Aosta Valley, Donnas: the black rye bread

A precious Traditional Agri-food Product

Donnas is a charming place on the way to Aosta. Come with us on the roots of local Traditional Agri-food Products (known as P.A.T.), starting with the black rye bread.

Agriculture in the Aosta Valley has a very long history (as evidenced by the ritual plowing of Saint Martin de Corléans megalithic area), defining both the landscape and the identity. In the past, rye bread was prepared once or twice a year and represented the life of the family: baking bread was a celebration for the whole hamlet, it lasted long and the bread was kept drying for months.

Rye is an amazing cereal: it can grow in marginal areas, in the cold, on poor soils, in the mountains… This is why it was a real survival product here. Today, those who still cultivate rye do so mostly out of passion and to keep the tradition alive. The Institut Agricole Régional is working on studies and research to preserve its biodiversity. When the tourists come on holiday in the Aosta Valley and taste this traditional black bread, they taste a story and the territory! A nice occasion to come is the black bread festival, held all over the valley every October.

Travel tip: when in Donnas, Italiaslowtour suggests the hotel Le coeur du Pont!

Filmed in collaboration with Aosta Valley Region