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.

Itty Bitty Almond Amaretto Cookies

Yesterday was Ferragosto here in Italy and if you aren't familiar with that particular holiday, just let me tell you, it is a " the end is nigh" kind of summer holiday that Italians celebrate in some form or fashion without fail. Most picnic or go to the seaside, get together with friends and bar-b-que, or head for the mountains only to find yourself stuck in the traffic with everyone else heading off to do something for this day. Some of our guests had that experience as they trundled off to the higher mountains to walk high up with the wildflowers and others gave up and pulled off to visit with us as they couldn't bear the tedium of being stuck in the traffic. Fortunately I hade some hazelnut cake left over from the night before to offer with coffee, but I worried that if we had many more visitors dropping in due to the holiday, I just might find myself with out something tasty to offer. Horrors of horrors. Just not comfortable for me as a baker, not to have a little something baked up to tempt and delight or just take the edge off around the edges of one's ferragosto holiday traffic jam. so what to make in a short amount of time? Why, itty bitty almond cookies that fit on an espresso cup's saucer, of course. This is such a simple recipe that you will be wondering why you haven't run across it before and what other combinations might work well. I must admit that my hazelnut and hazelnut liquor combo is my favorite, as I am a fool for hazelnuts, but the almond ones are a close second. I had something like these served to me one day on the side of my Cafe Macchiato served up in the cosy coffee nook in Volare, my favorite bookstore in Pinerolo. I immediately went home and started working on reproducing that treat and have been making variations ever since. Give it a go, as I think you'll find it's a fast and tasty treat along side any cup of coffee or tea and stays perfectly fresh for quite a while. I dare say they probably won't last long enough for you to find out exactly how long before they go stale.
Anyway, try this out, stash the cooled cookies in a tin for when you need a little pick me up to go with your afternoon "cup of pick me up". You'll be glad you did.

Itty Bitty Almond Amaretto Cookies 

Yields about 80 mini cookies

115g (1/2c) butter, room temp

100g (½ c) sugar, raw cane is my preferred sugar
1 egg

2 T amaretto 

140g (1c) all purpose flour
100g (1c) almond, lightly toasted and chopped into small pieces

Toast your almonds in the oven on a sheet pan until lightly toasted or in a heavy cast iron type pan shaking occasionally until they are evenly toasted.

Chop into pieces when cooled down

Place your butter in a medium mixing bowl and whisk together with the sugar until smooth and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix till smooth and then the amaretto and mix thoroughly.

Mix in your flour and then almonds making sure all is incorporated.

Drop the mixture by using two teaspoons.

I did rows of 5 across and 6 down or about 30 cookies per sheet tray.

Bake at 180*C/ 325*F for about 8 minutes or till lightly brown. 

Cool thoroughly before storing in an airtight container.

Avigliana Lake and Sacra di San Michele

The summer is flying by and we have been in the thick of it with lots of visitors, a wedding and so many activities that I can barely keep up. So I think I will share some photos of one of our recent outings with friends. I always say that you will run out of time before you run out of things to do in our area. I hope I don't run out of summer before I get to my favorites again. There are plenty of summer festivals in every little town and we start the count down in the valley until the 15th of August when everyone celebrates it being summer. According to my husband and other family members, summer is all over after that. So I think I'll share some of the things to do when you are in our part of Piedmont and the alps.

Laghi Avigliana e la Sacra di San Michele

View of Lake Avigliana from Chalet del Lago Restaurant

Off we traipsed to lake Avigliana the other day in search of lunch and a wander around the imposing Sacra San Michele over in our sister valey of Susa that runs more or less parallel to us over the mountains behind our house and is another part of our great Torino province. Sacra San Michele is one of Torino's Provincial symbols along with our own Chisone valley's Fenestrelle Fortress.  This will be part of my series of what to see and do with in an hour to hour and one half away from our door step. This day trip takes a little over an hour to get to from the shortcut that skirts around the base of our mountains landing us by the two natural lakes that lie next to Avigliana and at the foot of Sacra San Michele. It's a pleasant enough drive with a lovely destination for a sunny summers day. We didn't actually go into the town of Avigliana on this day, as we had a long breakfast and slow start to the day, but that just meant that were there just in time to have lunch at the oh so atmospheric Chalet del Lago.
The restaurant is on the way up towards the monastery and has an idyllic location to enjoy the lake view.     W have been here before for a drink and a look round, but never for lunch before. I must say, we had no idea what we were missing. The food was delicious and well presented. They serve pizza at night from their wood fired oven as well and it looks like a great place to dance the night away in their nightclub under the stars by the waters edge.  I can only imagine that it sees a fair amount of business after dinner on these warm summer nights.

