My Kind of Food

A couple of weeks ago I was able to spend a few hours on the shore of Lake Garda, in a lovely little town called Salò.  Today it’s a quiet sleepy lakeside town but in the heady years of complex Italian politics it was the centre of government of the Nazi-backed Italian Social Republic, sometimes know as the Republic of Salò (1943-1945).  Like most forms of Italian extremism it faded and has left this gorgeous little sun-trap in its wake.

Lunch was in a typically unpromising lakeside eatery attached to a 3 star hotel, La Locanda de Benaco.

Initially the main attraction was the combination of views across the lake and the fact that there were tables with partial shade.  Being offered a bowl of water for the dogs at the same time as we humans were offered drinks was a good start.

As we hadn’t planned to eat here, no research had been undertaken in advance and so it was a voyage of discovery.  The menu was a bit different to most places and as you might expect from venue by a lake, it had its fair share of fish dishes.  The meat options though were appealing too.

I started with Battuta di fassona, semi di zucca, uova di quaglia (Fassona beef tartare, with pumpkin sees and quail’s egg).  The little fried quail’s egg was so cute and the beef was really tasty and all the better for being served at room temperature and not ice-cold. The pumpkin seeds added a welcome texture.  It was perfect starter for a warm spring day, light, refreshing and bright and cheerful on the plate.

One of the problems with having a plate of nice food in front of me is that I want to dive right in and taste it.  Writing a blog though requires me to take pictures first.  In this case the temptation to tuck into my Guinea fowl with cauliflower cream was too great and alas it was half eaten before I remembered to take the pic.  Here it is though, in it’s half demolished state.  My apologies!

Guinea fowl is one of my favourites and is know as Faraona in Italy.  I like it so much because it has the taste of the chicken of my childhood before they were quite as intensively farmed as they are today and had time to grow on the farm naturally.  The skin here was crisp and golden with just one or two dark sticky bits to make it very lovely indeed.  The yellow ball in the top left of the photo is polenta, which, I’m sure, would have been cooked to perfection but which I didn’t eat because of my own aversion to the stuff. I will try to learn to like it though – one day!

Matching the food though were the really friendly staff who were attentive without being overbearing and always gave a smile as they passed the table.   I’d go back again for that reason alone.