missultit

Missultit is the plural of missoltini, salted and dried shad (agone) or alosa finta lacustris, a speciality of Lake Como.

Fresh fish caught in Como or Garda are gutted and cleaned, rubbed in salt and stored in steel boxes. Afterwards they are washed and dried in special ovens over the course of several days before packed in tins. One favourite way to eat it: wash off residual salt and fat and grill it for a few minutes, and serve with polenta.

Squartoni is another way of preserving lake fish such as coregone and pigo: it's salted, dried and pressed, and usually vacuum-packed, then quickly grilled and served with polenta or as an ingredient in a pasta sauce.