Monday 30 December 2013

When In Bergamo?! Italian Ham and Cheese Pie Review

Bergamo (Italy) Ham and Cheese Pie Review


The penultimate day of my pie hunt in Italy saw me scouting out the shops of Pavia, to the south of Milan, followed by Bergamo to the north. We quickly passed up from Bergamo bassa (the sprawling modern city) to Bergamo alta (the old town, up on the hillside) on the funicular in order to take in the nicer scenery and quaint narrow streets and shops on the hillside. It was there we spotted our first meat pie of the whole trip - having spotted a number of sweet pies in Rome (called Crostatine) and an apple pie in Milan.


Bergamo Pie
Salumeria Gastronomia Angelo Mangili
The meat pie in Bergamo consisted of ham and cheese, fully encased in a thin light layer of flaky pastry. And when I say thin, I mean thin! This pie was about 70% cheese, 15% ham and 15% pastry - and you could really tell when you bit into it! It was filled-to-the-brim capacity! The cheese and ham both reminded me of the tastes of Italy I'd enjoyed over the past week but it was great to be able to finally get my hands on an Italian meat pie!
The real issue with this pie was the price. Priced by weight, we were only able to really afford a small slither due to it being a whopping €24 per kilo! Our thin slither alone was €2,40. However the cheese and ham were both very rich, so I can't say I'd have wanted a much bigger slice in one sitting.

The colour was quite good - both the pastry layer and the internal colours of the cheese and ham layers. The content was very tasty and quite rich but were a true 'taste of Italy' which was good (I would rather that than them exactly copy a British pie flavour for the sake of it).


Bergamo Pie
Ham and Cheese Pie at Bergamo Airport, overlooking the Alps
The consistency very heavily weighted towards the soft, gooey cheese layers and the pastry was light and complimented the soft cheese. That resulted in it not being particularly chewy at all. However the content could have been improved slightly if the pastry:filling ratio were a little more pastry and a little less cheese.

This is certainly a pie I'd have again - it really reminds me of some great tastes of Italy - however I better start saving up the Euros as it sure was pricey!

Salumeria Gastronomia Angelo Mangili “Torta Valdostana” (Ham and Cheese Pie)
Score: 4.93/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 4, Condition 4, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 3, Content 5, Total: 4.93/7]
RAS


See where this pie ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour.

Make sure you 
and let us know your thoughts!


No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for getting in touch with the Pierateers!