On December 11th, we celebrate International Mountain Day, established by the United Nations to highlight the diversity and richness of mountain cultures and to raise awareness about the importance of these regions for the well-being of the planet and its people. Mountain communities possess unique and valuable traditions and cultural practices, especially when it comes to cuisine!
Mountains play a crucial role in food security and nutrition: they provide land for crops, pasture for livestock, waterways for fishing, and non-timber forest products such as berries, mushrooms, and honey. Additionally, they are key to ensuring food security for local families and communities. Mountain agriculture, which has been a model of sustainable development for centuries, is inherently “green” due to small-scale production, resulting in a low-carbon environmental footprint.
Here's an interesting fact: of the 20 plant species that supply 80% of the world’s food, six of them—corn, potatoes, barley, sorghum, tomatoes, and apples—originated in mountain regions. Without these ingredients, dishes like spatzel, canederli, barley soup, and especially strudel wouldn’t exist.
As a Slow Food Community, Cesarine strongly believes in the importance of adopting culinary practices that are “good, clean, and fair,” as stated in the manifesto we proudly support.
The Strudel Recipe
If there’s one dish synonymous with the mountains, it's strudel. While typically associated with Trentino, this apple-based dessert actually originated in Turkey. Its fragrant spices warm the soul during cold winter days. Let’s prepare it at home with a recipe from our Cesarina Gerti from Merano.
