When I drove through the Canavese area, near the Alps, in the province of Turin, I stopped at a local butcher store ‘Caschina Dell’ Allaas’ in Bolengo. I stopped there fascinated because of the very long line of people waiting to enter. For a reason. It seemed to be the place for good, fresh and honest food.
Nadia Gauna runs this business together with her brother Massimo, her mother Maria, besides twenty more employees. She explains that people come here because the food is fresh and of high quality. Their concept of a short chain farm that sells directly to customers is a big success. ‘Filiere chiusa’ or ‘closed chain’. “However, it is also hard work!” Nadia admits. They own a shop with meat, dairy products and homemade food, a restaurant, an ice cream shop, 500 animals and 300 hectares of land.
They breed the animals, work on the land to provide the food for the animals and they even process the dung of the animals to make energy from it. Nothing goes wasted!
Her father started it as a milk farm in 1937 but since 1997 they also breed the very famous local ‘Razza Piemontese’. The breed from which the meat is very much appreciated, like the extremely good Fassona burgers. A streetfood I have come to admire a lot!
Address: Cascina Dell’ Allaas, Via Statale 18, Bollengo. www.cascinallaas.it
