Typical Products – Enogastronomical Tour

Lake Garda’s most typical products are olive oil, wine and fresh water fish, bound together by an old saying - fish must swim three times: first in water, then in oil and to finish with, in wine.

Lake Garda Cuisine: The lake offers a variety of dishes and recipes ranging from traditional cuisine from the Alps region and Po Valley to specialties from Trentino, Lombardy and Veneto. Both meat and fresh water fish are featured.
Even the most finicky eaters and gourmands will find flavors and tastes suitable for the most elegant table.
The local cuisine offers fine wines, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh water fish and Grade A meat from livestock raised on alpine meadows.
The variety and abundance of the recipes will tempt tourists with their wholesomeness and simplicity. There are four areas of interest: the Trentino area of Garda, the upper riviera of Brescia, Val Tenesi and the morainic hills of Mantua, and the Verona riviera which extends to the peaks of Mount Baldo. Each area offers different fare, but all share the same subtle flavor which derives from ingredients and local products grown in the lake area that benefits from a mild winter and cool summer climate.

Typical Lake Garda products in detail are:

Oil wine fish asparagus truffle chestnuts cheese honey lemons grappa and liquors kitchen – typical dishes pastries

Olive trees are a part of the Lake Garda landscape. Precious and of great importance, it’s home to the olive since ancient times, when the coastal populations tore away land from the woods and made home to the profitable olives. But above all, the monasteries during the medieval times favoured the cultivation, making olives become money as payment for the rent of the lands, calculated precisely in measures of oil (“bacede”). In the churches, oil was also used for illumination and during sacred rites. At the moment on Lake Garda there are approximately fifteen different varieties of olive trees. The historical ones are “Casaliva known as Drizar” (a variety present in the area of Lake Garda before the Glacial Age), the “Leccino” and the “Frantoio”.
Nearly the entire olive production from pressing of the olives from the Lake Garda Riviera becomes extra vergin oil of protected origin (“DOP – Denominazione di Origine Protetta”), guaranteed with the Cee seal since 1997. The excellent extra virgin olive oil is obtained from cold pressing (pressure, without the use of solvents or heat) of the olives which have been hand picked. Hand picking is necessary to obtain a good oil, because it consents to work stone fruit which is still fresh and whole. The extra virgin olive oil of Lake Garda has a low acidity level (less than 1%) and a high level of chlorophyl, which consents keeping for a long time its fresh taste. It is excellent used as a cold dressing, but it is also appreciated in cooking as it resists to high temperatures (220°C) during cooking. It is recommended by doctors because it is able, with its characteristics to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood. According to experts, it also boasts higher merits in respect to other oil products in the Mediteranean basin because it contains glicerid liquids. Lake Garda’s oil is practically without anti parasite residues, thanks to its micro climate and latitude, the furtherest north in the world for olive growing and so being not favourable to deceases. Interesting is the visit to the Oil Museum in Cisano.

The organographical characteristics of the extra virgin olive oil Garda DOP are the following:
- colour: intense and marked golden green, for its high content of chlorophyll;
- perfume: delicate and fruity, light of various intensity;
- lack of defect in taste and smell, fruity with the sensation of sweat almond.

The vine, as the olive is one on the oldest trees of Lake Garda. The mild climate, its exposure to the sun, the balanced rainfall and temperature make this territory fertile for the production of wine, whose taste has been praised since ancient times. Some vineyards look over the lake, others are mixed between olive groves in the immediate inland, while others dot the hills and mountains further inland (up to the not far away Valpolicella). There are 7 Doc wines present on and close by to the lake: Bardolino, Bianco di Custoza, Lugana, wines from Terra dei Forti, doc Garda, Valpolicella and Soave..

The most popular wine on the Veronese shore of Lake Garda is surely the Bardolino red, which accompanies even fish dishes. The Bardolino Classico doc is produced in the shires of Bardolino, Garda, Costermano, Lazise, Affi and Cavaion, with grapes made up of “Molinara”, “Rondinella”, “Corvino Veronese”, “Negrara” and a small part of “Sangiovese”. It has a light ruby red colour, a light winey perfume, with a delicate, dry taste. It’s dry, sapid, slightly bitterish in its back taste. Served at a temperature of 16° - 18° C. It goes well with white meats and soups, but it is even suitable with some fish dishes, such as lake fish soups and fried Alborelle and Alose. The Bardolino Superiore docg, the Bardolino Chiaretto Sparkling wine and the Bardolino Novello doc are also produced.

