Meet Guido Ronchail, Sculptor and Ghironda Maker of Pragelato

The Maestro and one of his Ghironda

One of the wonderful things about being married to a local mountain guy, and there are too many wonderful things to mention, but one of his many charms is that he speaks the local Piemontese dialect, which is a calling card for acceptance rather than suspicion. It is a very useful gift when we are seeking out the not so well known and sometimes inaccessible gems that there are to discover in Val Chisone and Germansca or the greater Piedmont region. Fabrizio, my husband, not only knows most of the valley, he has a way of getting most people to open the door and their life to us with just a bit of chat and genuine interest. It is a wonderful quality that I admire and benefit from in so many ways. Recently we went up to Pragelato in search of S.gr Guido Ronchail, a man of many talents who also is a bee keeper, sculptor, and maker of the Ghironda, also known as a hurdy gurdy, which is a medieval folk instrument, popular in traditional Occitan music.

Wooden Sculptures in his garden in  Pragelto

Our valleys are part of, if only just, the outer most border of the historical Occitania region. We were once part of France, and even longer were we part of the Savoy kingdom, but now firmly Italy. Mr. Ronchail has lovingly restored and enhanced his traditional old home with his wood working and masonry skills along with many artistic flourishes, as well as adding a gallery for his collection of mainly stringed instruments with the Ghironda, prominently featured. 

Stone gate leading to his garden and musical instrument gallery

 We dropped in one day following up on an invitation from him when we ran into him at one of Pragelato's Tinber art gallery's opening, which had featured some of his work, along with fellow sculptor Carlo Piffer of Sestriere. 

What a delightful day we enjoyed as we chatted about his work and admired his workshop that had accomplished many projects and had so many more in various states of progress. It was a clutter workshop that he apologized profusely for it's state of disarray, but I found comfortable and fascinating as I surveyed the tidy stacks of home made tin can drawers and pieces of musical instruments strewn about. His canine companions bed tucked up in the corner and his trilling orange feathered canary were part of the charm of this well used and loved work area where he spends endless hours tinkering about on his various projects.

Various parts of instuments

Beautiful canary songs to work by

Tools of the trade

Several clock projects

Drawers made from old anchovy cans

After a bit when the stories were flowing, he pulled out a bottle of slightly sparkling local red wine and we quenched our thirsts before moving on to take in his wonderful collection of Ghironda and various other stringed musical instruments, hung whimsically from the ceiling or scattered about the spacious room. It is a delightful collection of various ages and types from different parts of Europe.

Three Ghironde

Ghironde with Appalacian dulcimers on wall and various clarinets 

He also had a mountain dulcimer whose home harkens from Appalachia in eastern America, an instrument with whom I am very familiar. It is not a proper museum per se, but he is happy to share it if we want to bring small groups to visit on one of our small tours. I am sure we will, especially as his son and daughter in law have built a small artisanal dairy shop where they make a wonderful aged Toma cheese, not unlike nearby Cuneo's Castelmagno cheese, from their 5 cows. It's a delightful cheese made by a delightful family. 

Guido's sculptures and artisan cheese shop

Where they store their cheese

The proof is in the tasting

And if all of this hasn't convinced you to get off the beaten path with us then there is always the Ghironda festival in August for some Occitan dancing. We arrange small tours that covers a wide range of interests, mainly about food and drink, although the culinary aspect is an important part of  experiencing a place, immersing yourself in the cultural parts of is interesting and of course, fun. 

We are happy to organize a variety of experinces for you depending on your interests and the time of year, through our T.E.M. association for promotion of our valley. If we have a group of 6-8 we can tailor a holiday or short break for you with our full attention, for groups less than 6 we have to consider the demands of running our B&B and balance it all out. Write us for more information, Info@bellabaita.com and have a look at out web site, Bella Baita Italian Alps Retreat. We'll be waiting for you.

Occitan Dancing at Usseaux Festa

Playing the Ghironda and fishamonica

This time of the year we are starting to have the local sagre and feste for everything under the sun that is harvested or gathered in the woods. We have the Porcino, the polenta, chestnut, truffle, potato, honey, apples, and, and, well, you get the idea. However it is just starting to get into gear and I still have one fun summer festival that I didn't quite get posted before we officially went to autumn harvest festivals, so I'm putting it in here to tantalize.

