There Valle d’Aosta micóoula means “small, slightly special bread” in the local patois dialect. It was born in Hône, an Italian municipality of around 1200 inhabitants in the province of Aosta and, also thanks to a non-profit association in the town, it has been produced by hand for years, especially during the Christmas holidays. A poor black bread, but enriched with local products such as chestnuts, figs, walnuts and raisins. The dough is prepared by mixing rye and wheat flour with water and salt, to which the yeast is added and then left to rest for about an hour. The other ingredients are then added. Place it in the oven and leave to cook for about an hour and a half.

«There were four of us who started and now we are about ten, all volunteers explains Flavio, secretary of Amis de la Micóoula, the association founded in 2008 by a group of young people from Hône, in Valle d’Aosta. The aim of the members is to rediscover the local tradition, recover the fields and rural buildings – such as mills, ovens, dryers – revalue the villages, the return of young people to their origins and above all the involvement of the whole community in a linked project to the territory. «Michel is the president, I am the oldest (32 years old, ed….). The others are all between 24 and 25 years old. We grow wheat non-commercially, but only to maintain tradition. Wheat, like all crops, needs rotation, so at the end of the wheat harvest, we sow potatoes.”