The Bianco di Custoza is produced in the shires of Peschiera del Garda, Pastrengo, Castelnuovo, Valeggio sul Mincio, Sommcampagna (including the village of Custoza which gives the wine its name) and Bussolengo with grapes made up of White Fernanda grapes, “Garganega”, “Trebbiano”, “Riesling italico”, White Pinot, “Malvasia Toscana” and Chardonnay. It’s colour is hay yellow, its smell is perfumed and fruity, dry taste, sapid, delicate, while the back taste is pleasantly bitterish.. It is served at a temperature of 10° - 12° C. It goes well with all lake fish dishes. The Custoza White, the Custoza Superiore White, the Custoza Sparkling White and the Custoza Passito White are produced.

Lugana, white wine is produced in the shires of Peschiera del Garda, Sirmione, Desenzano, Pozzolengo and Lonato with grapes composed of mainly “Trebbiano of Lugana” (or “Trebbiano of Soave”) and other non aromatic grapes of white berry for a maximum of 10 per cent. Its colour is hay yellow, with a fine and characteristic perfume, a fresh taste, smooth and harmonious. It is served at a temperature of 8° - 10°C. It goes well with all lake fish. Lugana doc, the Lugana Superiore and the Lugana Sparkling wine are produced.

In the nearby Valdadige you can find the wines from Terra dei Forti, where excellent wines like Chardonnay, Pinot grigio, Schiava, Valdadige doc and Enantio are found.

The doc Garda suggest Garganega, Pinot grigio, Pinot bianco, Chardonnay, Tocai, Riesling italico, Cortese, Sauvignon, Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot nero and Marzemino wines.

The close by Valpolicella, the Veronese oenological area best known and appraised in the world and not far from our Lake Garda, is home of three great red wines : the Valpolicella, the Amarone and the Recioto of Valpolicella. The main grapes are “Corvina” and then the “Corvinone”, “Rondinella”, “Molinara”. The Valpolicella has a ruby red colour (which with ageing tends to garnet), light spicy perfume and warm taste, harmonious and velvety. The fabulous Amarone deserves a mention, being one of Italy’s best wines, a sturdy wine, deep and demanding, with a reserved alcohol level which reaches usually 14°, but indirectly it’s 15° - 16° (but it’s not rare that it reaches more than 17°) It is made with withered grapes, from choice vineyards and it is marketable after at least two years of ageing, even if the maturation, from which it receives great benefits, arrives later on. It lasts in time for about 15-20 years : in this case the fruity perfumes leave the place to a full character, extremely balanced and of great elegance.

Another oenological area not far from Lake Garda is Soave, where an elegant white wine is produced, with a composure of “Garganega”, “Trebbiano di Soave” and Chardonnay grapes. It is served at a temperature of 9 -10° C. It is produced in the version of Soave doc, Soave Classico doc, Soave Superiore docg and Soave doc Sparkling wine. With the same grapes a delightful passito wine is produced, the Recioto of Soave docg.

La vite, come l’ulivo, è una delle piante più antiche del Garda. Il clima mite, l’esposizione al sole, l’equilibrio delle piogge e delle temperature rendono questo territorio fertile per la produzione del vino il cui gusto venne esaltato fin da tempi antichissimi.