All join in

All of you that enjoy folk music and dancing do put it in your diary to make plans to join us next August for a bit of dancing in the high alps of Val Chisone.

Town ovens and wash basins looking up towards Ossiera Park

This particular village festival of Usseaux, that we found ourselves kicking our heels up and joining in on a bit of two stepping and twirling around the village piazza, is in upper Chisone valley, just up the road from us.  I've written about Usseaux on more than one occassion as it is one of my all time favorite villages. You can read those posts here and here. Chisone valley has a rich and varied history being known as one of the Valdesian or Waldensen valleys, where the first Protestants, long before the reformation,  ended up in to avoid persecution back in the 11th century. These valleys were then part of France and the Savoy kingdom, and later became known as part of Italy's alps. They were, and still are, the western most edge of what was known as Occitania. Most people, if they are familiar with Occitania, think of it as a language particular to France, but it seems that it is a dialect of Catalonia. There are so many dialects in this area, that it is hard to keep up, especially as I struggle along in my grasp of Italian. Fabrizio, who also speaks French, understands Occitan, but doesn't speak it, although there are people here who do. Our friend Enrico Bernard, of "Bernard Elixirs" , who lives across the Chisone river from us and whose family are Valdesian, speaks a Patois dialect in their family and also speaks Occitan. See what I mean about a lot of dialects going on? Sheesh!  Mountain people seems to have a strong affinity with the essence of Occitan  and it's history. It seems to represent a sort of special designation of pride, independence and fierce individualism that strikes a cord with many people and very much so with the mountain dwellers.  

Occitan flag with Usseaux' cow bell awards collection displayed in the town library.

We took a friend along with us that was keen to check out the festivities. We did our favorite Usseaux tour, that commences with a stroll around the utterly charming hamlet. Tiny though Usseaux may be, a meander  though the village over  the well maintained gray stone streets, will be rewarding indeed whilst taking in  the various hand painted murals and vertical meridians that decorate the mostly all restored buildings. The large slate roofs are extremely impressive espcially when you consider the cost of restoring them, let alone the fact that if you are restoring an exisiting roof and trying to match or patch, the stones must be hand cut to fit in place. We observed on older artisan plying his craft one day as he worked to replace part of the roof on the local church. Hard work indeed. The mural painting is an old tradition that has only more recently been revived though out our valleys. You get a sense of Usseaux's former prominence in the valley before most people drifted away due to the myriad of reasons small towns shrink and sometimes disappear. This years celebration honored the local mayor that has made it her legacy to see Usseaux bulidings restored and not left to completely decay. The windows are filled with overflowing flower boxes, that compliments the prolific murals scattered through out the village walls.

We also made sure to have a snack on the sunny patio of the traditional trattoria "La Placette" that has been serving up polenta with wild game stews in addition to an excelent selection of the hearty local cheeses and tempting creamy desserts, just to name a few of their offerings, for the past 30 years. Mountain air brings on a hunger and thirst that will be readily satisfied by this family's friendly care.

And of course we had to have a nosey into the local cheese shop that if you aren't persistent, you might just miss if you don't ring their doorbell. This lovely old cantina, which was a barn in previous lifetimes, stores and doubles as a selling point for the family's hand crafted cheeses, in which Toma and Plaisintif are the main stars.

Hmm,  choices, choices.

Then on to the music and dancing. The music was provided by two musicians who with 4 other musicians make up the group, Airondassa, but for this day they brought their fisharmonica, ghironda and oboe and kept us breathless for a few hours. I love this kind of dancing because all can join in even if you don't know all the steps and there is always some willing to help you twirl around the dance floor. It was such fun. I captured a small bit of their traditional Occitan music and will leave you with a small taste of the fun. But don't just take my word for it. Come and join in the fun sometime. We'll help you find your way.

