The brown bread

The bread of the Alps

Brown bread, made from rye and wheat, was the staple food for families in the Aosta Valley and the basis of many traditional dishes. Its production began with the cultivation of cereals, followed by milling, and eventually, once a year, before the arrival of winter, large quantities of bread were baked in the village ovens. The bread was then dried on racks to be stored and used until the next year's production.

This tradition has been closely preserved and today, every November, the entire community participates in the preparation of this brown bread in communal ovens. It is a moment of socialization, gathering, and preservation of a piece of local community history.