Grotto
In the Italian part of Switzerland ( Canton Ticino and Italian Graubünden ), a grotto is a rustic restaurant with mostly outdoor restaurants and regional cuisine. This type also exists under the name crotto in the canton of Graubünden and northern Italy , without having to have this form .
Origin of the term
The name comes from natural rock caves ( grottos ) in which the rural population in Ticino originally kept wine, ham and cheese. When modern cooling and preservation methods made this kind of storage of perishable food superfluous, many farmers turned these storage caves into social meeting places for wine tasting and other tasting of their own products. In the 19th century the first serving permits were issued, and in the course of the 20th century the grottos became public restaurants, whose function could hardly be distinguished from a trattoria .
A grotto in today's sense is often no longer a rock cellar, but a simple traditional stone house; almost always, however, there are granite tables and benches . Since the main focus of the restaurant business, unlike in the past, is on the outside, most of the grottos are only open in the summer season.
Wine bar and regional cuisine
Typical dishes are the local hard and soft cheeses, goat cheese marinated in olive oil with herbs, salami and mortadella from our own production, marinated antipasti and fish, minestrone and polenta , served with strachin (a cheese similar to Gorgonzola ), risotto with mushrooms, cold or warm roast with lettuce and fried potatoes. For dessert there is zabaglione , bread cake and peaches in wine.
Merlot , Nostrano or Barbera , sometimes mixed with Gassosa , are drunk from the boccalino , a small, bulbous clay jug with a handle . However, this vessel is not the traditional Ticino drinking vessel for wine. Rather, wine in the country is often drunk from a simple cup without a handle ( tazzino , called ul tazzin in the dialect ).
Although numerous grottos have now turned into pure tourist eateries , the authentic character is still recognizable in those establishments in the countryside where the padrone deliberately brings regional food to the table and understands social communication as being on par with the catering of the guests.
See also
literature
- Marion Michels, Dave Brüllmann: Ticino con Passione. Culinary forays between Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano . 2nd Edition. La Tavola, Orselina 2001, ISBN 3-909909-00-0 .