Finding "La Dolce Vita" along with an Artichoke filled Foccacia

This time next week Fabrizio and I will be in London's Olympia Hall finding "La Dolce Vita".
No, I'm not talking about Maryann's wonderful blog by the same name, I'm talking about the London's 5th annual "most influential Italian lifestyle event" . There will be cooking schools, travel, property, food and wine, just to name a few of the attractions. We are going with our friend Enrico Bernard to help him hawk his superb elixirs, that feature the mountain flowers and herbs from here in Val Chisone and Germansca. You will find us in the Market area at stall M4. We'll be singing the praises about why you need to come and visit us here and try the famous and somewhat mythical "Genepy". We will, of course, have plenty of Barathier, Genepy and Serpoul on hand to sample, in hopes of enticing you to take some home. Fabrizio and I will of course be trying to entice you to bring yourselves over the pond to our "Bella Baita Italian Alps Retreat" for some mountain therapy.
Untill then why not make yourself a fresh artichoke filled focaccia and sit back, put your feet up and watch the original "la Dolce Vita' or perhaps "Il Postino" or some other such Italian movie.

Artichoke Focaccia

2 fresh artichokes, cleaned and sliced thinly
I cut up from the base to the tips of the leaves, discarding tough leaves as needed.
1/2 red or yellow onion
1 garlic clove minced
mixed dried herbs, I like oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage
Olive oil
white wine to deglaze pan
Optional
Fresh mozzarella
small tart tomatoes, Camarone and Costoluto, are coming in here from Sardinia and Sicily at the moment.
2 large focaccia squares, I made my own, but of course you can purchase them easily enough.
If you're looking for a focaccia recipe there are plenty of them out there. I don't always use a recipe and just wing it. I had topped this with black pepper and rosemary.

Saute your onion, garlic and artichoke slices in a small amount of oil for a few minutes till onion softens. Add the herbs, stir and cook a little more. You can deglaze your pan with a little white wine if you like. After it evaporates, add enough water to cover and cook the mixture covered till the artichokes are cooked all the way through, 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings with a bit of salt and pepper.
I only had a small piece of mozzarella so I chopped it into pieces and sprinkled it over the mix, just long enough for it to melt.
Slice your squares down the middle. I cut mine just big enough to fit in my toaster and lightly toasted them before piling the artichoke mix on one half. I didn't have any at the time, but some tart little tomatoes would add another depth to the yumminess..

More Tales about Slow Food /Terre Madre

As I was searching for a Terre Madre link I found a web site from University of Maine "Enviromental Sustainability Project"They had delegates go to Terre Madre in Torino and filed a lovely story about their "farm stay"
while they were attending the conference. It's a great story and for me exemplifies what the whole experience is about in the words of an attendee/delegate.
They also did a fine job describing Terre Madre and it's aspirations and how it fit into their vision. I am quoting their statement about how they view the Terre Madre endeavor.
"Terre Madre was the first meeting of "world food communities". The idea of Carlo Petrini and others at Slow Food was to bring together food communities producers, artisans, distributors and retailers of high quality sustainable produced food ... people working together with the goal of trying to create sustainable food systems. Over 5000 farmers from 131 different nations came together to discuss the benefits of local food systems. The overriding message of the meeting was that small sustainable organic farms provide quality food, keep the money in the local community, and maintain the landscape, all key goals of the Environmental Sustainability Project." For me another memorable quote was from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame and pioneer in her Edible Schoolyard Project. Speaking about her efforts to bring about a similar project to Italy's Salon del Gusto in the US and calling it "Slow Food Nation"(obviously as a counterpart to "Fast Food Nation"), she said (and I'm paraphrasing) that we need to get the message out that "Slow Food" is not a exclusive high end dinner club, but a viewpoint and lifestyle about sustainabilty thru how and what we eat, purchase and live our life.
The 300 Presidia products on hand for the show are defended and promoted by the Slow Food Foundation's "Ark of Taste" commited to preserving biodiversity. These were some of the most fascinating products I've seen.

"The mission of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity is to organize and fund projects that defend our world’s heritage of agricultural biodiversity and gastronomic traditions.

We envision a new agricultural system that respects local cultural identities, the earth’s resources, sustainable animal husbandry, and the health of individual consumers."

Ruby red aubergine the size of tomatoes and Seras cheese born in and still made in the Torre Pellice valley next to ours ,that is distinctive for is natural wrapping of grass, just to name a couple. The colorful peppers of Carmagnola just out on the plains from us that we so enjoy all winter in our brightly colored bottles of agrodolci pepperoni and the highly aromatic pepperonata that is so dear to Fabrizio's mothers heart!

