Trentino-Alto Adige

Amid the towering Dolomites of this northernmost region, Latin and Teutonic cultures mingle but don't always mix. In Alto Adige (or Südtirol, the German-speaking province of Bolzano), Austro-Tyrolean cooking prevails with wursts, cabbage, potatoes, rye bread and dumpling soups. In Trentino (the province of Trento to the south), Italo-Venetian traditions of polenta and pasta take on Alpine accents with butter, cheese, game and wild mushrooms.

By now, though, many recipes are shared. South Tyroleans may dine on pizza or spaghetti as readily as Trentini eat crauti (sauerkraut) or canederli (the bread dumplings called Knödeln in German).

Trentino, in the Alto Adige region, thrives on polenta, usually made from corn but also from potatoes or buckwheat, which is used in a sort of cake called smacafam, baked with sausage, salt pork and sometimes cheese. Beyond conventional ravioli and tagliatelle, first courses include bigoi (similar to the Veneto's bigoli) and strangolapreti ("priest strangler" gnocchi of spinach, flour, eggs and cheese).

Soups contain tripe, pork, various vegetables, potatoes and turnips. Cornmeal and wheat flour with milk and butter make an ancient gruel called trisa, or Mus in Alto Adige. Along with recipes for dried cod stoccafisso, omelets and frittate, comes a selection of meats: poultry, rabbit. pork, blood sausages called biroldi and salt-cured beef called carne salata.

Alto Adige's gastronomic pride is Speck, boned pork flank smoked and aged by artisans, mainly in the Venosta valley. Speck dell'Alto Adige, which rates an IGP, is eaten as an opener or snack sliced or cubed with wedges of dark Bauernbrot or with crisp rye flatbread.

Knödeln, which often contain bits of liver or Speck, also come in a dark version with rye bread, buckwheat flour, leeks and bacon. Both may be served in broth or dry to accompany meats and vegetables. Popular soups contain barley and tripe. Sausage called Hauswurst is served with sauerkraut, pickles and horseradish. Noodles called Spätzli often go with beef dishes, such as peppery Rindsgulasch and Sauerbraten, pot roast with onions, wine and vinegar. From the lofty wilds come brook trout, venison and rare chamois and mountain goat.

Trento's prominent cheese is Grana Trentino, though Grana Padano DOP and Asiago DOP may also be made in the province. Every Alpine village makes its own version called nostrano (ours). Alto Adige's many local cheeses include the grainy, sharp Graukäse, soft, mild Pusteria and Pustertaler and goat's milk Ziegenkäse.

The region is Italy's leading producer of apples, which appear in strudel and the fritters called Apfelküchel. Krapfen are baked or fried pastries with jam. Zelten is a rye flour Christmas cake with candied fruit, nuts, honey, cinnamon and liqueur, though recipes vary between provinces. Trentino's sweet version of buckwheat smacafam contains raisins, nuts and aniseed.

In a region that exports a major share of its wine to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, reds prevail in easygoing Kalterersee (or Caldaro) and St. Magdalener (Santa Maddalena), plucky Marzemino and opulent Lagrein and Teroldego Rotaliano. Cabernet and Merlot also do well here. But Trentino-Alto Adige has gained a modern reputation with whites, which reach fragrant heights in the Alpine air as Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner, Müller Thurgau, Sauvignon and the Pinots and Chardonnay that also make first-rate sparkling wines.