Cornmeal biscuits called paste di meliga, dipped in a glass of Barolo wine, were once the classic ending to a typical Piedmontese meal.
Though they are still found in all the region’s cafés, not to mention its pastry shops, they are never prepared as they used to be, immediately after kneading the bread dough, mixing wheat flour and cornmeal, butter, eggs and sugar (and sometimes lemon zest, vanilla or honey), then forming different shapes, circles, oblongs or half-moons.
The biscuits should be yellow, fragrant and crunchy, dissolving in the mouth, neither greasy nor sugary, with the graininess of the stone-ground cornmeal clearly perceptible.
Season: the product is commercially available throughout the year.
Presidium cornmeal biscuits (paste di meliga) are made according to tradition using a mixture of wheat flour and cornmeal, butter, fresh eggs and sugar. The dough is kneaded into round, oblong or crescent shapes. Yellow and crunchy, these biscuits melt in the mouth without being greasy or cloying, leaving a lingering toasted flavour. The stone-ground corn gives the biscuits a pleasant graininess.
Production area: Monregalese Municipalities, Province of Cuneo
Seasonality: The product is commercially available throughout the year.
