Lo pan ner - Black bread festival

The aroma of bread fills the villages of the Aosta Valley during Lo Pan Ner, as the traditional community ovens come back to life to bake the region’s famous rye bread. Once prepared only once a year and stored for the winter, it can now be enjoyed fresh from the oven, sometimes enriched with chestnuts, caraway seeds or dried fruit.

In the past, black bread was stored for months on wooden racks known as ratelë. Designed to last over time, it reflects the resourcefulness found in many traditional dishes of the Aosta Valley. To slice this bread, a special tool called a copapan, similar to a guillotine, is used. Before being eaten, the dried bread was softened in broth, hot milk or meat cooking juices.

Every corner of the Aosta Valley, in addition to the traditional black bread, boasts other delicious specialties baked in wood-fired ovens: from the Crèichen of the Valdigne, at the foot of Mont Blanc, to the Piata of Issogne, passing through the Micóoula of Hône and the Mécoulin of Cogne, a popular destination in the heart of Gran Paradiso.