Apples in Val di Non, part II (Summer)

The early Summer is hot in the Val di Non (Non valley)

Remember last year, when roaming in the Val di Non in Winter we admired the tortuous shapes of the naked apple trees that fill this area?

What a different spectacle now:

Luscious, green, bursting with life,

the valley is only a few months away from the next picking. Apple trees, apple trees, apple trees all around, on the steeply sloping hills

The whole valley a giant appleyard barely interrupted by the road

The apples are already there but still small, an acerbic, still unconsumable temptation

These apples are DOP (protected denomination of origin), and the Melinda consortium - founded in 1989 to guarantee the quality and provenance of the Val di Non apples (before then, there were 3 times as many apples allegedly from the valley as the real production!)-, the Melinda consortium, we were saying,

(fees for this ad gratefully received by cheque) will distribute them to your local supplier – can’t wait for those juicy, sweet, tasty jewels!

Well...actually they have never ceased to be, and still are, available in the supermarkets: do you really mean to tell us, dear retailers, that you have stored the apples for all these months?! Naaah.

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Dishes by Chef Alessandro Gilmozzi

On one of the very last days of our Summer Trentino stay, back we are in El Molin in Cavalese, where the recently Michelin starred Chef Alessandro Gilmozzi continues to straddle creativity and tradition.

Among the many great dishes, this one impressed from the start:

It’s Ravioli with cipolla (onion) fondente parmesan cream and liquorice. The liquorice is wild, picked by the chef and his assistants on the surrounding mountains – they obviously need to keep in shape, with all the delicacies tempting them in the kitchen! This wild liquorice is very mild and confers the dish an aura, an atmosphere more than a decisive flavour, like an instrument accompanying the lead. In this case two leads, really, with parmesan and onion delicately competing for your attention.

How many times have we been disappointed by dishes advertised with this herb or that perfume, only to discover that the elusive herb flavour and perfume have forever escaped? Certainly Chef Gilmozzi knows a thing or two about the treatment of herbs and perfumes. Look at this:

Here we have (in an interesting feat of equilibrium) a lamb shank lacquered with rhododendrum honey and lavender. The tender lamb is lovingly enveloped with the aromatic honey, and the lavender here really holds centre stage. The presentation is wonderful as ever, with the colourful dried vegetables enlivening the dish in many dimensions.

Gilmozzi likes to encase perfumes and liberate them at the moment of serving, when they are still in their full vigour, as in the pigeon we had in a previous visit, and as this time:

Venison with extravergin olive oil, pink moscato sauce and small vegetables in a thyme perfumed pot (at the back in the photo).

But, as far as herbs are concerned, this was where a pinnacle was reached:

This variation of crème brulees’ with ‘perfumes from Lagorai’ (a mountain chain in the region), beside being technically perfect as far as the basic dessert is concerned, offers an admirable escalation of strong, clear flavours: lavender, mint, lemon balm (melissa officinalis) and mountain pine (pinus mugo), the last one really hitting your senses with its resinous punch. What a brilliant endpoint to a great dinner.

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A dish (or a few more) by Chef Walter Miori

Well, yes, we do have a ‘private’ restaurant life that goes unreported in this blog. But sometimes…some meals are so good that a hem of the veil can be discreetly lifted!

At the moment of writing are nearing the end of our Trentino period, and among our fond recent memories…

Walter Miori is a chef who ‘caresses’ his dishes and your palate, as with this stunning John Dory:

Tantalizingly hidden under fine slivers of fennel, garnished with Taggiasche olives and pumpkin seeds, and finished with a superb olive oil, this dish has it all: flavour, bite, freshness, simplicity, precision.

And how about this interlude:

This must be the best ‘canederlo’ in the world, its (and the grana’s) sweetness and texture a sublime match for the truffle. A lesson on how to elevate a rustic regional classic to a ravishingly elegant delicacy.

Talking about regional classics:

This orzotto (‘barley-risotto’) with sweetbreads is as gratifying as the best risotto: you can feel the perfect creaminess just by looking at it.

And finally ('finally', that is, just for this post...) here's something that you really can only have at Locanda Margon:

This wonderful and dreamily presented duck dish is aromatised with Maso Grill, a Vendemmia tardiva (late ripened wine) produced by the vineyards just around the Locanda, and that you won’t find in the shops... What a dinner. Should you notice a second star falling, at long last, in the direction of Walter Miori, remember that -as usual!- you read it here first...

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