Garda con Gusto – Gourmet Experience can be defined as a real “chronicle” of the excellence of a territory, Lake Garda Trentino, which in terms of first-rate products, tradition and culinary experiments, has a lot to offer .
The event, three days of pure delicacy, (which has been held five times), is above all a hymn to a territory, Trentino, which has always, despite its simplicity, exported a model of food and wine based on basic elements rendered, thanks to skill of those who preceded us, real masterpieces for the palate.
Including carne salada with the De.Co. designation, DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) extra virgin olive oil, Torbole broccoli, wine, DOP Dro plums, and lake fish.
During the event, a “tasting lounge”, dedicated to lake fish, was presented thanks to the raw materials of the Troticoltura Armanini and the “skill” of Chef Alfred Lageder of the Ristorante Alfio in Dro.
The delights of fresh water: fish from Lake Garda
Whitefish, sardines, pike, perch, trout! There are many fish species in the clear waters of the Garda that lend themselves to the most varied recipes.
But the farmed fish are also of high quality. The breeding of char and trout (rainbow or brown), recently recognized as IGP (protected geographical indication), is important.
One of the most popular and well-known firms is the Troticultura Armanini which supplied Chef Lageder with a precious raw material to bring a delicious first course to the tables of Garda con Gusto.
A mouth-watering first course and a riot of Alto Garda raw materials
Among the three dishes of the Salotto dedicated to lake fish, the one that gave the greatest satisfaction to the home chef “Alfio” was the delicious first course presented at Garda con Gusto: “Conchiglioni monograno “Matt” Felicetti, stuffed with ricotta of Fiavé and smoked trout on lake cacciucco “.
The idea, Chef Lageder explains to us, was to modify a typical Tuscan dish such as the well-known cacciucco, prepared with sea fish, using instead more freshwater fish with a delicate flavour.
Accompanying this “soup” was Felicetti’s Trentino pasta (link) in its most tenacious and richest variety of durum wheat, namely Matt. The conchiglioni, filled with the freshest ricotta of Fiavé (a real naturalistic paradise) and placed on the lake “caciucco” were a real surprise for the palate of the many visitors.
The wine pairing
The oenological pairing of this dish was with the very fragrant “L’Ora” wine made from Nosiola grapes, a native Trentino vine, by the Cantina Toblino. A deep straw yellow color with golden hues and an intense structure, with excellent persistence, perfect to give body to Chef Lageder’s dish.
From Alfio between Alto Garda raw materials and imaginative experiments
If the desire to taste a good “cacciucco di lago” should make itself felt, don’t worry: at the “Alfio” restaurant in Dro, Chef Lageder prepares it about every two weeks, always with the very carefully selected raw materials for the kitchen from “Armanini”.
You just have to go to Dro, close your eyes and enjoy the triumph of local excellence prepared by Chef Alfred.
While waiting for the sixth annual event of Garda con Gusto – Gourmet Experience, the “excuse” to savour precious raw materials and excellent dishes couldn’t be better.
