🌿 Pestèda grosina: the secret seasoning of Valtellina
An ancient and aromatic flavor enhancer perfect for pizzoccheri, meats, potatoes, and much more 🧄🌱🔥
Introduction
Have you ever heard of Pestèda? It is a typical seasoning from Grosio, in the heart of Valtellina, used to enrich traditional dishes with an intense aroma and a strong taste.
Greatly loved for enhancing the flavor of pizzoccheri, Pestèda is a true concentrate of aromatic herbs, garlic, pepper, and other ingredients crushed and ground in a mortar, as the name suggests.
Every family has its secret version, passed down from generation to generation: this is why it's difficult to talk about a unique recipe. But today we offer you one of the most authentic versions, to try preparing it at home and bring a bit of Valtellinese tradition to your table. 🏔️
📝 Ingredients for Pestèda (homemade recipe)
- 120 g of black peppercorns
- 20 cloves of garlic
- 60 g of coarse salt
- 25 juniper berries
- 1 tablespoon of Achillea moscata (or Erba Iva)
- 1 tablespoon of Peverel (or wild thyme)
🔪 Required: a mortar or "pestasale", to respect the traditional hand-processing.
👩🍳 Step-by-step preparation
- Grind the pepper and coarse salt together in the mortar until you obtain a fine and uniform grain.
- Finely chop the aromatic herbs (Achillea and thyme).
- Mince the fresh garlic, removing the inner germ, very finely.
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to blend the aromas.
- Transfer the pestèda into well-cleaned glass jars.
- Let it rest for a few days in a cool, dry place so that the flavors meld together.
💡 Some families add a few drops of wine, grappa, or brandy to keep the mixture slightly moist and aromatic.
🍽️ How to use Pestèda
- 🥔 On boiled or baked potatoes
- 🍖 On meat, especially grilled
- 🍝 In traditional valtellinese pizzoccheri
- 🥗 In cooked vegetables for a strong touch
📍 Curiosity
In Grosio, the Brotherhood Friends of Pestèda was founded, which organizes a contest every year to award the best artisanal version of the seasoning. If you can’t prepare it at home, you can find it in many local restaurants or in stores of typical Valtellinese products.
The image of the dishes is purely indicative and does not necessarily correspond exactly to the recipe
