Swiss cooling caves

It was a crisp, clear summer’s afternoon, and our boat was drifting on the sparkling blue waters of Lake Lugano in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. Local fisherwoman Gabriella Monfredini Rigiani, who organises boat tours and local meal experiences in Ticino, had offered to take me around the lake and its picturesque mountain-clinging villages, many of which are only reachable by boat. As part of my half-day tour, we stopped at some grottos lining the shore of the glacial lake.

“Nothing is more typical of Ticino life than the grotti,” she told me, noting that these natural caverns represent authentic Ticino and define the lifestyle of its people.

We docked at a jetty and followed an uneven path to Grotto Descanso, a village tavern housed in a simple stone building with a shaded terrace overlooking the lake. As we got closer, I could see a huge wooden door near the main entrance, below the terrace. We were greeted by the grotto’s owner, who, on Rigiani’s request, unlocked the door to what looked like a cave. I instantly felt a rush of cold air. Inside was a long wooden table covered with an old-fashioned chequered tablecloth and a wall-mounted wine rack loaded with bottles.

This was one of Ticino’s famed grottos, traditional storehouses fashioned out of the natural landscape. Mostly dating to the 17th Century, they were originally used as family cellars, preserving wine, salami, cheese, fruit and vegetables. Similar grottos can be found throughout Ticino, and while some remain as private storehouses and others lie unused and abandoned, many, like this one, have been repurposed as cosy watering holes and village taverns.

The Italian word “grotta” means a large natural hollow in rock or the earth, and that’s how these cellars began. In Ticino, landslides once covered vast areas of the Alpine foothills, often creating caverns between the rocks. Living as they did, in often-isolated villages, the Ticinese took advantage of these natural elements to keep their food fresh for longer. Over time, the Ticinese started expanding the caves, creating simple architectural solutions that skilfully incorporated the natural resources. If there was a large opening to the cave, for example, some people added a door at the entrance or carved out extra rooms. If the cavern was only accessible via a small hole in the rockfall, families might build an entire house over the top, using the airflow from the cavern below to keep the internal temperature of the home constant.

“Inside rock caves, they built cellars with arched ceilings. If there wasn’t enough room for all the supplies, the caverns would be hollowed out a bit more or small stone structures would be built in front of the entrance,” Carminati said.

After World War Two, households started to acquire modern refrigerators and the caves’ function started to change. “Very few maintained their original function of preserving food and wine,” explained Alessandro Rezzonico who formerly arranged grotto-hopping boat tours around Lake Lugano. “In other cases, owners expanded their grottos by installing stone tables, benches and other kinds of seating in the forecourt area. They also began selling their stored produce to passers-by.”

Eventually, many of these rustic storehouses, often sitting at the forest limits or on the banks of lakes or rivers, transformed into atmospheric taverns for the public to enjoy regional specialities and conversations in a laid-back, welcoming environment.

Antico Grotto Ticino, located in the town of Mendrisio was built more than a century ago. Its wine cellar is a hollowed-out calcareous rock that promises excellent conditions for storing large quantities of wine. Managed by Peter and Odette Raith, it was recently refurbished and has a menu featuring traditional recipes from Ticino, Lombardia and the surrounding area, such as luganighetta (grilled snails) with onions.

BBC