Before tourism flourished massively, fishing has been for ages one of the most important means of nourishment for the inhabitants of the “Riviera”, the eastern coast of Lake Garda. Some landowners and religious orders, among them the Camaldolese friars, had the exclusive right of fishing and could “rent the lots” against money or fish. Since the assignation of lake’s lots was often cause of conflicts between the excluded and the lucky assignees, in the year 1452 the “Corporazione degli Antichi Originari” of Torri, Garda and Sirmione “Originari” (the old fishermen’s corporation) decided to purchase from Andrea Beccelli the fishing rights on the area situated between Garda and Torri around the Pal del Vò. The traditional auction sale to obtain the fishing rights is still living and is organized in Garda and Torri by the “Corporazione degli Antichi Originari”. At present several fishermen are members of this cooperative that was founded in Garda in the year.
In Lake Garda there are nowadays more than 30 species of fish: some native, others introduced by man. The most prized native fish is without any doubt the carp (“carpione”), a salmon only feeding on crustaceans that can be found exclusively in Lake Garda, in fact all the attempts made to introduce it in other lakes failed. This “unchallenged king” of the lake can reach the length of even 50 cm and the weight of 1,5 kg. The exceptional deliciousness of its meat makes it an almost rare fish destined once to the tables of the rich and the aristocrats. Unfortunately the quantity of the catch carp is getting lower and lower and this sensible reduction testifies the dangerous extinction of the species to which the carp seems to be exposed year after year. The carp can be enjoyed grilled on coals of olive wood and dressed with local olive oil without any spices or boiled.
Another precious lake fish is the trout (“trota lacustre”) that can reach the weight of 20 kg and chooses for its reproduction the mouth of the river Sarca and of the river Mincio.
The lake whitefish (“lavarello” or “coregone”), a precious salmon introduced in the lake in the year 1918, is present in great quantity (it represents more than 30% of the annual catch) and can reach in the lake the weight of 2 kg, while elsewhere 6 kg. Together with the bleak it represents the main income of fishermen.
In the year 1880 fishermen introduced in the lake the real perch (“persico reale”), while in 1916/17 the perch trout (“persico trota”) excellent for its fillets.
Typical for the eastern coast of Lake Garda is the luce (“luccio”), longed by amateur fishermen for its good meat, that can reach the weight of 15 kg and the length of more than 1 m. The luce is a flesh-eating fish, whose presence in the lake has been constantly reducing because of the massive destruction of the flourishing vegetation, ideal shelter for its young.
The southern part of the lake is rich of tenches (“tinca”) that can also reach 6-7 kg. Fishermen catch them in shoals using polenta or corn as bait. Its tender and fat meat is ideal for the risotto.
Basic food of the lake population during cold winters was the bleak (“alborella”) kept under salt. Salted bleaks (“àole”) are the basic ingredient for typical dishes such as “bigoli co le àole”. Cut the head of salted bleaks, rinse them and cut them in pieces. Brown the fish with a clove of garlic in extra virgin olive oil. Dress the “bigoli” with the sauce and before serving add olive oil. Other fishes are the eel (“anguilla”), the chub (leuciscus cephalus cabeda) and the scardola (“scardola”). Fresh fish is available every morning at “La Pescheria” of the fishermen’s corporation in Via Antiche Mura 8 in Garda tel. 045/6270545 or at the port when fishermen come home from their night-catch at about 8-9 a.m. and sell the catch directly on their anchored boats.

During the month of May in Cavaion and Rivoli Veronese the asparagus is celebrated, a product which has only recently been introduced and with great success for agriculture in the area. The product is highly esteemed for its taste characteristics, highly looked for by connoisseurs and gourmets. In particular, in Cavaion the violet asparagus is cultivated, the “Precoce d’Argenteuil”, which is picked as soon as the head of the asparagus appears from the ground. The asparagus is highly digestible, rich in mineral salts and vitamins, diuretic and with a low calorie level.
Rivoli Veronese is known for its marginal production, of the white asparagus. Rivoli is at the shoulders of Lake Garda, facing the Adige Valley. The Moreniche Hills of Rivoli Veronese, laid by a glacier and washed by the flooding of the Adige River, are particularly claimed for the cultivation of the asparagus. The production is however limited. Those who wish to taste the asparagus must go to the local “trattorie” (restaurants), or buy them directly from the producers, also because it is practically impossible to find them on the market. The traditional cooking of the asparagus is boiled, seasoned with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, or accompanied with hard boiled eggs or fried eggs. Another delicious dish is the risotto with asparagus tips.

Among the defused products on Lake Garda, a particular place must be given to the fragrant truffle, the picking of which is passed on in tradition from father to son, in many families of truffle collecting in the area.
The black truffle is collected during the cold months and the “Scorzone” during the warmer months; the areas of collection are the feet of Mount Baldo, the oriental side of Lake Garda and the Moreniche Hills. The collection of the truffle is regulated by regional law, which establishes the periods and method of collection.

Another delicacy from the woods are the mushrooms, from the simple “Chiodini” to the fantastic and tasty “Amanita Caesarea”.

