Your essential food guide to Trentino-Alto Adige

• The must-make recipe from Trentino-Alto Adige
• What are the traditional ingredients in Trentino-Alto Adige?
• What are the famous dishes from Trentino-Alto Adige?
• The best cheeses to try from Trentino-Alto Adige
• The best wines to try from Trentino-Alto Adige
• The delicious. team’s top food experiences in Trentino-Alto Adige

Get to know the food of Trentino-Alto Adige

As Austrian as it is Italian, this region is – as its name suggests – made up of two halves. Trentino is a mix of mountains, lush valleys and lakes, while the northern half Alto Adige (also known as Südtirol or South Tyrol) is almost exclusively mountainous, with lots of forests. The Dolomites are the main draw – especially for skiers in the winter months – but there’s a unique food scene that’s heavily influenced by Germanic and Eastern European cuisine.

Despite being Italian, those living in the northern half of Alto Adige are more likely to speak German. But you’ll find signs written in both languages and even Ladin – a distinct local language – too. If you’re in Trentino, wide valleys filled with apple orchards fill the landscape, with castles peeking out above the treeline. Further north, the valleys turn into breathtaking mountain peaks, with natural lakes and terraced vineyards cut into the slopes. The main cities – Bolzano in the north and Trento in the south – both offer beautiful architecture and a surprisingly high number of Michelin-starred restaurants.

Our hero recipe from Trentino-Alto Adige

Strudel di mele (Italian apple strudel) 

The Austrian influence on the food of this mountainous region is perfectly encapsulated by one of its most famous desserts – the strudel. Given Italian flair thanks to pine nuts and lemon, it’s a classic dish, often served in the region’s cafés and showcasing the local renetta apple.

Make strudel di mele (Italian apple strudel)

What are the traditional ingredients in Trentino-Alto Adige?

• Apples Trentino produces 20% of all Italy’s apples – no mean feat for such a small growing area, found in the valleys towards the south of the region. They’re an important local export but plenty stick around to be turned into sweets, bakes and pastries.
• Speck Tyrolean speck (or Speck Alto Adige PGI, to give it its full name) is a salted, lightly smoked pork leg that’s flavoured with juniper, pepper, rosemary and bay leaves. The curing comes from the Italian influence, while the smoking comes from the Germanic influence north of the region. It’s served finely sliced – just like parma ham – or chopped up and used to cook with.
• Polenta If you’re in the north of Italy and can see mountains, polenta is probably an important part of the local cuisine – and Trentino-Alto Adige is no exception. It’s usually served as a side, enriched with plenty of butter and cheese.
• Asparagus White asparagus is a real delicacy of the region, particularly the spears grown around the commune of Zambana. They’re preserved for the year ahead or eaten fresh, often with bozner sauce from Bolzano, which is like a hollandaise made from hard-boiled eggs.
• Beef Redena cattle produce excellent milk but are also prized for their meat – thanks to their semi-wild lives living in the mountains during the summer. Their meat is made into all sorts of hearty stews, but the most famous regional preparation is carne salada – lean pieces of spiced cured beef enjoyed raw (a bit like carpaccio).

What are the famous dishes from Trentino-Alto Adige?

• Casunziei Many of Trentino-Alto Adige’s dishes are quite Germanic in style, but this variety of filled pasta is a good reminder that you’re still in Italy. Always made in a half-moon shape, they come in a variety of fillings but the most well known are ‘red’ (with beetroot, potato and turnip) and ‘green’ (with ricotta and wild greens).
• Spätzle These freeform little noodles originated in Germany, but – along with polenta – are a particularly popular dish in the Italian region. They’re made from a loose dough that’s pushed through a machine not dissimilar to a potato ricer, directly into boiling water. Once cooked they’re often served as a side to bold, meaty stews, or baked in rich cheese sauces.
• Gulasch Trentino  It may be Hungary’s national dish, but goulash (or gulasch, or goulasch, depending where you are) is an immensely popular meal in Trentino (along with Friuli Venezia-Giulia). It’s a relic of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which once ruled the area, although Trentino-style gulasch generally includes more red wine and is served with polenta.
• Canederli You might find it hard to get excited about a boiled bread dumpling, but these – studded with speck and sometimes chunks of cheese – are the ultimate in Alpine comfort food. Usually served in a simple broth, they’re known as knödel over the border (although usually lack the speck, which is what makes them so delicious).
• Strudel A typically Austrian dish, strudel is equally as popular just over the border in Trentino-Alto Adige. The local apples are rolled up in pastry with rum-soaked raisins, pine nuts and lemon zest and baked until crisp, ready to be sliced and served with plenty of cream.

The best cheeses to try from Trentino-Alto Adige

Most of the cheeses from this region are, as you expect, made in the Alpine style – semi-firm with excellent melting qualities. Stelvio and alta badia are the ones to look out for. Outside of alpine cheeses, there’s trentingrana, a firm parmesan-style cheese great for grating over pasta dishes, and graukäse, which is made from soured skimmed milk with a very low fat content.

The best wines to try from Trentino-Alto Adige

You can get red and white wine from Trentino-Alto Adige, but it’s the minerally whites that steal the headlines. Beloved international grapes like sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio are common, but the local schiava grape and German grapes like sylvaner are turned into some fantastic bottles too. The jewel, however, has to be the gewürztraminer grape, which originated in the area and local winemakers continue to produce world-class wines using it.

Browse wine editor Susy Atkins’ pick of the nine best Italian wines to buy right now.

The delicious. team’s top food experiences in Trentino-Alto Adige

Vic Grimshaw, Head of digital
“I visited at peak technicolour tulip time in spring. Trautmansdorff offers eye-popping views over the valley, plus sculptures to explore and climb. All rounded off with a glass of chilled white wine from South Tyrol in their Palm Café.”

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