Val d’Amola as told by Manuel
Manuel, from Giustino in Trentino, is the president of the Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Bovini di Razza Rendena (National Association of Breeders of Rendena Cattle), and president of Allevatori Val Rendena, as well as managing the family farm where he is a cook.
Who is Manuel?
Manuel comes from a family of breeders and firmly believes in sustainable animal husbandry with a focus on animal welfare. A promoter of circular economy, specialising in yoghurt production, his “0 km” products end up directly on the tables of his holiday farm.
He defines himself as a farmer-chef and maintains that “knowing where raw materials come from, their roots, witnessing their transformation is fundamental to understanding the value, typicality and richness of what we are eating”.
This is where the right things are made important.
Why Val d'Amola?
For the past three years, he has been grazing his cattle in Val Nambrone, in Valina d’Amola, a place to which he is becoming increasingly attached after a lifetime spent on the pastures of Malga Bandalors.
“Valina d’Amola is waiting to be discovered, it is a little-known corner of the world with so much to give. It is a place where the unexpected happens every day. Giulio, a friend from Milan, calls me to ask where I am every time I post a photo. Each time I tell him that I am still here, though it always feels like a new place”.
When Manuel finds himself on the pastures of Valina, at the beginning of the trail to the Segantini Refuge, he recalls that he first walked this trail when he was only four years old, to visit his sister who worked at the refuge. It seems no coincidence that after all these years he is back there, with his cows.
What is the best way to get to know a new place? “When you arrive you have to close your eyes and listen. Then you are no longer alone”. And the most cheerful, companionable and familiar sound to him is the bells of his grazing cows. When he hears that sound, he feels at home.