On Mount Baldo you can also find excellent chestnuts, small in size, but rich in taste. When fresh, they can be roasted or boiled and when dried flour is made, or cooked in their own stock lightly salted to make a soup or cooked in milk or wine. The chestnut was already cultivated in the Baldo Veronese territory in Medieval Times.

Chestnut soup (“minestrone di marroni”)

Chestnut soup (“minestrone di marroni”) is the typical dish of San Zeno di Montagna. It’s a tasty, delicious change to the autumn Veneta classic pasta with beans. A country delight of ancient origins, which for some time had been forgotten.
The recipe:
In generous cold water add one kilo of whole, pealed potatoes, four hundred grams of dried beans,
which have previously been left to rest in cold water over night and finally chopped lard. It is then left to cook over slow heat for a couple of hours. The beans and potatoes are then “fished” and mashed coarsely with a fork, and then the vegetables are put back into the stock. Add four hundred grams of pealed chestnuts (for a perfect effect toast the chestnuts for a minute over hot flame: the skin and peal with come off easier). Then add some short cut pasta, and when it is cooked, serve hot. If you wish to give the soup an ulterior touch, add a little extra virgin olive oil, obviously from Lake Garda over the steaming soup.

These days cheesemongers still in activity on Mount Baldo are very few, but they produce a simple and excellent cheese, the “Monte Veronese”, which is brought to different levels of maturation. Butter and cottage cheese of an intense milk taste are also produced.

The huge number of flower varieties on the Mount Baldo allows a great and precious production of honey. In fact, in the area there are many hives producing different honey sorts thanks to the several local plants. The honey keeps untouched the fragrance and the healthy qualities typical of each plant. The chestnut typical of the Mount Baldo gives a dark colored honey rich of pollen and with a slightly bitter taste, mainly used to stimulate the blood circulation or as astringent thanks to its richness of tannin. Other honey sorts are: the transparent, liquid, perfumed, sweet, energetic and detoxicating acacia honey advised for the liver; the dark, “thousand flowers” honey produced in hilly and woody zones, rich of minerals; the light “thousand flowers” honey produced in the lowland; the amber colored hawthorn honey used as a sedative; the bright yellow lucerne honey prized as energetic and laxative; the honey produced from the yellow taraxacum flower flourishing at mid April and used for the liver and intestine.
Lazise hosts every year a national exhibition-market dedicated to honey and the apiculture products, while every two years an international congress-market on apiculture called “Biennale del Miele” takes place at the end of September or at the beginning of October.

On Lake Garda the cultivation of lemons, citrons and oranges was common for commercial use. The spectacular citrus gardens, which represent the area further north in the world (nearly 46° latitude) between high mountain horizons, kept alive the myth of Lake Garda, land of the lemons.
According to tradition, the cultivation of the citrus was introduced on Lake Garda by the Franciscan Friars in the XIII century. The citrus ended up becoming a profitable font of gain and work for the lake shore populations, in particular for those resident on the east side of the lake and primarily for those who lived between Maderno and Limone. The harvesting was altogether high, even on the oriental side of the lake, primarily in the area of Torri del Benaco. At the time they were exported throughout Europe.
The production declined due to competitive motives and the high costs of production. Infact the citrus were cultivated in monumental glasshouses, the “limonare”, which during the winter were closed. The citrus trees were kept covered from November to April, while during the hot season the “limonare” were totally opened to the lake’s sun. Two annual flowerings characterised the cultivation, in May and moderately in August.
Today the “limonare” are nearly all abandoned. The “limonara” in the castle of Torri del Benaco is still perfectly functional, which constitutes an integral part of the local museum. In Tignale, the mountain community of Alto Garda Bresciano has recuperated and made visitable a “limonara” of the 1800s. The Gardesani citrus can not be found on the market these days.
From the ancient spicery in Salò and Riva del Garda comes “l’acqua di tutto cedro”, which these days is produced in the Tassoni lake side factory (whose ancestors had a local pharmacy), and apart from the liquor, also produce a famous soft drink, the “Cedrata Tassoni”.

Grappa:
Being an important area for the production of wine, it is obviously even for the grappa. In fact, we must remember that the grappa is a distillate made with grape stones, otherwise the grape scrapings, the skins and other solid maters, which are left after the pressing of the grapes for vinification, or in some cases after fermentation.. Excellent grappa producers of the area are the Distilleria Gobetti from Costermano, the Distilleria Scaramellini from Sandrà di Castelnuovo and the Distilleria Franceschini from Bardolino.

