Sunday, December 12, 2021

A Snowy Walk for Lunch at Trattoria del Moro and Cassoeula


View over Ponteranica, Bergamo - with Monte Rosa in the distance. Trail 533 to Maresana with snow.
Trattoria del Moro - cassoeula - a traditional Bergamasco dish.Trattoria del Moro - foiade al ragù di lepre.
Upper left: View over Ponteranica - with Monte Rosa in the distance.
Upper right: Trail 533 to Maresana with snow.
Lower left: Trattoria del Moro – cassoeula, a traditional Bergamasco dish..
Lower right: Trattoria del Moro - foiade al ragù di lepre.


Length: 16 km
Duration: 3.5 hours (walking time)
Elevation: 505 m (1,656 ft) gain
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Bergamo - Ponteranica

When we need to think, we walk. When we walk, we get hungry and want to eat. To do that, we head to the hills north of Bergamo. Our usual path is up trail 533 to Maresana (546 m) and from there depending on our mood we select a destination. Today, we had in mind a nice pastas (made on-premises) from Trattoria del Moro. This would be our 7th time there. To think our first time was in 2016.

Trail 533 today was covered with some snow from the day before. Temperatures hovered around 0 degrees and we kept dodging trees dropping their little snow bombs on our heads. As we climbed, Bergamo disappeared under a snow fog. At Trattoria del Moro, we started with affettati misti con sott’olio e sott’aceto, continued with foiade al sugo di lepre and tagliolini con funghi porcini, and finished by splitting a cassoeula. The pastas are made fresh and are always good. The cassoeula is a popular winter dish you find in Bergamo and Lombardy in the winter. If you like pork and cabbage, you'll love this dish. Depending on the preparation you can find ribs, trotters, tail and much more on your plate, the less "valuable" parts of the animal used with no waste.

Trattoria del Moro is located in Ponteranica, a small municipality about 4 km northwest from Bergamo and is easy to get to from Bergamo, walking. Ponteranica is also home to the Santuario di Rosciano – the Mini Grotta di Lourdes. On today's walk we walked up trail 533 but returned on the road Via Maresana, where we crossed over a small brook to get on the bicycle path to follow Via Valverde back home.


The "Lapide Botti" is a marker on the trail that signals you've almost reached Maresana climbing the "Filone della Maresana" from via Quintino Alto. The inscription documents that Giacomo Botti died tragically at (or near?) the spot in 1951. It's odd because it's a common point of reference on this trail, but we've not been able to find much information about Botti.

Trattoria del Moro cassoeula.La Tana cassoeula.Il Coccio cassoeula.
A sampling of different cassoeula that we've had recently. Left: Trattoria del Moro cassoeula. Center: La Tana cassoeula. Right: Il Coccio cassoeula.

View over Ponteranica toward Monte Linzone and Resegone.Trail 533 looking down over Monterosso.
Left: View over Ponteranica toward Monte Linzone and Resegone. Right: Trail 533 looking down over Monterosso.

Trail 533 looking back toward Bergamo which has disappeared. Lapide Botti on trail 533.Fitbit tracks showing the walk, going counter-clockwise.
Left: Trail 533 looking back toward Bergamo which has disappeared. Center: Lapide Botti on trail 533. Right: Fitbit tracks showing the walk, going counter-clockwise.

Trattoria del Moro - Affettati misti con sott’olio e sott’aceto.
Trattoria del Moro - Affettati misti con sott’olio e sott’aceto.






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