Culinary traditions have always been a strong link between migrants and their homelands. Family recipes have accompanied memories and celebrations, and on return journeys, they have always been an occasion for celebration and gathering.

Much older is the story of the “Gallus Nivalis”, a small terracotta rooster, about ten centimeters high, found in a child’s tomb from the first century AD in the Gallo-Roman necropolis of Pedemonte, a hamlet of Gravellona. For several 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 Cultural Association, at the Antiquarium of Gravellona Toce.

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

“Gallus Nivalis” is the archaeological biscuit born from studying Roman gastronomy books such as “De Re Coquinaria” by Apicius and “De Re Rustica” by Columella. With a long shelf life, the biscuit is philologically set in the Roman period but perfectly in line with current tastes. The municipality has issued the Denominazione Comunale (municipal denomination) for the product.

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