A comfortable sojourn at the Relais Corte Guastalla, located in Veneto, in Garda Lake area, in Sona (in the District of Verona), will allow visitors to eat with taste, rediscovering savours and traditions from an excellent, strengthened, and famous Venetian wine-and-food.
Bigoli con le sardelle
The bigoli, one of the dearest dishes to the tradition of the cookery of the Garda Lake, look like spaghetti. Their preparation requires tender flour. They are hand-made, through a particular press that allows keeping rough their surface, so that the dressing with tomato sauce will be easier.
The bigoli con le sardelle was, once, a classic dish made in those days when there was the prohibition to eat meat, such as the Good Friday and the Christmas Eve. The tradition includes few fish-based dishes, and this is due to difficulty to find the fish itself, fact that was especially true for those areas far from the water.
Tortellini di Valeggio
Staying at the Relais Corte Guastalla, located in Veneto, in Sona (in the District of Verona), you will be able also to taste the famous tortellini from Valeggio sul Mincio, which – according to the legend – were created back in the Fourteenth Century.
Their puff pastry includes flour and eggs, which have to be mixed until the dough is soft and homogenous. Then, the puff pastry will be stretched to make it really thin, and cut in small squares.
Tortellini from Valeggio
The stuffing of the tortellini from Valeggio includes various kind of meat, like chicken, pork, and beef, and it is seasoned only with natural aromas such as rosemary, celery, carrots, and onions, besides the famous wine Bardolino Doc. When the stuffing is cooked, it is minced and blended with grated bread. Once the dough is soft and homogenous, will be placed on the small squares cut earlier, and later closed.
When the pasta will be dry, they are ready to be prepared. The tortellini from Valeggio can be tasted dry, with butter and sage, or in a meat broth
Sfogliatine di Villafranca
One of the most appreciated sweets, among the many available in the traditional cookery from Verona, are the famous sfogliatine of Villafranca. The maker of this delicious sweet was, towards the end of the Nineteenth Century, Marcello Fantoni, who first gave samples to the intellectuals he used to welcome, and then he spread them in the world.
The sfogliatine of Villafranca can be found in many quotes from writers, journalists, and poets. They are circular-shaped, friable-looking and soft, and their preparation requires flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and salt. This amazing sweet can be tasted also in the several pastry shops spread all over the District of Verona, also sold into elegant metallic boxes.
Nadalin
Nadalin
If you have the chance to stay at the Relais Corte Guastalla, located in Veneto, in Sona (in the District of Verona), during the Christmas time, you will have occasions to try the Nadalin. In fact, the Nadalin is the typical Christmas sweet of the tradition from Verona.
According to a famous story, this delicious sweet was made for the first time towards the end of the XIII Century, in occasion of the celebrations of the first Christmas for the nobles Della Scala, who received the investiture as lords of Verona.
The Nadalin is baked in the oven, it is in shape of eight-point stars, and this is the reason why it is also considered the ancestor of the famous pandoro (leavened cake) of Verona. It is a low rise sweet with a brownish crust, and it can be wrapped in many different ways.
