CRAFTSMANSHIP The Friendship Cup

Grolla or friendship cup?

Friendship Cup should not be confused with Grolla, another typical and very famous craft product in the Aosta Valley.

The Grolla is a wine goblet carved from a piece of fine wood, made on a lathe and decorated by hand, a symbol of friendship, family and fraternity.

In the past, the Grolla served as a cup for convivial drinking, a ritual that dates back to ancient times and is still practiced only on specific occasions in the present day.

Today, in fact, this craft item is mostly used as a jewelry holder and as an ornament.

The Friendship Cup is equally sought after and is a symbolic object ofcraftsmanship in the Aosta Valley.

This is an elaboration of the traditional wooden bowl, but this time equipped with two handles.

Compared to the Grolla, the Friendship Cup is lower, capacious, and pot-bellied, characterized by the presence of spouts on the sides and a finely carved lid .

The ancient tradition of the Friendship Cup: the “Valdostana Coffee”

According to tradition, the Friendship Cup is used to drink “Valdostan-style coffee” in good company .

It is a local drink invented in the mists of time to “warm the ears” with friends on cold winter nights.

The preparation of “Valdostana-style coffee” consists of pouring coffee corrected with grappa, lemon zest, sugar and plenty of spices inside the Friendship Cup.

The rim of the cup should be sprinkled with more sugar and more grappa. After that, flame the rim and wait until the sugar has caramelized before serving the flaming coffee.

At this point, the Friendship Cup is ready and is passed around as a sign of friendship, passing it from hand to hand, without laying it on the table. In this way, everyone receives their ration of “Valdostan coffee,” very often even more than once.

It never happens that we always sip coffee from the same spout, but this does not turn out to be a problem, on the contrary. It is precisely this that creates a stronger friendship, greater togetherness and intense involvement in the practice of the ritual.

The Friendship Cup is a handcrafted item that is perfect for a special gift to give to yourself and your closest friends and is perfect to use to prepare this unusual version of coffee.

Le Tournage ‘s craftsmanship in the Aosta Valley: from workshop to customer

The origins ofhandicrafts in the Aosta Valley go back to the frequent needs of the Alpine population to make various tools for use at home and at work.

Over time,Valdostan craftsmanship has differed in a variety of areas and in all its most diverse expressions. It has gradually led to the emergence and development of multiple personal ways of working with wood, iron, soapstone and textiles.

However,wood handicrafts remain the most practiced by Valdostan artisans.

This discipline sees many different traditions, such as turning and carving, that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Every year, on January 30 and 31, the famous thousand-year-old event, the Saint Bear Fair, takes place in the main streets of Aosta.

Called “Fèira de Sènt-Or” in Valle d’Aosta patois, this is an unmissable rendezvous with the magic ofValle d’Aosta craftsmanship in all its forms.
The enormous passion, steadfast tradition and astonishing simplicity in woodworking are characteristic of the artisans of Le Tournage.