Avigliana

Oh yes, back to our lunch. They had a seafood heavy menu, which always gives me a little pause as we are about 3 hours from the seaside and mountain fare tends to be a bit different, but my fears were soon allayed when the dishes started appearing. The fish and seafood was exceptionally fresh and so tasty, as was the quality proscuitto crudo that was classically paired with melon, one of our perennial favorites. Here are a few shots of some of our luncheon plates that were shared around the table.

Melone e proscuitto crudo

Mixed vegetable platter

Giant scallops

Mussels in a rich red sauce

Grilled swordfish with mixed seafood and veggie topping

Grilled seas bass

Potatoes and octopus

Grilled steak with rucola and tomatoes

Pink grapefruit slushy for the finish

Well, I do think we were fortified enough to make it through our afternoon visit to Sacra San Michele. Everything was light and satisfying enough that no nap was necessary. We carried on to the imposing monastery that hangs way up on the hill. You can find other photos of this building from some of my other posts about this site, here and here, as well as having a look at their web site here. It is something that is impressive and not to be missed, but then I might say the same thing about the Chalet del Lago as well. A great day out with friends indeed.

Sacra di San Michele

Carved columns

There are a lot of steps

Lots of great views

Impressive and not to be missed

Gelato and Sorbetto all summer long

As the height of the fruit season is reaching its zenith, there's only one thing to do!

Make Gelato!

And so we have been,..... repeatedly.  What's not to love about sorbets and gelato. We just made some plum gelato from a box of local ramsen Plums that we were given at the market, since one lady had more than she knew what to do with. Our family gelato machine is being put through it's paces. 

It's a great way to use up a lot of fruit when you have it as well as top it for the full fruit immersion. 

Even if you have just a small ice cream maker it's time to break it out and enjoy summer at her finest.

I've got a couple of busy weeks coming up with guests and the Tour du France coming through next week, so I hope I can find a few minutes to share some photos before getting back to some recipes. In the meantime, enjoy some fresh fruit sorbet and let the good times roll!

Not a Baaad job!

On our day out up in Val Germansca not too long ago, we stopped by to visit some organic cheese producers whose cheese we had reveled in and were delighted to find they were so very local. The sheep cheese that we had was smooth and tasty with just enough of a bite to make it memorable and worth seeking out.

I find it comforting that Italy still clings to the old ways of lovingly looking after their farm animals and producing  traditional foods with integrity and flavor that only small production can produce. It helps that the sheep, goats and cows spend their summer high up in the alps, with their farmer or shepherd grazing on alpine grass and wildflowers that imparts a unique flavor and character to alpeggio, (pasture)  cheese.

As the snow recedes from the peaks of the entire stretch of Europe's alps, farmers take their animals up to feed on natures gift of grass and spend the summer away from home giving new meaning to the saying "when the cows come  home". It's a time honored tradition here too that seems to be gaining popularity again as people turn to the former old ways in an attempt to create work and a livelihood in these uncertain times.  

I have worked throughout the alps in not only Italy, but also Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland and there is nothing quite like coming across a herd of sheep or cows with the tinkling bells letting the shepherd know where his herd has wandered off to and then finding where they are making the cheese or serving it for a welcome treat of fresh made cheese. I have enjoyed this experience on many occasions and it never fails to impress me. The setting, the animals, the life of the shepherd, the work of milking and making cheese away from the farm. It's all quite fascinating. 

These folks are part of a cooperative of farmers who have pooled their resources together to build a couple of different "caseifici"or alpine dairies where they are able to bring their animals to the mountain meadows graze them on the grass while it lasts and milk them daily and then produce their cheese all in a sanitary environment. Some of the places I worked, they milked the cows and carried the milk in large containers down to the dairy every day in order to not have their hard work go in vain, as there wasn't any sign of electricity in the high country. Quite a feat indeed. 

This dairy in Val Germansca and the other they built in upper Chisone was quite a slick operation. The sheep had plenty of room to graze all day and when it came to that time of the day time to be milked the sheep were lining up practically stepping all over each other to get into the milking stall as quick as they could. The shepherd opened the gate and in they trotted single file. Then I realized the why of their eagerness. There was food for them to eat while the shepherd hooked them up to the milking machine and eased the milky burdened mamas of their pay load. Then off they scampered to continue the cycle of eating and bleating in the the mountains of their summer home. 

The shepherds wife then had her work cut out for here to heat up all the collected milk and do her magic to produce the oh so tasty,Toma di pecora cheese that we had enjoyed before.  

It is a modest and clean operation in a setting that was pleasantly tranquil. 

Not baaad work if you can get it.