The Pretzhof is a farm with a restaurant in Alto Adige/Südtirol, near the border with Austria. It is 1000 km from home and we can sleep in the camper on the parking lot of the restaurant, so it is the perfect spot for a last stop before we head home. The Pretzhof has held tre gamberi from Gambero Rosso for years, and we have been making our last stop here for years as well. The menu changes daily, based on what is available from the farm. Most of the produce is sourced directly from the farm or locally.

Alto Adige is a German speaking autonomous region of Italy, and the food here is also more Austrian than Italian. But the Pretzhof does follow the Italian sequence of antipasto-primo-secondo-dolce. There is no written menu; today’s dishes are explained by the host. The selection of cold appetizers is 25 euros for two. Primi are 15 euros and secondi 20 euros.

The cold appetizers are one of the specialities of the Pretzhof and consist of various cold cuts and cheeses, including wild boar prosciutto, venison carpaccio…

…and outstanding lightly smoked ham.

The ravioli were called “Tirtln” (which seems like tortellini with some letters gone missing) and stuffed with braised veal. The dough was thicker than regular ravioli and included potato. The jus served with the ravioli was very flavorful.

The main course of venison stew is a meal in itself, because it includes…

…knödel of potato and bread with a tart cherry jam…

…and a blanched cabbage salad with diced speck (local smoked bacon). The latter was my favorite part of the dish. The cabbage was lightly dressed with vinegar, tender, and delicious with the speck. The venison stew was quite soupy; the sauce is for flavoring the knödel. The venison itself was tender but a bit lean.

Kees had chosen this pork belly, which was a generous portion that was very tender and juicy with crispy skin, and served with fried potatoes.

After this hearty meal I skipped the heavier desserts and offered for a fresh fruit salad.

This was the last of day of our culinary trip to Italy. There is one more post about a winery that we visited coming up, and then it will be back to business as usual on the blog.