Accustomed to eating sea bream, cod or sole, we often forget the cousins of sea fish: lake fish. Lake fish, often considered a B-series fish, actually has many important nutritional elements and is also more digestible than marine fish. From the more delicate and less sapid flavour, freshwater fish are low in fat and rich in Omega 3, vitamins and mineral salts, therefore a good food for those who follow a low-calorie diet. Thanks to the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids, they are a formidable ally for the brain: they promote the vitality of the cells of the nervous system, decreasing the risk of senile dementia and Alzheimer's.
The new project of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, "Communicating lake fish to promote sustainable fishing and aquaculture” really wants to promote fishing and local aquaculture by valuing sustainability. The project is co-financed by the "European Fund for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries" through a tender from the Piedmont Region and will end next September.
The promotion is based on three fronts: gastronomic, essential to highlight the great qualities of this product in the kitchen; tourist, to tell a millenary tradition and a set of economic and cultural values that have been handed down over time. In the end, educational sensitizing the new generations in the rediscovery of one of the main "arts" of the place in which they live, to the cultural heritage and inviting them to create recipes that enhance the almost unknown fish in the kitchen for the gastronomy of the lake.
The project supports a multimedia communication from the website www.pescideinostrilaghi.it, on the page Facebook “Lake fish”, at the canal Youtube “Pesca Verbano”, aimed at local consumers and beyond, to tell freshwater fish from all points of view: gastronomic, historical, environmental, entrepreneurial, economic and social.
The territory and the activity of professional fishing will be presented through videos and documentaries. In addition, a specific communication will be organized for the local and national sector media which will end with a press trip to the area, during which journalists will attend a cooking show and visit some of the symbolic places of professional fishing and aquaculture.
The initiative "The lake at the table", is aimed at the restaurant and gastronomic activities of the area, encouraging them to include lake fish from the VCO in their menus, with particular attention to non-native species, with a view to sustainability and consumption at KM0.
The event will last approximately one month, during the summer season, in which members will be invited to offer customers this gastronomic treasure, rediscovering traditional recipes or creating them from scratch, to be served at the table, to take away or street e almost food. An opportunity to make local consumers and tourists appreciate a delicious, extremely versatile food resource with great nutritional properties.
Then there will be two contests aimed at the youngest: “A recipe for the new fish of the lake” e “Sustainable Waters”. The first it will involve hotel institutes of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, to promote among students and teachers the use of invasive fish species in the kitchen in order to reduce the presence of these fish that have a harmful impact on typical lake species. Participants will have the task of devising a new recipe featuring an allochthonous fish species present in the lakes of Orta or Maggiore, such as Lucioperca, Siluro and Gardon. At the conclusion of the contest, scheduled for the end of May, a jury made up of experts and institutional representatives will select the best recipe which will win a prize of 500 euros to be used for the purchase of teaching equipment.
The second, on the other hand, will concern local higher education institutions to promote educational activities concerning the environmental sustainability of the lakes and streams of the province. Participants will be asked to develop a research dedicated to the naturalistic and environmental aspects of the waterways of the area, highlighting issues such as biodiversity, human impacts and those of alien species and good sustainability practices positive for the aquatic environment . Also in this case the research will be judged by a jury of experts and the winning team will always win a prize of 500 euros for the purchase of teaching equipment.
“The project aims to communicate the multiple gastronomic potential of the heritage of the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola, which concern, with due environmental sensitivity, lakes and streams – explained Arturo Lincio, President of the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola -. The sustainability of fishing and aquaculture, guaranteeing the protection of biodiversity, highlights the capabilities of local gastronomy, able to offer consumers mouth-watering recipes of the fish species of watercourses and of the lake in particular".
