The Other Liguria at the Table
Most visitors to Liguria encounter its cuisine through the coastal lens: pesto alla genovese, focaccia, farinata, and fresh seafood. But travel inland, into the folds of the Apennines around Maissana and the Val di Vara, and you discover a parallel food culture — older, heartier, and rooted in the rhythms of mountain farming rather than maritime trade.
This is peasant food in the best sense: ingenious, seasonal, and deeply flavourful, born from the need to make the most of what the land provides.
The Chestnut: King of the Mountain Kitchen
Before wheat flour was widely available, chestnut flour sustained entire communities in the Ligurian Apennines. It remains central to the local diet today, used in:
- Castagnaccio — a dense, earthy cake made with chestnut flour, rosemary, pine nuts, and olive oil. Sweetened only by the natural sugars of the chestnuts.
- Frittelle di castagne — chestnut flour fritters, sometimes with wild herbs or ricotta
- Polenta di castagne — a rustic chestnut polenta served alongside braised meats or simply with olive oil
- Bread and pasta — mixed chestnut-wheat blends that give a distinctive nutty depth
Every autumn, the chestnut harvest (castagnatura) remains a community event in villages like Ossegna, with families gathering to collect, dry, and process the nuts that will sustain them through winter.
Testaroli: The Ancient Pasta of the Lunigiana Border
Perhaps no dish better represents the cooking of this mountain borderland than testaroli. These round, slightly chewy discs are made from a simple batter of flour, water, and salt, cooked on a terracotta or cast-iron testo (hence the name) over an open fire. They are then cut into rhomboid pieces, briefly boiled, and served — traditionally — with pesto al mortaio (hand-pounded pesto) or a simple sauce of olive oil and Parmigiano.
Testaroli are one of Italy's oldest pasta forms, possibly predating Roman times, and eating them in a local osteria in the hills above La Spezia feels like a genuine connection to culinary history.
Cured Meats and Cheeses of the Interior
The inland Ligurian tradition of curing meats and ageing cheeses is less famous than its Emilian or Piedmontese counterparts, but no less satisfying:
- Salame di Sant'Olcese — a fine-grained salami from the Ligurian interior, delicately spiced
- Lardo delle Apennine — cured fatback, sometimes aromatised with local herbs and juniper
- Formaggi di malga — seasonal cheeses from mountain dairies, varying from fresh and milky to aged and sharp
- Prescinseua — a tangy, curdled fresh cheese unique to Liguria, used in both savoury and sweet preparations
Mushrooms, Herbs, and the Forager's Larder
The forests around Maissana are rich foraging territory. Porcini mushrooms (Boletus edulis) are the prized find, appearing in late summer and autumn, and they appear on local menus dried, fresh, in risottos, on bruschetta, and stuffed into pasta. Wild herbs — including maggiorana (marjoram), timo (thyme), and finocchio selvatico (wild fennel) — flavour everything from sauces to cured meats.
Where to Eat in the Maissana Area
Restaurants here are few but genuine. Look for:
- Agriturismos — farm restaurants serving fixed menus of local produce; book in advance
- Village osterias — informal, often family-run, with handwritten daily menus based on what's in season
- Local sagre (food festivals) — the best way to try traditional dishes in a convivial communal setting
When in doubt, ask a local. In villages this small, everyone knows where the best food is — and they'll tell you with pride.