An Alpine Landscape

In the north-west of Italy lie the five regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and the tiny Aosta Valley. The contrasts between these close neighbours are astonishing: the modern metropolitan centres of Milan, Turin and Bologna, the thriving independent port of Genoa, the ancient cities of Mantua and Cremona and the remote mountain villages of the Aosta Valley all lie within close proximity of each other, nestling between the Apennines and the Alps. It is the landscape created by this rugged backdrop that binds these regions together. The mountainous exterior surrounds the fertile basin of the river Po, where many ingredients are grown, and these form the basis of the area’s culinary heritage.