twisting down slopes thatched with grey-green olive
groves, we’d drive past ancient stone-pillared terraces
cut into the lower slopes. These limonaia, or lemon
houses, their pillars designed to hold up protective
winter roofs, were built to grow lemons (and later
limes, bergamots and chinotto oranges) after
Franciscan monks first introduced the citrus to
the area in the 13th century.
“This part of northern Italy, where the mountains
meet the lake, gives us a marvellous range of ingredients
to work with,” says Camanini, reeling off a list of lake
produce. “Raw mountain milk for fior di latte gelato,
bagòss [a pungent, aged, semi-cooked cow’s milk
cheese – Brescia’s answer to parmesan] for tortellini,
stracchino and lake sardines for risotto, eels and olive
oil, lemons and wisteria flowers for dessert.”
By late summer last year, we’re back on the lake
among the grand hotels and villas of Gardone Riviera- also known as the Riviera dei Limoni, the Lemon
Shore. One evening we settle into the luxe glasshouse
setting of Lido 84 with a bottle of Franciacorta, Italy’s
foremost metodo classico, or Champagne-method
sparkling wine, also from the Brescia area. Like the
restaurant décor, a mix of retro and contemporary,
Riccardo Camanini’s cooking applies a modern
overlay to tradition. His warm fusilloni with almond,
capers and lemon come as creamy, oversized pasta
spirals on fine tableware by Richard Ginori, Italy’s
answer to Wedgwood. A tartare of lake perch
under a gnarly dried fig leaf is fine-fleshed and
delicately floral.➤
Clockwise: Lido 84 restaurant in
Gardone Riviera; a signed portrait
of Shirley Temple, at Grand Hotel
Fasano in Gardone Riviera; the
Thursday market in Toscalono-
Maderno; Garda citrus.
GOURMET TRAVELLER 81