Local food and recipes

Traditional food and recipes of the Rendena valley

The traditional dishesThe traditional food of Val Rendena sinks its roots into a poor past and features wholesome ingredients and exquisitely authentic flavors like the cornflour for polenta, garden produce, herbs and other aromas.

Sausages and cheeses, polenta, mushrooms and wild game are typical Val Rendena delicacies.

Tradition follows the seasonality. For this reason, pumpkin soup and apple and walnut pie are the main delicacies on the table of the locals during the autumn season. Not seasonal but an evergreen is the classic apple pie: it is said the best one is that baked by Ms. Natalia at Baita Natalia ai Cinque Laghi. It's actually the cherry on the cake after a day of sport.

Revisited under a local taste, the typical Italian-style food like spaghetti. Delicious are those cooked by the chef of Rifugio Lago Nambino Spaghetti alla Carbonara di Trota.

Spirit and grappasThe area also features a variety of grappas flavored with wild berries and other mountain plants, such as dwarf pine and woodruff, as well as a unique spirit distilled from gentian root, which is made exclusively in the valley and it is ideal as a digestive after even the most lavish of meals.

Rendena cowsOf particular note the cheeses of the valleys made from the milk of Rendena cows, the only breed of cattle that is native to the Trentino area and has Slow Food status. A folklore event is also dedicated to them: it's the traditional end-of-summer event Giovenche di Razza Rendena.