Coffee isn't actually grown in the hills of the Valley, but the preparation of the drink in its many forms has become a well known ritual. The 'café à la cogneintze' is one of the most typical of the region. It is prepared with a mouthful of boiling coffee, grappa, red wine, sugar and a dose of lemon then reheated over an open flame.

The proportions need to be just right although a little experimentation does no harm. It is served in a round and shallow wooden cup called a grolla which is closed with a 'coperchio' or top featuring normally 6 holes from which the coffee is drunk in company.

The whole moment is thus transformed into a collective rite. Salute.

We receive many requests from readers asking for the exact amounts to make real traditional dishes and all our references are as vague as yours.

Toma is a type of cow's milk cheese produced throughout the Alpine arc of northern Italy, especially in the regions of Valle d'Aosta and Piemonte. Interestingly, it tends to crop up in those areas where the classic mountain 'fontina' has less of a presence.

In Valle d'Aosta it was used mainly as a substitute for meat, which tended to be scarce in the hills, and is still wonderful when cooked with polenta or soup.

In Piemonte there are more than 20 types of Toma with the DOP mark awarded to those produced in the provinces in and around Novara, Vercelli, Biella, Torino, Cuneo and a handful of comune near Asti and Alessandria.

Read on for the top 10 cheeses of Piemonte

A genuine Toma cheese should be made the old 'artigianale' way. In other words, by the very hands of the farmer who overlooks the grazing and milking of his animals on the Alpine slopes throughout the year.

The casual visitor to Valle D'Aosta may not be able to spot the difference between a 'Grolla' or a 'Friendship Cup'. All confusion can be swept aside by a visit to the annual 'Sant'Orso Fair' in Aosta at the end of January every year.

This international hand crafts fair is the biggest appointment of its type in the region and it has now reached over 1000 editions! The stalls and stands stretch right through the historical center of Aosta and along the old town walls. Other classic valley objects include 'sock' or 'puin' which are slippers made from a cloth traditionally woven in Gressoney; pillow lace work from Cogne; and 'vannerie' or willow basket making.

The Regione Autonoma Della Valle D'Aosta has highlighted a number of permanent exhibitons for the visitor. The pick are:

AOSTA - Museo Archeologico, Piazza Roncas.

BREUIL CERVINIA (Plateau Rosa) - "Una montagna di lavoro" Journey in the world of work at 3000 meters. Take the funivia Cervinia to Plateau Rosa.

COGNE - Atelier d'Arts et Métiers "I costumi tradizionali di Cogne"

Two towns in the Monte Rosa Walser reveal the thousand year old cultural exchange in the region. First clus, the origin of the place-name "Pré des Allemands". It is an example of the gradual integration of two quite different ethnic groups: the local population and the Walsers.

In fact, the area known as "Pré des Allemands" (the Germans' meadow) and which is located on the plain near the village centre ("duarf") was colonised by the German immigrants who, in harmony with the locals coined the place-name in question.

Moreover, Issime's Walser dialect ("töitschu") has always taken terms belonging to other languages or dialects to describe concepts or objects unknown in ancient times.

Potatoes, for instance, are called "trùffili", as in the patois of the Aosta Valley. Secondly, Il "titsch" or Gressoney's German dialect.

Besides a characteristic life style and particular habits, the Walsers who left Switzerland in order to settle down in Monte Rosa's southern valleys carried with them their own language, a variant of "Alemannic", that's to say of the oldest German dialect.

For centuries the well watered grasses and pastures of Valle D'Aosta have provided the inhabitants with local herbs used both for cooking as well as to improve general health.

The first documented evidence of the importance of herbs for medicinal purposes dates back to the 5th Century BC.

In the first century AD, Pliny recorded how herbs were used to add aroma to food dishes as well as liqueurs.

The climate in most of the Valley is semi-continental, which means intense winter cold and high summer temperatures leading to the cultivation of certain types of herb.

The Centro Agricolo of Saint Michel is one center where the ancient culture surrounding these natural products has been combined with the most modern of techniques and applications.