Typical Flavors of Lake Como

Lake Como products tell the story of flavors with modern forms

Throughout the region, you can taste unique products. In the lake area, in addition to the multitude of local fish such as whitefish, shad, perch, trout, carp, chub, eel, pike, bleak, top-quality vegetables are cultivated, such as the asparagus of Rogaro. Olive cultivation persists and thrives, producing a now rare and precious PDO oil, protected and maintained by the Olivicoltori del Lago di Como cooperative. Alongside these agricultural productions, located mainly in the Upper Lake area, there is also the production of wine, with brilliant colors and rustic flavors, cultivated on the hills of North Lake Como.

Going up the valleys, the best-known product is polenta, yellow, "taragna" or "vuncia," which accompanies tasty game-based dishes or rustic slices of casera cheese, produced in two varieties: full-fat and semi-fat. Other products include mushrooms, rustic cured meats, chestnuts, and all dairy products, from pasture butter to cheeses with the most unusual names: caprini, casorette, zincarlin, semude, piazzavachera, caprinotti, taleggio, formaggelle, ricotta, and excellent butter.

The production of various types of honey is also renowned, including chestnut honey with a stronger and more penetrating flavor and acacia honey, which is much lighter. Ancient chestnut groves still produce precious fruits, now also used for flour, ideal for low-calorie diets.
In Brianza, you can find various types of cured meats such as filzette and cacciatorini, or products like rye, millet, barley, corn, chestnuts, walnuts, snails and river crayfish, locally produced honey, dried fruit, and PDO wines from the Montevecchia Hills.