More "Slow Food" Pictures

Terre Madre

The Slow Food movement has grown over the years and shifted its focus more and more to an international stage, moving in several different directions trying to bring about a paradigm shift in the way we live. They have established a university to further the educational opportunities to encompass many of the slow food princlples, preserving and ecouraging food diversity and heritage foods on a global scale. Terre Madre was born out of a desire to facilatate bringing far flung people and food communities together to work towards a connectedness thru common goals of preserving superior quality foods and sensible economic growth thru systems that are sustainable for the planet and its inhabitants. This second edition brought together approximately 5, 000 people from around the world to share their ideas and connection to strengthen the network of food communitites. Many guests from remote corners of the world were sponsered to make this trip to participate and share their native products and methods. It was a bazaar of colorful foods and peoples from all over the globe. A feast for all the senses. There were representatives from 5 continents in festive native costumes and fascinating traditional foods from their homelands. Latin America was represented with colorful potatos and tubers sliced into very tasty crispy chips. I particularly enjoyed the Yak cheese from Tibet made by the monks. It was flavorful with great texture and aroma. Another personal favorite of mine is the vanilla from Madagascar. Aromatically tantalizing, what pastry enthusiast can be without it?
Many of the groups brought handicrafts to display and sell. It was really almost overwhelming to take it all in, but I didn't mind trying. Continuing on to the Presidiums area, it was fascinating to see all the foods that Slow food is trying to help defend and preserve their place in the world market place. Many foods were familiar but there were quite a few that I had never seen or heard of before. I loved these samll brilliant red aubergine/eggplants the size of a medium tomato. I've never seen anything like it. It was a food lovers dream to wander about sampling and chatting about so many diverse foods all in one place. What can I say, you might want to try and make a trip to the edition in 2008. And of course, you might even want to stay with us at Bella Baita Mountain Retreat up in the mountains outside of Torino for a bit of diversity as well. Oh well time to contemplate that for another 2 years.....

Slow Food's "Salon del Gusto" Has Come and Conquered until 2008

And a good time was had by all!

Well..., that is after you actually got into the Slow Food Salon and the fun began. I would say it was well organized considering the enormity of the event and sheer numbers of presenters, vendors, producers and the scores of attendees. There were a few things they could improve on. It was a mass throng at the entrance with cash and card users mixed together, slowing down the process to a painful crawl. Major mistake to remember for the next edition,
Buy your tickets before hand,
on line, and don't wait in line to get in!

Then, of course, there were the masses of people. I found it difficult to get many shots of the products and such for the crowded booths. I also found it difficult to actually get to really check out the products as I found that I wanted to explore it all and that was a daunting task. Insight for next time. Perhaps skip the lunchtime afternoon crowds in favor of the late afternoon and evening lull. Or, take a couple of days to try and absorb it all. I found I was just trying to get my head around all the categories and what they all were actually trying to accomplish as well as elbow my way through. And this is from me that has been hovering around and checking out Slow Food for a number of years.

Our friends the Bernard family, had their family's mountain elixirs on display and sale again this year and seemed to be a rousing success. They took home another Maestro Del Gusto (Master of Taste) award this year. We have been trying to not only help them push up their exposure from loyal genepy consumers from our guests, but have been trying to find a distributor/exporter for their sending their products abroad, so that some of their already loyal consumers can receive it more easily. The Bernard family have been producing liquors/elixirs and infusions for over 100 years in a historical valley where there isn't a lot of work. The small business not only supports their family, but they employs local mountian people to caretake and raise many of the herbs and flowers, bringing in much needed money to the high valleys and helps to preserve the land and mountain culture.

We stopped by with my nephew and neice to sample the wares as they took a break from the Terre Madre symposium. Jeremy is a professioanal baker from Vermont and we were both struck by the lack of representation of bread at this massive event. Bread is such a fact of life as in the staff of life for Italians at any meal that I was quite taken aback by the lack of bread. Perhaps artisan bread is such a phenomena in America because it holds a different place in the meal. Pride of place in an American meal features warm bread usually as a filler until the meal comes. Whereas in Italy bread is a plate cleaner and imprtant, but different viewpoint, perhaps.
There were no shortages of cookies and tortes, or Italian specialties like chocolate and Torrone. So I found myself satisfied to explore those avenues.
I especially liked the hazelnut honey and butter.
It was great to see pasta being made and the enormous squash transformed into sculptured art. I, of course, took way too many cheese photos and the obligatory mushrooms as well. The tower of porcini in the picture are from a small factory in the Cuneo province a few valleys over. All the mushrooms are wild and hand picked. We are going to go over and have a look at their production some time as they were so friendly and proud of their operation and I am a lover of all things mushroom as well. The white and black truffles were from Alba, world known for it's truffle festival and auction.

