Borgotaro is a famous land, gastronomically speaking, for porcini mushrooms and mountain Parmesan cheese, but few people know that the local gastronomy, more precisely the pastry, has integrated into its culture a product that comes from far away.
It was the beginning of the 20th century when many inhabitants of the Engadine Valley, a vast valley in the canton of Grisons between the Swiss mountains, left their land of origin to move to Italy. Many of them stopped in Borgotaro and one of them, Maurizio Steckli, brought with him a unique recipe that today is the sweet symbol of Borgo Val di Taro, the Àmor.
Composed of two thin wafers that contain a vanilla cream composed of flour, eggs, sugar, milk and butter, a few simple ingredients but it is only with the art of pastry that you achieve exceptional results. The butter cream must be worked with skill to achieve the right consistency, first hot and then cold.
Currently, the Steckli pastry shop is run by Mrs Paola Tagliavini, who learned the Amor technique from her mother Maria Zecca, who worked in the shop from those who brought the famous cake to Borgotaro, and then to Pontremoli.