Paniscia and Tapulone Festival

A festival dedicated to the flavors of the Novara plains

The Paniscia and Tapulone Festival is the gastronomic event through which the Pro Loco of Casalbeltrame, in collaboration with the Municipality, celebrates the two most representative dishes of Novara's cuisine. It takes place in Casalbeltrame, a small village of just over a thousand inhabitants in the province of Novara, in the heart of the eastern Piedmont rice plains, just a stone's throw from the Lame del Sesia Natural Park.

The format chosen by the Pro Loco is takeaway: portions are prepared by volunteers and collected at the municipal marquee in disposable containers provided by the organizers. It is a simple and popular solution that allows you to bring the flavors of tradition home while maintaining the familiar and convivial character of the event.

Paniscia and tapulone, two symbols of the region

Paniscia novarese is the signature dish of the city of Novara and its surrounding countryside: a hearty risotto prepared with local rice, borlotti beans, cabbage, vegetables, red wine from the Novara Hills, and salam d'la duja, a salami preserved in lard. It is a rustic peasant dish, born to showcase the products of the rice plains, and every family guards its own version.

Tapulone (or tapulon) is an ancient meat dish typical of the Borgomanero area and the Upper Novara region: a finely minced stew, seasoned with red wine, bay leaves, rosemary, and spices, traditionally served with polenta. At the Casalbeltrame festival, the two dishes are offered together, providing a complete taste of the local tradition.

Casalbeltrame, a village of rice and slow living

The festival is also an opportunity to discover Casalbeltrame, a town that is part of the Cittaslow network and boasts a long rice-growing tradition: among other things, it cultivates riso venere, a black rice included in the presidia of gastronomic tradition. The village is immersed in the landscape of rice paddies and preserves a rural heritage linked to rice culture, also recounted by the local museum dedicated to farm work.

A community gathering

In addition to the distribution of the dishes, the day includes an aperitif and the opportunity for annual membership in the Pro Loco. The festival represents one of the most heartfelt events for the Casalbeltrame community: a way to gather around the table, support the association's activities, and pass down the recipes of the Novara tradition in the province of Novara, Piedmont.