There is a precise moment, around the end of September, when the cooking of these mountains changes register. The animals come down from the pastures, the malghe stop working the milk, and in their place arrives whatever the forest is producing now. Less fresh, more depth.
If you come up to the Alpe Cimbra in autumn, this is what to look for.
Mushrooms
The spruce and beech woods of these plateaus are mushroom country, and in autumn they take over the table: in soups, on polenta, in risotto, or simply cooked with garlic and parsley as they always have been. Porcini get the attention, but they are not the only ones. If you plan to pick your own, check the local rules first: they are specific and they vary from area to area.
Apples
Trentino is apple country to an almost obsessive degree, and autumn is harvest. They go into strudel, into home baking, into the cakes that sit in the window until evening, but also into savoury dishes: with meat, with aged cheese, in a salad you would not expect. Here the apple is never a garnish.
Squash and warm things
Soups, broths, polenta back on the table daily. That is the point: when the temperature drops, mountain cooking stops being light and starts doing its actual job, which is keeping you warm.
Cheese, but different
In summer you look for the fresh dairy cheeses. In autumn you look for the aged ones, the ones that have spent months in a cellar and now have an opinion. With apples and honey from these valleys they make a board that will hold up an entire afternoon. The summer cheeses are in where to eat on the Alpe Cimbra.
Eating here. The Bazzario bistro cooks what this place actually grows: mountain dairies on the Alpe Cimbra, kitchen gardens nearby, very little road between the field and the plate. You eat looking at the lake, which helps.
After a walk
The correct way to approach this list is to arrive hungry. Autumn woods are made for walking, and lunch after the foliage has a different standing. The walks are in the Alpe Cimbra in autumn.
Frequently asked questions
What do you eat in Trentino in autumn?
Autumn mountain cooking in Trentino centres on forest mushrooms, apples, squash, polenta, soups and aged cheeses. The fresh dairy cheeses typical of summer give way to those that have spent months maturing in a cellar.
Can you pick mushrooms on the Alpe Cimbra?
Picking is regulated and the rules vary from area to area: before going, check the local rules and whether a permit is required.
When does the mountain dairy season end?
The malghe work the milk while the animals are grazing at altitude, so through the summer. Around the end of September the animals come down and production stops until the following summer.
What goes with aged Trentino cheese?
Seasonal apples and honey from the valleys: a classic pairing that works well with cheeses that have had months of maturing.
