Another kind of imagination of fishing "Italian lake fishermen catch just the right fish, make delicious dried fish, and live a comfortable life."

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Fernando can't forget the fish. I have a decent life as an accountant, but when I am full of data, I always think of fishing with my grandfather when I was a child. Unable to resist the call of fish, he left the bustling city and returned to Lake Isai in the foothills of the Alps with his wife and children. For 36 years, he supported his family by fishing.

Grandpa died, but the skills he taught lived on Fernando.

Grandpa died many years ago, but the skills he taught were alive in Fernando Soardi.

As the sun slipped to the western horizon, Fernando's spindle boat accelerated, weaving fleeting white lines on the velvety lake. When he arrived at the small island of Loreto in the lake, he knew there was fish and turned off the engine. He shook the oars to fix the hull, and his son Andrea Soardi slowly lowered the sardine net. The T-shaped "anchor" fixed the net in the middle of the lake, waiting for the fish to fall into the trap.

At eight o'clock the next morning, the winter sun had just appeared, the sun was dim in the thick fog, and Fernando seemed to come out of the landscape painting. He had just returned to his studio after catching fresh fish, and another batch of fish had been washed, eviscerated and salted for 48 hours, and he was busy hanging the silver sardines one by one on a steel frame to dry. The smoke was thick, and the scenery of the lakes and mountains seemed to be dressed in tulle, with a mysterious atmosphere, and the neatly arranged sardines on the shelves seemed to be waiting for a military parade, waiting for the sun and the wind of the valley to slowly force out the grease. The beautiful day is windy, and the fish slowly changes from tender pink to ochre red.

The silver-shining sardines are neatly arranged, waiting for the sun and waiting for the mountain wind. (photo / Zheng Jieyi)

Fernando said that these fish are not afraid of the cold, the temperature is low, and the meat is tight, just enough to let the oil flow out of the texture. I'm afraid of fog. I have to bask in the sun for a few more days when it's foggy. With a scan of his eyes and a pinch of his fingers, the progress of dried fish is all under his control, and when the silver skin turns golden, and the wrinkled skin is wrapped in a bulging and elastic body, it can be impregnated with olive oil.

Fat herring, full of fat and air-dried

Sardines are actually herring, but they look like sardines in the sea, as fishermen in Issai Lake have long used to call them.

Fernando's home is on the "Monte Isola" in the middle of Lago Iseo, a 13-square-kilometer island that is the largest in southern Europe. Also at the foot of the Alps, Issai Lake Jasper is not as luxurious as Lake Lago Como or heroic as Lake Lago Garda. However, the sardines in Issai Lake are particularly fat, and the full fat lengthens the air-drying process, but also makes the dried fish more rich in flavor. According to the weather, after drying for about four days, gently squeeze the dried fish in a container, squeeze out a little fish oil, and then add olive oil stains.

Although it is dried fish, freshness is very important. As Fernando explained, he stretched out his gills and hung the fish on the steel nails. "the meat of fresh fish is elastic and unbreakable, so if it takes a little longer to deal with it, it will not be easy to maintain its perfect shape."

Fernando is worried that the dried fish dishes handed down from generation to generation will be lost in his hands (Photography / Zheng Jieyi) protecting the tradition is not sticking to the past, but adding better elements to the preservation of good things.

Dried fish can be found everywhere, but in few places, like Lake Isai, three procedures are used, salted, air-dried and greasy. Sardines soaked in olive oil for four or five months become more and more fragrant, oily and chewy. Slightly roasted with corn paste, a simple fisherman's dish is served. However, after more than 400 years of circulation, it is now difficult to find the poor dishes of this fisherman. Fishing and pickling fish are too laborious, and the price can not compete with the imported fish in the supermarket.

In an era when human beings were still restricted by nature, dried fish extended the preservation period and satisfied the appetite when there was a lack of fish catch. Fernando is worried that the dried fish dishes handed down from generation to generation will be lost in his hands. He worked with Barone Pizzini, the owner of a nearby winery, to set production process standards and analyze the nutrients of dried fish in the laboratory. After more than five years, dried sardines in Lake Issai became a conservation food (presidio) for Slow Food.

To protect tradition is not to cling to the past, but to add better elements while preserving good things. The sardines that our ancestors liked to eat had a heavy flavor, and Fernando cut the fish fillets with less salt, shortening the time of air drying and adapting to the taste of modern people.

After becoming a conservation food for slow food, dried Isai Lake fish are strictly regulated in fishing methods, locations and hand-made methods, with verification labels turned into gold-lettered signboards, and higher prices make it easy for consumers to identify. But like taking down the three-star Michelin restaurant, Fernando often uses other catches and restaurants to increase his income in order to make ends meet.