The cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige is a delicious and tasty combination of German influences, mountain cooking, and Mediterranean flavors. These delicacies do include fruit-stuffed gnocchi and beef goulash with bread crumbs and browned butter.
Instead of risotto or pasta, chefs here prefer to make polentas using buckwheat or cornmeal. They also make soups covered with bread dumplings, all made from the heart. Spot the prized flavors, from long-simmered pork stews to cooked cabbage in pure-red wine.
Generally, the food quality is high. You do not have to spend lots of your hard-earned money on a fancy eatery to have a lifetime experience with an excellent cuisine. Rather, you can have some in a local malga whenever you go for a hike. Perhaps you might be interested in the items to get on the menu.
Here’s What You Will Find on the Menu:
1. First courses
First courses such as Canederli, Spatzle, and Schlutzkrapfen are the first items you will find on the menu.
Canederli comprises bread dumplings and flour. You can eat this either in broth or with butter alongside some Trentingrana toppings with spinach, cheese or speck flavors.
Schlutzkrapfen or mezzelune is the other first course. It includes half-circle stuffed past; same as ravioli. Normally, Schlutzkrapfen is filled with spinach and ricotta.
Spatzle is the third item on the first course list. Don’t freak out because of the Italian name. Spatzle simply comprises of tiny gnocchi made of water, flour, and eggs. You can eat it either with chives condiment or butter. Alternatively, Spatzle can be made of spinach.
2. Second courses
Second courses do include river fish and fresh lake-like salmerino and trout, venison goulash and rabbit.
3. Cured Meats
Cured meats such as carne salada, luganega, mortandela and speck are the next items on the menu.
Traditionally, the cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige must include some kind of cured meat – speck being the most popular one. It comprises of partially smoked, dry-cured ham, sliced that you can eat just the way it is or use it in recipes. A famous option in this category is speck sandwich (Panino con lo speck); loved by hikers.
Carne salada is the other kind of cured meat, basically made of beef’s thigh (at times with calf or horse).
Besides speck and carne salada, you will also find mortandela as a kind of cured meat. This consists of smoked pork salami with a meatball shape. You can either eat it cooked or raw; serve it with boiled veggies, polenta or sauerkraut.
Lucanica is a cold-cut cured meat, taken by each farmer’s family – as a tradition. Its taste is delicately spicy, with a scent of garlic and pepper.
4. Cheeses
The cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige is also rich in cheeses. This isn’t a surprise because cows here graze on excellent fodder. The environment and climate are healthy for the growth of this fodder, hence the production of quality milk to make cheese. These cheeses consist of puzzone di moena, Trentingrana, vezzena and casolet.
5. Deserts
Next on the menu are desserts such as Kaiserschmarren, Sacher Torte, and Strudel. These are usually made from plums, pears, and apples; these fruits are widely grown in Trentino-Alto Adige.
The bottom line
Besides the first & second courses, desserts, cured meats and cheeses, the cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige also consists of rose, red and white wines. These wines include Muller Thurgau, Teroldego and Lagrein. Finally, you can drive the food-themed roads in this area and experience different tastes.