When the Olympics arrive in northern Italy this February, they won’t, like most years, be confined to a single city or venue cluster. Rather, the games will be scattered throughout a constellation of different towns and mountain valleys between Milan and Cortina, the two main hubs. The latter is situated in the heart of the Dolomites, a roughly 15,000-square-kilometre UNESCO-listed range of jagged peaks that run across northeastern Italy, renowned for their dramatic limestone formations and alpenglow sunsets. It’s a distinctive landscape with a unique cultural mix removed from Italy at large (for instance, German and the local Ladin language are widely spoken in parts of the area).
Few outsiders know this territory better than the cookbook author Meredith Erickson, whose 2019 book Alpine Cooking, about the traditions and recipes of the mountainous regions of Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and France, was named one of the best cookbooks of that year by The New York Times. Her deep research into the gastronomic heritage of the area even led her to co-found an aperitivo based on a recipe she discovered while researching the book: Doladira, an organic, low-sugar rhubarb-based aperitivo with notes of plum, gentian, elderflower, and rosemary, all botanicals common to the region.
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Photo: Courtesy of Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, LL
With the Olympics underway in the coming weeks, Erickson shares her tips on where to eat and drink in this northern Italian region with the authority of someone who has dedicated years to uncovering its secrets. “I always tell people that the best way to experience Alta Badia [the ski resort that encompasses villages like Corvara, Colfosco, San Cassiano, and La Villa in the heart of the Dolomites] is to base everything around the Sellaronda [the ski circuit that connects four different mountain passes and valleys],” explains Erickson. “You can ski it clockwise or counterclockwise, and if you don’t stop, it takes about four and a half hours—but of course, you stop. I choose my route entirely based on where I want to eat, and I suggest doing exactly the same.”
Photo: Courtesy of Rifugio Ütia Bioch