Side dishes

Fresh polenta from Mantua accompanies the most varied dishes but is a must together with pork derivatives such as grèpule (cracklings), gras pistàt and gras salàt, flavored lard and salted lard. The mushrooms from the morainic hills of Garda, porcini mushrooms and chanterelles on the hills, chiodini and uricìne on the plain, arrive at the table sautéed or fried or as a condiment for very fragrant risottos. Edible wild herbs are present in seasonal dishes such as stewed marösule (poppy plants) with grana padano, cooked and seasoned dandelion leaves and, in the hills, wild asparagus and rapunsèi (rapunzels) served raw and seasoned. In Pozzolengo there is a valuable production of saffron, considered one of the best in Italy.