Although both regions are connected by their proximity and sisterhood, the cuisine of Trentino and Alto Adige should be regarded as distinct entities.
Trento's gastronomic legacy includes survival cuisine and lavish banquets that date back to the Council's time.
Conversely, Bolzano, the gateway to the Dolomites, represents a crossroads where the culinary traditions of Austria, Germany, and Hungary converge.
Until a few years ago, it was difficult to find pasta dishes.
Despite having shared the Habsburg domain for a long time, the two provinces have absorbed its culture differently.
Trentino
The peasant population of this region had a diet consisting of Polenta (made from corn, potatoes, or buckwheat), sauerkraut (derived from thinly sliced cabbage preserved in salt), lard, minestrone, and small amounts of cheese and butter.
In contrast, the wealthy prelates and influential people consumed, above all, meat from the Alps, as Platina testifies to us (15th century).
The "pasticcio di macaroni" is a great extravagance dish, still served on special occasions today.
During banquets, the most opulent dishes were those made from game, which included birds such as capercaillie and woodland animals like fallow deer, chamois, and roe deer, cooked over coals.
However, these meats were also frequently combined with butter, cheese, and milk, as seen in the ancient recipe for the "hunting leg."
But the courts also appreciated poor foods, like barley soup, which is still a typical dish today.
Only in the 1800s, following the annexation of this land to the Kingdom of Italy, was Trentino cuisine enriched with pasta, which has always been replaced with "canederli" and various gnocchi.
Alto Adige
South Tyrolean cuisine has its roots in German culinary practices, evident in the preparation methods, flavor combinations of sugar and salt, use of spices, and preference for ingredients like potatoes, rye, barley, and cabbage.
The cuisine also shows influences from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as seen in dishes like "goulash."
However, one of the most popular dishes in the region is "knödel," which is prepared in various ways, with rye bread, liver, or speck being the most common ingredients.
Traditional Trentino Alto Adige recipes
8 dishes to try if you are in Trentino Alto Adige:
- Smacafam: soft focaccia with sausage
- Stranglolapreti: gnocchi made with Swiss chard, bread crumbs
- Canederli: bread dumpling cooked in broth
- Spatzle: small irregular dumplings of flour, milk and eggs, also green (spinach) or red (beetroot)
- Tortini di patate: potato frittes
- Polenta e capus: polenta and cabbage
- Strudel: apple
- Zelten: Christmas cake with candied fruits and nuts
For more Italian regional recipes, you can check out the articles:
A History of Italian Cuisine: Exploring Regional Diversity & Authentic Flavors and 32 Most Popular Italian Street Food Recipes To Try
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