Fishing

The local farmers rowed in the Venetian style, with a single oar. Like gondoliers, they were able to steer the boat with just one oar at the stern, keeping it moving exactly where they wanted, always in a straight line. The native fish of Lake Fimon are carp and tench, as well as pike and eel. Then, many years ago, catfish were introduced. More recently, black bass have also been introduced into the lake. We call it persico trota. It is quite a voracious fish, feeding on other fish. It is also very good to eat and is sometimes considered the freshwater equivalent of sea bass. The farmers of the past fished with wicker traps made from willow branches. The trammel net was made from hemp. They made their own nets; they were true all-round craftsmen who built their own fishing equipment and went fishing, but in quieter periods they worked as farmers or simply lived in harmony with nature.
When it was time to work in the fields, they worked in the fields. When the fishing season came, they went fishing. And naturally, they also hunted, because there was a bit of everything. All around the lake there were ditches carrying water down from the hills into the lake. At the point where the ditch entered the lake, they built a barrier using a fish weir, and in the middle of the barrier they placed the fish trap. Then, when the water level was rising, they positioned the opening of the trap facing towards the lake. When the water level dropped, they would turn it around. One time they would catch whatever came down the ditch, another time whatever swam up from the lake into the ditch. Or they would use the trammel net. They would form a circle with the net, then head towards the centre of this enclosed area in their boats and splash the water to frighten the fish, driving them into the net. Using reeds from the lake, they would cut twenty or so pieces about thirty centimetres long and tie them at both ends. In the middle they attached a fishing line with a hook reaching down to the bottom. These were called primasoli. They floated, and people would make thirty or forty of them and set them out in the middle of the lake. Sometimes they would put them out in the evening and collect them the following morning. They would have these thirty or forty primasoli and catch catfish, tench and eels.
People ate a lot of fried fish. But they did not always have the fat needed for frying, such as lard or oil. Nowadays many people say, “Butter works fine, fry it in butter.” But I’d say no. So, they would cook it in water instead. With catfish, they would normally cut off the head, make a fish stock and prepare a soup. You have to think in terms of poor people, not of the people of today. I do not even know who those people are anymore. As for me, I still eat old-fashioned food. In the evening, too, I always have a plate of vegetables. Pissacan — what we call dandelion around here — is nothing unusual; it is something that is good for you, in my opinion. And I eat a lot of onions as well.