Liquors:
The western side of the lake is famous for its lemons and citrons, and from the infusion of the citrons, water, alcohol and sugar, “l’Acqua di Cedro” is made. A pleasant liquor of medium alcoholic level, which seems is an invention of the 1700s by a pharmacist of Salò (on the Lombarda side of the lake). It was once given as a universal remedy against, influenza, colds and stomach pains.

The lakes population kitchen was made up normally of only one course, only during special occasions several courses were served and the “polenta” was nearly always present. The most known dishes today are:

ENTRES:

Frequent is the “luccio in salsa” (boiled luce and served with bleak “alborelle”, lightly fried onions and capers), the “sardène in saor” (fried alose seasoned with vinegar, onions, oil and sometimes pine nuts and raisins.

FIRST COURSES:

“Riso con la tenca”, typical dish from the southern part of the lake, a tasty “risotto” with tench, lightly fried onions and garlic and cooked in vegetable stock together with the rice. Another characteristic first course are the “bigoi con le aole”, a fresh, home made, long string pasta, seasoned with a sauce made from pickled “alborelle” and extra virgin olive oil. Typical, even though is difficult to find these days, is the lake’s fish soup with low fat fish (such as trout, “coregoni”, “bottatrice”) filleted and vegetables added (onions, carrots and celery) stewed or lightly fried in oil.
When the fish is nearly cooked, tomato sauce, vegetable stock, half a glass of white wine, garlic and finely chopped parsley are added. It is served with home made bread croutons. The “ravioli” are filled with fish flesh (trout, “persico”, “coregone”) and seasoned with melted butter and sage. Excellent is also the risotto with asparagus from Rivoli and Cavaion. The pasta is also often served with a sauce made from lake fish and tomato sauce.

SECOND COURSES:

In the second courses lake fish is the master, as it is easily imaginable. Like the filleted persico fish, floured and tossed in the fry pan with little butter and sage leaves. Or “coregone” (lake whitefish) fillets Mugnaia style, which are lightly floured, tossed in oil and finished cooking with white wine.
Trout, “coregoni” (lake whitefish) and “lucci” (luce) are cooked in scrolls or steamed, thereby maintaining intact fragrance and lightness of the fish.
Cooking directly the fish fillets consents preparing traditional stews in little time, therefore reducing the use of fats to only a dash of raw olive oil for the final touch at the end of cooking. Even the stewed fish is served with the traditional yellow “polenta”. Widespread is the barbequed fish, placed over the heat of the coals obtained from cut branches of the olive trees and grape vines. On the barbeque “coregoni-lavarelli” (lake whitefish), eals, aloes and sometimes, if you’re lucky the rare “carpione” are cooked. Even lake trout is now almost nearly rare. It is an enormous fish, that can be more than ten kilos in weight, and for years swims up the rivers for reproducing, swimming in the lake’s strong tides, developing a very firm flesh, sapid, with a slightly wild taste which at times reminds of meat. It is boiled and served in “belavista” with olives, slices of lemon, finely cut vegetables and covered with gelatine.
Fried lake fish is composed of “aole” (“alborelle”) (white-bait), perch filets, “sardène” (“alose") (sardines) and pieces of “cavasii” (“cavedano”) fried in extra virgin olive oil from Lake Garda which gives a grateful bitterish taste.
Other typical Veronese dish is also “polenta e baccalà” (stockfish – cod, dried in the north winds) cooked with onions and concentrated tomato paste, served as a main dish it’s very present during work feasts.
Getting away from the fish dishes, during important occasions, the typical dish is “lesso” (boiled meats, made up of “cotechino”, tongue, “testina”, and beef meat) with “pearà”, sauce made with beef marro (these days substituted with butter after the crazy cow event) grated stale bread, pepper and stock. Before the “lesso”, “taiadèle” (“tagliatelle”) (thin ribbon pasta) in thin soup were always served, at times with “figadini” (chicken livers). Widespread is also stewed or roasted rabbit and in autumn game and mushrooms accompanied by “polenta”. Another non fish dish is the “pastissada de caval”,
Stewed horse meat macerated with wine and garden herbs, floured and braised with a variety of vegetables which is served with “polenta”, typical dish of the lower lake area and Mantua area. Present is also the truffle, in the “Scorzone” variety in summer and “trifola nera” during winter, sliced in flakes, added to grated parmesan cheese and melted butter to season boiled rice and home made pasta.
Typical product of the high lake area, the Garda Trentino area, is the “carne salada” with is served raw or cooked, accompanied by “fasoi” (beans). It can be easily found even at the local butchers or grocer’s.

