Gastronomy

Lake Como cuisine can be divided into three main sectors, which are the consequence of the configuration of the terrain:
the foremost is lake food whose main ingredient is fish, secondly the surrounding mountain and valley cooking which is
very traditional, based on "polenta".

Lake cuisine

This offers dishes such as "missultin" which is lake shad dried and pressed in "missolte" (special tins), soused fish which is firstly fried and then aromatically marinated, crispy bleak fish and other classical dishes such as risotto with perch and smoked trout preserved in oil.
But along the Lake, particularly around Tremezzo prime quality vegetables are grown such as the asparagus of Rogaro and olive trees from which a rare and precious oil is extracted.La cucina Montana e Valligiana

Mountain and valley cooking

This is a "poor" but genuine form of cooking based on "polenta" (a sort of maize porridge) which can be just plain or "taragna" (flavoured with with cheese), or even "cunscia" (with cheese, butter and garlic). Other dishes are free-range chickens, kid reared above all in the Alto Lago (the northern region), and game. To these we can add the tasty brook trout and the numerous and delicious mushrooms.

In the valleys cattle are reared and cheese making is still an old tradition.
Valsassina excells in this field and Taleggio is its most well-known cheese. Other typical cheeses of the Larian region are fatty cheeses such as Bitto, an excellent table cheese or used for preparing "polenta taragna" and half-fat stringy cheeses, which are suitable for making "polenta cunscia".
Last but not least are goat cheeses which can be both delicate or strong, soft cheeses made from cow's or goat's milk, "ricotta" (a soft white unsalted cheese), "semuda", "zincherlin" (a sort of mature ricotta seasoned with pepper), local rustic salamis and excellent butter.