Molche, extra virgin olive oil, green broccoli from Torbole, chestnuts.
All these delicacies have a common denominator: they are all Garda Trentino excellences! Yes but, vegan excellences!
If you think that in a region like Trentino there are only animal food, you are totally wrong!! The gifts from mother nature to a land rich in vegetation and with an unspoilt nature are in fact abundant!
Two products tied by a shared feature are the DOP extra virgin olive oil and the molche.
The Garda Trentino DOP extra virgin olive oil
The Garda Trentino DOP extra virgin olive oil is the northernmost oil all over the world, above the 46th parallel! This is due to the typical Mediterranean climate of Lake Garda that gifts its visitors with mild temperature and sunny days. Not only: the centuries-old olive trees contain a high concentration of polyphenols, natural antioxidants which are essential for your health. Have you ever tried to taste it simply on a good slice of bread?
And what if the bread was… made of molche?
What are these molche? They are the solid leftovers from the olive oil production, composed by the rinds and the pulp of the olives, but without the pits. It’s a term taken from the local dialect of the surrounding Alto Garda towns of Riva, Arco, Dro, Nago-Torbole and Tenno.
With this scrumptious preparation you could make some fragrant bread, but also dumplings and even some unusual cakes.
The green broccoli from Torbole, presided over by Slow-food
The green broccoli from Torbole, presided over by Slow-food, is another speciality typical of Garda Trentino!
Sweet, delicate, very rich in antioxidant properties: a real splendor of the nature, born on the wind! Thanks to the Pelèr in fact, a wind coming from north-east that creates an ideal micro-climate, they are grown between Torbole and Arco (an area called Linfano) as little yellow flowers with strong green leaves, basis of several recipes with a unique taste.
To end this list of “vegan” products with something sweet, why not citing the chestnuts, or better, the marroni, as they are called here!
The chestnuts from Campi
The chestnuts and the chestnut puree from Campi (a locality of Riva del Garda) have recently got the De.Co. classification, an important accolade for the local cultures that is given to natural products and partly organic.
Lots of tasty recipes to try with the salted puree. As for the marroni, since we are in autumn what’s better than tasting some crunchy and soft chestnuts sipping some Teroldego wine?
In addition to the above mentioned marroni from Campi, there are some other typical chestnuts from Drena, Nago and Pranzo. You could taste them at dedicated festivals and events.
If the word vegan has become trendy in the last few years, Trentino has a long tradition of natural excellences, for all you can imagine. Let’s think about a steaming dish of polenta and mushrooms with a side dish of green broccoli from Torbole and… a handful of chestnuts! What tasty menus to savour in Garda Trentino for every taste, even to most “ethical” and veggie-addicted!