TORTELLINO DI VALEGGIO

A special mention is reserved for the famous and delicious “Tortellino di Valeggio”. The presence of more than forty restaurants in Valeggio, a small town situated in the valley of the Mincio river, is to be related to its famous and delicious local specialty: the “tortellino” of Valeggio, also called “nodo d’amore” (love’s knot) according to the legend explaining its origins. Common feature of the strictly handmade “tortellino” is the extremely thin stretched pasta. According to the legend going back to the end of the 4th century, when the troops of Galeazzo Visconti landed onto the banks of the river Mincio under the castle of Valeggio, during the night water-lilies were used to come out from the river water and dance among the fires of the bivouac. One night the young captain Malco was running after Silvia, a water-lily, and was suddenly captured by her beauty when she lost her veil. They fell in love immediately and decided to escape together towards the river. The envious Isabel warned the prince, who ordered to capture the fugitives. After a whole night of useless searches Siliva’s veil was found with a knot, sign of the eternal love between her and Malco. Since then, on feast-days, the girls of Valeggio are used to roll out the pasta in a thin sheet, as thin as a veil, and fill it with a delicate meat filling giving to tortellini the shape of a “love’s knot”. Every year by mid June the restaurant owners of Valeggio celebrate this special event with a dinner organized on the Ponte Visconteo in Borghetto on the suggestive background of the medieval castle. On this occasion ten quintals of handmade tortellini, prepared by 350 cookers, are enjoyed by about 4.000 guests invited to this historical dinner.

The official recipe

700 g meal
200 g beef
200 g pork
200 g chicken
100 g ham
4 eggs
1 onion
100 g Parmesan cheese
50 g bread-crumbs
2 soup spoons of extra virgin olive oil
water,salt,pepper,rosemary,nutmeg
Boil beef, pork and chicken cut in pieces together with onion, olive oil, salt pepper, rosemary and nutmeg. Allow the meat to cool and mince it in the mixer with ham, Parmesan cheese, bread-crumbs and the egg’s yolk. Put the filling in the fridge and allow it to rest for a while. Prepare the pasta, the classical handmade puff pastry obtained by rolling out the pasta in a thin sheet (this is one of the main secrets of the “tortellino” of Valeggio), cutting it with a washer in small squares of 4-5 cm and filling them in the center. Seal then the “tortellino” by folding the pasta diagonally, closing the edges and binding the two sides together to leave a small hole on the top. Place the tortellini on a table-cloth or a ventilated support, to get them dry. Boil them for about 2 minutes and serve the tortellini in the same meat broth –as the tradition wants- or eat them with melted butter and sage. Serve with an abundant sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Among the typical cakes, the best known is probably the “Fogàssa” a pastry composed of flour, water, a little bicarbonate soda, an egg, little sugar and “frusa” (dregs) from olive oil. There is a salted version of the “fogàssa”, without egg and sugar which substitutes bread.

Other typical cakes are the “brasadèla pasquale” (Easter cake), “nadalin” during the Christmas season, “sòssole” at carnival time and the small “sanvigilini” typical biscuits of Lake Garda, or as can be understood from their name created at Punta San Vigilio, in the legendary inn facing the small port, run by Leonard Walsh during the sixties, an eccentric British. He had got them made after the second world war when Winston Churchill came to San Vigilio for a short stay, officially to relax and paint, in reality, according to some, for the exchange of letters with Mussolini. Whether the story is true is all to be proven. The fact is that the “Sanvigilini” are surrounded by mystery: it wasn’t possible to know the recipe. The only clue was that they reminded certain English butter tea biscuits. Then suddenly something was known and now they find place in the local restaurants and cake shops in Garda. While in the lower lake area you find the “sbrisolona”, short bread pastry with pieces of almonds. It is broken into course pieces, by giving a light punch in the centre of the cake, it is served with a few drops of acquavite splashed over the shortbread. It is served after coffee accompanied by a glass of grappa.