The walnuts of Bleggio are a Slow Food presidium, now rare (like all Italian walnuts in truth). But so special that you make pizza and even salami: the Nocetto
There is an area in the lower Trentino, the Bleggio, where it was once customary to plant a walnut tree on the occasion of the birth of a child. "Who plants a nut, does not collect the fruits ", it was said, why it is an act that is done for the children, since it takes about twenty years to catch its results. For this reason, over time it has been preferred to plant other varieties such as the French ones, which bear fruit in less years, just as we have started to import bigger nuts from abroad, especially from the California. The result is that today in Italy we produce only 10% of the nuts we consume.
The Noci of Bleggio
Walnuts are a product inseparably linked to the territory of Bleggio. It will be because in the past every family had at least some trees, as they represented an important economic entry: "pan and nos magnar from marry", That is bread and walnuts to eat as bride and groom. Yet, over time cultivation of Italian walnuts, like those of Sorrento or precisely of Bleggio, was progressively abandoned, especially in the seventies, due to various factors: the escape from the countryside to the factory, the general abandonment of land, the mechanization of agricultural practices. And to produce even a single walnut, there is a lot of work behind it, so much so that it is said "there is the gos that the nos", That is more the gesture and the work that the walnut itself takes. But the Bleggian variety has recognized such unique characteristics even at a national level, such as a sweet, spicy and very aromatic taste, that first then someone had to rethink to recover it. In particular, it was Rodolfo Brochetti who, followed by a dozen producers, took over and revived the Bleggian variety, smaller and more expensive, and therefore with less demand than others on the market. In 2008 they also gave birth to one Brotherhood, Born almost in a goliardic way, which in reality turned out to be a fundamental tool for protection: in 2016, in fact, they created a seedbed for the production of grafting plants (since it reproduces only by grafting) and have recently inaugurated also a path, the Sentiero della Noce, which crosses the country roads bordered by walnut groves, farms and cultivated fields. Moreover, every November, they organize a party in his honor, after the two months of harvest in September and October. And it's the first walnut in Italy Slow Food Presidium.
Use in the kitchen
The first use of walnuts in the kitchen has always been more in the desserts, in cakes and biscuits of various kinds; secondly, another product of the Bleggian tradition, is the bread with walnuts, as for example they do it to the ancient Riccadonna di Rango bakery; and the nocino, prepared with walnuts harvested on Saint John's Day. Then the Bleggians also appear in some dishes, like the spatzle with cream, speck and walnuts, or with the potato gnocchi, another typical product of the area. That genius of the chef Cristian Rossi of the Don Pedro restaurant Comano Terme has created a pizza that is the most sincere and successful tribute to the products of its territory: the pizza De Val with Noci del Bleggio, mountain potatoes and Ciuìga del Banale; always he also prepares the Trentomisù, an exquisite cream of local ricotta with berries and cake with Noci del Bleggio. Finally, the company Il Noce, held by the young and creative Marco Brochetti who followed in his father's footsteps, has created a line of original products all based on nuts: candied walnuts, green walnuts in oil, walnut oil is Pesto Walnuts, perfect for seasoning pasta. But inventions do not end here …
Il Nocetto: walnut salami
Salumificio Salizzoni was founded in 1999 to design a new product first, which is not part of the local tradition: the salami with Noci del Bleggio. At the beginning he did not believe the balance between two tastes so different as salami and walnut could work so well; then, instead, after numerous attempts, it turned out to be a very respectable combination suited to the best occasions.
The main ingredients are 100% pork, kernels from Noci del Bleggio, salt and natural flavors, which after a good dough are stuffed into natural beef guts and seasoned in a cellar. Here, once again, it is the Bleggio air, between the Dolomites and Lake Garda, that determines the uniqueness of its products, guaranteeing this salami an exaltation of unique flavors of its kind.
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