Lakes, the water of delights

Lake’s eyes, water pupils that watch you through the trees’ eyelashes. Sweet eyes contemplating the surrounding landscapes. Mouths trying unusual tastes like the ones of the fish that have never seen the sea. The white fish is a fine fish belonging to the Salmonidi species. Where can you eat it? In one of the wonderful villages overlooking lake Bracciano in Lazio along the panoramic route that surrounds it. The white fish is called “coreghone” here, it’s generally roasted and flavoured

with parsley, salt, lemon and olive oil that are put inside it. A good wine is never missing with a good fish, not necessarily white. Let’s taste the wine from lake Caldaro, the widest stretch of water in the province of Bolzano. The Kalterersee is a DOP “allrounder” to be served at 10 degrees of temperature. The historical cooperative Kaltern represents all the producers of this area to be discovered together with its wines like the Quintessenz and the Leuchtenberg.

In a sun lake

Lake Como is green-blue midway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Alpine areas. In the area of the Baroque village of Tremezzo the food tradition is represented by the “missoltini”, a quite difficult preparation of the dried fish that belongs to the Slow Food Movement. The favourite fish are the agoni, they are very rich in Omega3 that don’t disappear even when the fish is dried. They are kept in layers covered in bay leaves in the ‘missolta’. When the time to taste them comes they are put on the grill; the hot ones are pickled in oil, vinegar, parsley and garlic and they are served with toasted polenta and red wine. A huge edged green mountain comes up from the lake’s water: we are still in Lombardy but it’s another lake. Lake Iseo and its Montisola island which is the biggest lake island of Italy. An amazing place that perfectly matches the villages’ sustainability as well as its typical products. Starting with the dried fish mainly the sardine that are kept in wooden containers that are called ‘tole’.

Tasting darts

Which is the most darting fish? The eel? That’s right. You won’t run away this time since it’s time to taste it if you have never done it before! White houses in Puglia as opposed to the deep blue sea of Lesina which is a lake full of fish and the protagonists are the eels. The female ones are big and they are called capitoni. They are cooked in a way that is called ‘in scapece’ and they are considered a Traditional Food Product of the area in the province of

Foggia. They can be fried or pickled in the vinegar. Eels are a must by the lake Bolsena too, it’s one of the most beautiful lakes of Italy, it’s a volcanic lake and it’s the biggest of Europe in the High Tuscia in Lazio. Eels are also bred here, their soft and savoury meat can be tasted in many different ways, they can be roasted, they can be stewed, they can be cooked with vernaccia or in the “cacciatore” way. The capitoni are generally smoked.

Not just fish

Lakes offer some specialities that can also be found on the land. The Fagiolina from Trasimeno for instance is a local legume from this lake in Umbria set nearby some very old villages and three islands. The humid soil and the climate of this area enable the growing of this local product, it’s a very small cream coloured seed. It belongs to the Slow Food Movement, you can simply taste it with a little extra-virgin oil, with salt and pepper or in a soup with truffles.

The lake of Matese in the Regional Park of Campania is surrounded by mountain areas and calcareous rocks, beech trees forests and unspoilt fields where the cows are free and the production of cheese is very good. The ‘scamorzine’, the stracciatelle and the caciocavallo cheese from the tiny village of San Gregorio Matese must be tasted, it’s a timeless village, they produce high quality milk just like the one we used to drink a long time ago…