Lake Garda Culinary Tours Boost Food and Wine Tourism Initiatives
One of the longstanding questions posed by operators in the hospitality industry on the shores of Lake Garda has always been, “What to offer tourists during their stay?” It is now well-known, especially among industry insiders, that simply showcasing scenic beauty, swimming-friendly waters of Garda, and good cuisine are no longer sufficient. These elements were once indispensable and enough to attract visitors, but nowadays tourists are becoming increasingly demanding and discerning. Recently, on the Veronese side, a group of friends and economic operators gathered to discuss these questions.
Initiatives and Food and Wine Tourism
This has led to the creation of a unique initiative on Garda that is sure to generate interest, not only in holiday tourism but also in conference tourism: teaching traditional Garda cuisine. Food and wine tourism is a hot topic. Cantine Aperte has recently mobilized thousands of enthusiasts all across Italy.
In Lake Garda’s vicinity, this new trend in tourism is also widely discussed. Thus, the association I Ghiottoni and the Veronese branch of Slow Food, in collaboration with Gruppo Italiano Vini, and the tourism promotion company of the Riviera degli Olivi, decided to move from theory to practice by offering a tangible food and wine tourism experience on the Benaco.
“Vacationers on the Riviera are offered a short course in traditional Garda cuisine. The initiative — explains one of the promoters, Angelo Peretti — is called GardaGourmet and takes place every Wednesday morning from June to September at Lamberti wineries in Lazise. The lessons are conducted in Italian, German, or English to reach as many tourists as possible.”
The program includes participants arriving at 10:00 a.m., guided tours of the wineries, followed at 10:30 a.m. by a lesson on preparing some classic Garda recipes (trout in Garda sauce, sardines en saor, potato gnocchi with tench ragù, carne salada, fogassin on la gradela). At 12:30 p.m., a tasting of the dishes demonstrated and other lake specialties takes place, paired with wines from Lamberti and Santi wineries, the two wineries of Gruppo Italiano Vini in Veronese. In this case, typical wines from Bardolino to Chiaretto, from Soave to Lugana will also be proposed.
The course coordinators are two renowned chefs from the Garda Veneto Riviera: Flavio Tagliaferro, culinary advisor for the Ristorante Gardesana in Torri del Benaco, and Isidoro Consolini, chef at Ristorante Al Caval in Torri del Benaco. Registrations and bookings can be made through the travel agency Gabritour in Garda.
All of this is coordinated by Angelo Peretti, the Garda representative of Slow Food. For organized groups — Peretti further explains — seeking additional culinary and wine experiences, I Ghiottoni and Slow Food are available to set up gastronomic tours around the lake.
Gastronomic Tours and Itineraries
The first opportunity is titled “Oil, Wine, and Lake Garda Cuisine”: it includes a guided visit to an olive oil mill on the Riviera, a tasting of the oil, and a cooking course at Lamberti wineries. The second “package” involves a rice-themed itinerary at Isola della Scala, including a guided tour of the Melotti rice mill and a tasting of wines and risottos at a farm stay in the Lower Veronese.
The third offering, “Parmigiano and Mantuan Cuisine,” includes a stop at a Virgilian cheese dairy and a short Mantuan cooking class at Opera Ghiotta, the Slow Food headquarters in Mantova.
