Katya Cortese’s mother Flaminia has not only passed on the name of the business but all the secrets of the trade and a recipe for canestrelli biscuits, typical of the Susa Valley, which Katya guards with loving care. In the workshop and outlet in Condove, she and her husband Paolo Gaido make them daily with an artisan technique involving special iron pincers heated over a naked flame. The version aromatised with lemon peel, sold under the Canestrello di Vaie trademark, is recognised as an artisan excellence and included in the Province of Turin Basket of Typical Products. The workshop also produces versions with cocoa, hazelnut and orange. Katya and Paolo also use ingredients supplied by local producers to turn out specialities such as paste di meliga (biscuits made with heirloom Piedmontese cornmeal, lemon rind and chestnut honey), frollini, egg-free shortcrust biscuits flavoured with cinnamon, ginger, mugwort and dried lavender petals, and hazelnut tarts.
***
