chard leaf. Fold bottom up and roll slightly, fold both outer edges in and continue rolling up till it is a compact bundle. If you have some flexible long leek pieces, use them to tie up the bundle, otherwise use lengths of string. Simmer in your broth for about 1/2 hour. Serve with a grating or two of Parmesan on top. 
"*Encore Performance" I had several bundles left over and not enough broth. I removed the string and placed a bundle in a pounded flat turkey breast and rolled them up together. Secure with a toothpick this time. Lightly flour and saute the rolls in olive oil, onion, garlic and finish it off with white wine Simmer till the meat is cooked through and cook till the sauce reduces down and thickens. It doesn't take too long as your filling is already cooked. Serve whole or remove toothpick, slice into decorative rounds or halves. It was a wonderful "encore" performance. *Fun name for leftovers*

Waldensen or Valdesian Liberation Day February 17

The weather is foggy and damp and very fresh, as I've learned to say in these parts of the world. Not quite winter with the hope of spring dashed at the moment. My in-laws took one look at the black ice on the road and decided there were plenty of other things of interest to do around the house than negotiate all of our icy switch backs this morning. It might not be so lovely weather wise this morning, but it's a glorious day for celebration for a large portion of our Chisone, Germansca and neighboring Pellice valleys. It's the day that in 1848, the royal Savoy family issued the "Lettere Patenti", that finally guaranteed freedom of action and civil rights to Waldensens.
Who are the Waldensens and why they were they finally being granted basic human rights you might ask?

Our valleys are know as the Valdasian (Waldensen) because this is where Pietro Valdo(Peter Valdo)eventually came to reside along with his followers after being expelled from the Lyon area for his "heretical" views of the Roman Catholic church in 1177. The early protestant movement grew spreading throughout southern France and Northern Italy and beyond into Bohemia in spite of the Inquisition and being pushed further into hiding for their beliefs. These valleys were the stronghold of these resilient and resourceful people sometimes worshiping in caves such as Angrongna cave in Val Pellice to be able to sing hymns and worship together. For this they paid a high price in persecution. So when the decree for independence came they lit bonfires on the eve of 16 February in each of their villages up and down the valley to communicate that the long awaited liberation was at hand. Free to worship openly as they saw fit. Every February 16th the bonfires are lit once again, up and down our valleys with a display of fireworks to commemorate this momentous day. February 17th then finds the different congregations dressed in traditional costume of their village march with the local marching band to meet their neighbors and worship together that day. There are a variety of the carnival type pastries and cakes to share and much socializing whilst enjoying the sweetness of freedom to be had on this day. It's day to reflect on all that we so often take for granted. Even if the weather doesn't cooperate, the spirit still soars. The indulgence of sharing with your neighbors the simple pleasure of food and drink, out in the open, together in the center of your hometown. It's a pleasure worth commemorating every year no matter what the weather may do.

Tomorrow, I have a Valdesian dish to share with you. I think you'll find it a comforting treat.

It's been far from quiet

View from Lago Laux

Summer is in full swing after much weird weather that not only have I been commenting on but seems like everyone else has been too. It also seems like it is not just only here but most of Europe is having very extreme weather. The weather seems to be a bit more settled and we're now having some hot and sunny days at the moment. Time is wasting, so let's get out an see a few things around our Italian alps here in Val Chisone.
We've had a wide assortment of guests lately doing quite a variety of interesting things in addition to the high level walking and flower spotting going on. We've had guests who have come here to find their roots and distant relatives in the small historic Valdesain (Waldensen) village of San Germano just down the road. With Fabrizio knowing everyone in the valley, they got to explore and share their family's history with us and a lot of interested local folks. It made for some interesting conversations and discoveries about our neighborhood.

Charming Usseaux  street. 

Usseaux Doorway

Historical pagaent  at the Fenetrelle Fortress 

We also got to spend some time with James Martin of Europe for Visitors and Martha Bakerjian of Italy for Visitors, both sites part of the very informative About.com site, showing them around our neck of Piemonte and enjoying what we usually send everyone else off to do. We missed Fenestrelle Fortress Battle Reenactment by a week, but it is always still an impressive site to stop and have a look at, even if you don't do the almost 4,000 steps to the top.I've come across the About.com web site a number of ways when searching for a variety of information. If you're not familiar with it I highly recommend it as it is a wealth of information on a very broad range of subjects, recipes of many cuisines, travel sites for just about anywhere in the world, computer and web help and tutorials, just to name a very few of the extensive resources available there. I "met " James when I commented on one of his blogs leading up to the Olympics and then discovered his Europe for Visitors site which has a lot of useful information later. Since I knew he had covered the 2006 Winter Olympics from Torino, I invited him to visit our Olympic valleys during the summer to see what else we have to offer.
Much to my delight, I got to meet these very knowledgeable travel writers when they stayed with us last week and did a bit of exploring here in our undiscovered alps. James very kindly added us to his recommended list of accommodation in Italy, (thank you very much) and Martha wrote about the Piemonte region and our wonderful cuisine and wine. We enjoyed their visit and we always enjoy visiting around in our valley and visiting a number of other things that I couldn't cram into one article again, so it'll have to wait for another time.
But in closing, I just have to share this invaluable tip that James gave me about pushing more traffic on to my site. The photo below from the village of Usseaux, known for it's traditional murals painted and scattered through out this tiny traditional village presented itself as an excellent opportunity for me to to add it to my blog and label it as it reads below. You can only imagine there will be loads of people searching for " Naked Man and Woman."
Thank you James and Martha. We hope to see you up our way again sometime soon.

Naked Man and Woman Mural in Usseaux