29-06-2017
With Cesare Battisti from Ratanà, discovering Uova di Selva [Forest eggs] from La Gramola, in Valtellina
«Carlo, I’ll introduce you to some extraordinary eggs» says Cesare Battisti, who’s certainly an ambassador of taste, but also of humanity and endless passion. We meet above Morbegno, in Valtellina: we climb up a road towards Passo San Marco, in Val Brembana. Here you can admire signs from the Republic of Venice, which built this road so the trade with the valleys in Switzerland could be developed (between 1512 and 1797 Valtellina belonged to the Grisons). Five kilometres and when we reach 600 metres above sea level, we must pay attention to another, less noble but more contemporary sign: it depicts some hens. Welcome to Uovo di Selva.
A winter scene
Rapella starts from an idea: «If hens could choose they would live in an environment similar to that of the velociraptor, which was in fact a distant relative, in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park»: free forests, with a not too thick vegetation, where they have enough space and time to enjoy their peaceful existence without any stress. No wonder eggs from Uovo di Selva are so good… Rapella takes pride in not controlling any variable. He leaves the hens themselves to take care of production, given they undoubtedly have such a vast know how. As for them, being grateful, they guarantee now around one thousand eggs per day, «but it depends on many elements», starting from the environment, which affects the final product: «if it’s very hot they drink more, so the egg white will be more watery», for instance.
What’s striking, when walking in the forest among the hens, is the total lack of bad smell, the smell you’d expect from any animal farm. Here the biological cycle appears to be perfectly sustainable. It looks like Rapella has defined the process in harmony with nature. «I feed them with grains, fruit, vegetable. Everything is certified organic. Plus the proteins a forest of chestnut trees can offer». It’s like the Egg of Columbus.
Fantastic hardboiled eggs preserved in vinegar
È buona la gallina. La gallina è molto buona, ma non è intelligente. Come è buona la gallina. Assaggia questo pezzo senti... Che buona la gallina... Come è buona la gallina, non è intelligente però è molto buona. (Cochi e Renato)
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief