Buon Appetito

The towns hosting the Winter Games have a culinary identity that’s both high-altitude and high-flavor.

- Hannah Walhout

“WE MIGHT CALL IT ‘mountain cuisine,’” explains Alessandro Gilmozzi, a celebrated chef from northern Italy’s Val di Fiemme. Italian Alpine food, he says, is defined by the challenges and gifts of high-elevation life—a dynamic he knows well, since he and his family have been cooks in the Dolomites for generations.

Their mountain cuisine is built on elemental processes, like fire and fermentation, and makes use of wild herbs, freshwater fish, game meats, and cheeses crafted in the malghe, the seasonal dairy farms that speckle the hillsides. It’s also shaped by the Ladin, the region’s minority ethnic group, who speak a language separate from Italian, and by the traditions of nearby Austria.

Unique dishes can be found in these small communities, including those hosting the events. From Cortina d’Ampezzo, the hub for mountain sports, comes casunziei all’Ampezzana—half-moon-shaped ravioli stuffed with turnips or beets and dressed in butter and poppy seeds. Snowboarding and freestyle skiing will be in Livigno, where buckwheat is used for manfrigole, crêpes filled with cheese and air-dried beef. Meanwhile, Bormio, which will host downhill skiing and ski mountaineering, is known for pizzoccheri, a buckwheat pasta. Here are five places to get a taste of the region.