His majesty the fish from the lake is served - There was a time when fish from the lake was regarded almost with suspicion: a sort of illegitimate child spawned in lesser waters and something to fall back on in the absence of saltwater specimens. Things have changed quite a bit, of course. In fact, it is increasingly difficult, despite the claims of disparagers and the misinformed, to come across places on Lake Garda without at least one dish on the menu featuring fish from the lake. And this, somewhat paradoxically, is mainly true of five-star kitchens, where creative gastronomic delights using freshwater fish are multiplying at an extraordinary rate. Take, for instance, the menus of the temples of haute cuisine such as Villa Fiordaliso in Gardone Riviera or the delightful Il Porto in Moniga, which serves nothing but fish from the lake. It is anything but a poor man's dish.

Fortunately, this is precisely what the more discerning traveler seeks today: a complete and authentic sensorial experience that really shows what each region has to offer in terms of flavors and aromas. Luckily, there are still such things as the Garda Fishermen's Cooperative, an association that was founded back in 1942 and is still a benchmark for anyone eager to learn more about the world of fishing on Lake Garda. It is a fascinating world that undoubtedly represents an important aspect of local culture, and is now being injected with new blood thanks to the rediscovery of flavors and ingredients found in new taste trends.

In other words, the fisherman is no longer the creature nearing extinction that he was not so many years ago. Today the Garda Cooperative has twenty-five members, seven of whom are young men not yet thirty who have deliberately chosen this profession. And it is all thanks to the support of an organization that is the only one of its kind on Lake Garda and is composed of around sixty fishermen. In the last decade, this organization has faced and won the major challenge of promoting its fishing industry. It has also expanded its business ranging from the sale of fresh fish to its processing.

At its new headquarters in Garda, the Cooperative now has a fish-smoking center and warehouses for storing salted anchovies. The fish store also moved here not long ago and now sells the members' fresh catches of the day (mainly whitefish, perch, tench, sardines and eels). Another myth to be debunked is that Lake Garda is depleted of fish. The Cooperative has informed us, in fact, that the number of fish in Italy's largest lake is the highest it has been in many years.
Sometimes a magnificent trout may even end up in the net (but demand for fresh fish, in an area where fish farms abound, is so high that they are hard to find), and even the occasional carp, a variety exclusive to Lake Garda.

Some of the catch is transformed into delicious ready-to-serve gourmet dishes that possess all the fragrance and aroma of the lake and are the first to be snapped up at the Cooperative's store. A mouthwatering treat is ravioli with a filling of whitefish and smoked tench. There are also new products, such as whitefish pâté, which bring yesterday's flavors to the menus of today. The star attraction, however, is probably oil-packed sardines, which are first preserved under salt before they are packed in the jar.