Gravellona, a biscuit of yesteryear…

Cooking recipes have always represented a strong link between migrants and their homelands. Traditional family dishes have accompanied memories and anniversaries and, on return trips, have always been an opportunity for celebration and meeting.

Much older is the story of the “Gallus nivalis”, a small terracotta rooster, about ten centimetres high, found in a children’s tomb of the first century A.D. in the Gallo-Roman necropolis of Pedemonte, a hamlet of Gravellona. For a few months the Gallus will be exhibited, thanks to the collaboration between the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Turin and the
“Felice Pattaroni” Archaeological and Cultural Association
, at the Antiquarium of Gravellona Toce.

But its return to Gravellona is not only this: the little game of an unknown girl of almost two thousand years ago has inspired the students of the Ferrini Franzosini Institute and of the course Food Production Operators of VCO Formazione, with the contribution of the Felice Pattaroni Cultural Archaeological Association, and the result is a fragrant and fragrant biscuit with intense aromas and the shape of… a cockerel.

“Gallus Nivalis” is the archaeological biscuit born by studying Roman gastronomy books such as Apicius’ “De Re Coquinaria” and Columella’s “De Re rustica”. With a long shelf life, the biscuit is philologically set in the Roman period but in perfect line with current tastes. The municipality has issued the product the Municipal Designation.

A new but certainly sweet way to discover the history of Gravellona Toce and contribute to the knowledge of the area.