Pane Meliga and Zangareu Festival

A morning in the heart of Novara tradition

The Pane Meliga and Zangareu Festival is the event that, every first Sunday of March, opens the season of activities for the Missanghera district of Galliate, in the Province of Novara, in the heart of Piedmont. For one morning, Piazza San Gaudenzio transforms into a small rural village of the past, where the scent of freshly baked bread mingles with the sound of the millstone and the voices of the district volunteers.

Pane meliga and Zangareu

The absolute star is the Novara corn bread, a typical local product. In the area's agricultural past, farmers kneaded bread by mixing wheat and corn flour: a long-lasting bread that remained good even when stale. Since few owned a private oven, consortia were formed to manage communal ovens, and the last of these cooperative ovens still survives today right in the Missanghera district. The festival was born from this memory in 1986.

Alongside the bread, you can taste Zangareu, the sweet corn-flour biscuit that gives the festival its name. The recipe, patented by the district, recreates the ancient "brisarèu", small biscuits that once baked quickly in the oven and often ended up scorched next to the larger loaves. The name "Zangareu" refers to those who lived in the Zanghera, the sector of the district where this custom was preserved.

Flavors of rural tradition

During the morning, visitors can taste, in addition to pane meliga and Zangareu, some products of the local gastronomic tradition:

• Salame della duja, preserved in lard according to the ancient Novara method;
• Fidighina, a typical local cured meat;
• Gorgonzola, the dairy symbol of the Novara territory.

Demonstrations and atmosphere

The heart and identity of the festival is the reconstruction of an authentic rural environment, with a milling demonstration performed using the historic millstone of the Mulino Posamurin: a tangible way to show younger generations the ancient crafts of the territory. There is no shortage of entertainment for children and festive moments that have made the event, for almost forty years, a deeply felt appointment for the whole town, dedicated to conviviality and solidarity.