Slow Food Rapidly Approaching

Every other year in the autumn, an extravaganza of food, drink, ideas and discussions representing all continents and walks of life, explodes in Torino and the celebration of real food and food communities make merry for a few days.
This year my nephew and wife are arriving to visit with us before they continue on to Torino to participate in the gathering of Terre Madre. Jeremy, a par excellence bread baker, will be representing his group of fellow artisan bakers of Vermont and Sally will participate representing their organic farming venture.


I know it's going to be a hectic week and I will have much to share later, so I thought I would feature a few pictures from Pinerolo market where the fresh food and home grown products still adhere to the old local traditions. So I thought I would just feature some pictures from one of my favorite days of the week, market day. The cheese makers and small venders all have some very interesting stories that I will save for another day. Until Slow Food and Terre Madre stories begin, feel free to savor the colors and flavor of this Italian market.

Pinerolo's "Maschera di Ferro" Festa

This time of year there are so many Festas and Sagras that it's alway hard to keep up. I always have big plans to write up many of the activities so that it will whet your appetite to visit during one, but alas reality sets in and I find myself enjoying the time spent with our guests and the festa has flown right by. The Maschera di Ferro is one such event. My London friend Debbie had come for a week, so we stayed busy seeing and doing as much as we could. We did a short tour of Torino and up the Mole Antonelliana for a view of old Torino and the Alps in the distance, but they were obscured by the haze of the humidity, but the views of the city were grand. Then there is the over 1,000 year old edition of Pinerolo's twice weekly market, that is large, bustling and noisy. I always enjoy having a nosey around. Then on to Staffarda Abbey on the way to Manta Castle by way of Saluzzo and back to Pinerolo for the evening's festivites. The picture at the left is by local "L'eco del Chisone" staff photographer, Dario Constantino.

The evening didn't disappoint.
The local legend goes that the Man in the Iron Mask was kept here in the Pinerolo(Pignerol) prison for 11 years before being transfered to other fortresses until ending up at the Bastille where he remained until his death. He was imprisoned for around 30 years or so and his identity never completely verified althought there have been many theories, speculation, and even a few movies. Pinerolo's weekend long festival usually features a local celebrity as the mysterious man whose identity is revealed at the close of the festivites. Last year the mysterious man was Pier Gros, neighboring Susa valley's own Olympian and World Cup Downhill champion. This evening festivites featured quite a bit of parading of the drum and flag corps with nobility and contadini in full costume as it does through out the entire weekend. Street performers entertained at all the different piazzas and the mysterious prisoner paced in his cell with the monsignor in attendance. The center of town had the main entertainment with fire twirlers and eaters with various dance troupes set against a backdrop of the Duomo with full moon, that cast a magical spell over all. I truly felt I had stepped back in time and enjoyed a magical medieval evening.
It seems to me in America whenever there are reenactments of days gone by, no matter the authenticity of costume, there is still always a feeling of contemporary life lurking around. Here in Europe, when you are in old villages and towns, which date back hundreds of years and more, there is an authenticity that really gives me the chills. This night I truly felt transported.

Everyday is (World) Bread Day at our house

What can I say, but sometimes I think Fabrizio loves me for my bread baking ability if nothing else, so great is his passion for bread. I love making bread, always have, but I became an infrequent baker of bread when my life took a change and I found myself living abroad and without easy access to cooking facilities for a while. So when I met Fabrizio I was taken aback by how much bread this man could eat! It didn't take me long to rise to the challenge and so I now find myself baking loaves, rolls and focaccia frequently to keep up with the needs of not only our small B&B but the larger demand of my slight Italian man. He's so appreciative too. Rather nice to have such a greedy eater.
Warms my soul.
Anyway, Ted and Marie from Florida were back with us last night for dinner and Marie kindly took some pictures of our dinner. I thought they would be nice as an accompaniment for World Bread Day.