What to eat Italy? culinary specialties and gastronomy

There are few regions in Italy where cured meats are as important as in Umbria, and especially in the town of Norcia. Here, a pork butcher is called a "norcino" and works in a "norcineria" (cold cuts shop). The thick oak forests of the area are ideal for pigs - living in semi-freedom - and wild boars.

This excellent meat is used to prepare raw ham such as prosciutto di Norcia, mazzafegato, a liver-based sausage with orange peel and raisins, lombetto or capocallo (the local name for coppa). Beware, in Umbria, what the locals call coppa - or coppa di testa - is in fact a salami that contains a preparation based on head cheese. In the Marche region, prosciutto di Montefeltro or salame di Fabriano, with its large cubes of fat, are examples. Ciauscolo is a smoked sausage that is briefly aged and has a soft texture, to be spread like pâté.

Among the cheeses, ricotta can be matured and dried here (ricotta secca) while pecorino is flavored with truffles (pecorino tartufo) or matured in grape marc (pecorino alla vinacce). In the Marche region, you will find the pecorino marchigiano and the casciotta d'Urbino, a tomme with a delicate flavor.

Both regions make generous use of vegetables and legumes, such as the famous Castelluccio lentils in Umbria or spelt. The barba di frate or agretti - common soda in French - is a spinach-like vegetable that grows by the sea. If Piedmont has the white truffle of Alba, in Umbria the king of mushrooms is the black truffle (tartufo nero). Very popular, it is part of the gastronomic heritage of the region. The summer truffle or scorzone is less prestigious but just as appreciated.

As far as meat is concerned, there is of course the excellent pork of Norcia. But also beef, lamb and poultry, widely consumed. In the Marche region, the Adriatic coast offers many delicacies: turbot, sardines, anchovies, sea breams, but also octopus, squid, langoustines, lobsters, mussels and clams. Umbria, which has no access to the sea, is nonetheless famous for its freshwater fish - trout, perch, tench, eel, carp, roach - which can be caught around Lago Trasimeno, the largest lake in central Italy.

Antipasti (cheese, cold cuts, vegetables and marinated mushrooms) are accompanied by bread such as pizza di Pasqua (brioche with pecorino cheese), crescia (soft flat bread) or arvoltolo (fried flat bread). In Marche, the most famous antipasti are the olives all'ascolana, stuffed with a mixture of minced meat and then breaded and fried. The frittata col mentrasto is an omelet of mint, parsley and green onion.

A dish not to be missed in the Marches, vincisgrassi is a type of lasagna with a ragù of sausage meat and tomato, topped with béchamel sauce. Passatelli is a pasta made with breadcrumbs, eggs and parmesan. Maccheroncini al fumé is pasta (often rigatoni) with a tomato-cream-pancetta sauce. The lumachelle all'urbinate is a pasta soup with cabbage, chicken liver, tomato and sausage. Finally, the fricandò di verdure is a kind of ratatouille.

Pollo in potacchio all'anconetana is a chicken (sometimes rabbit) stew with tomato, onion, rosemary, white wine and chili. Goose is not often cooked in Italy and is roasted here (oca arrosto). The galantina marchigiana is a galantine - a kind of paupiette - of veal and pork, chopped with hard-boiled eggs, cubes of mortadella and small vegetables, which is served cold, in slices. Although its origin is debated, the "tournedos Rossini" (tournedos with foie gras, truffle and marsala sauce) honors the great composer Gioachino Rossini, born in Pesaro, who was a gourmet throughout his life.

Among the recipes of the coast, it is impossible not to mention the brodetto marchigiano, a rich fish and seafood soup with tomato, garlic, white wine and chili. Simpler, the merluzzo alla marchigiana is a dish of hake with tomato, garlic and parsley. The stoccafisso all'anconetana is a recipe of cod with potatoes, tomatoes, olives, anchovies and white wine. Squid can be stuffed with a mixture of minced meat (calamari ripieni) or cooked in a white wine, garlic and anchovy sauce (calamari alla marchigiana). Finally, lumachine di mare are sea snails with tomato sauce, garlic, white wine and dill.

As an antipasti, crostini al tartufa are prepared with croutons topped with a truffle cream. The simpler crostini ai fegatini di pollo are topped with a cream of poultry liver flavored with sage. Panzanella is a kind of salad with tomato, onion, basil and a good amount of dry bread soaked in olive oil, common in central Italy.

The pasta alla Norcina, topped with a cream sauce and sausage meat, is a favourite. Ciriole, or strangozzi, are long pastas without eggs, served with a simple tomato sauce with garlic, parsley and chili (ciriole alla ternana/strangozzi alla spoletina) or with truffles (strangozzi al tartufo). Game is prepared in the form of ragù of hare (alla lepre) or wild boar (al cinghiale), accompanied by papardelle.

Cappelletti in brodo are small meat ravioli served in a broth. Gnocchi al sugo d'oca - a specialty of Perugia - are topped with a sauce of tomato, onion, carrot and chopped goose meat, while gnocchi al castrato contain mutton or lamb. Gnocchi alla collescipolana, made with bread, are filled with a tomato sauce with white beans and sausage.

The minestra di farro is a soup with spelt, various vegetables and ham while the imbrecciata is a cereal and legume soup with bacon and tomato. The frittata di pasqua is an omelette prepared for Easter with zucchini, asparagus, chicory, sausage and aromatic herbs. Finally, the parmigiana di gobbi is a cardoon gratin with tomato and cheese.

Lamb is found in grilled chops (agnello a scottadito) and cortella is a mixture of lamb offal in white wine with various herbs. The friccò all'eugubina is made of white meat (usually chicken) simmered with tomato and white wine. Pigeon is very popular here, either stuffed with minced meat (piccione arrosto ripieno) or braised in a wine, herb and lemon sauce (piccione alla ghiotta).

Emblematic of central Italy, porchetta is a whole roasted pig stuffed with offal, spices and herbs. It is sliced and most often eaten as a sandwich (panino con 'la porchetta). Obviously, the best ones come from Norcia. The salsicce con lenticchie honors the sausages of Norcia and the lentils of Castelluccio, simmered with tomato puree.

As for the fish, there is the tegamaccio trasimeno (freshwater fish stew with tomato and onion), the regina in porchetta (roasted carp with fennel and bacon) and finally the brustico trasimeno (barbecued perch on a reed fire).

As for desserts, Carnival is the occasion to taste castagnoli (sugar doughnuts, filled or not), but also cresciole or sfrappe (earrings). Similar to the Neapolitan struffoli, the cicerchiata is made of tiny fritters covered with honey syrup. Finally, frittelle di San Giuseppe are fritters flavored with orange and lemon.

In the Marche region, cremini fritti (cubes of lemon custard, breaded and fried) and calcioni marchigiani (puff pastries with a mixture of pecorino cheese, sugar, cinnamon and lemon peel) are popular. Frustingo is a compact Christmas cake made with dried figs, walnuts, almonds, honey and citrus peel, all bound with grape must. The lonzino di figo is a sausage made of dried figs, walnuts, almonds and star anise wrapped in fig leaves.

The sciughetti is a pasta made with a reduction of grape must and walnuts, prepared at Easter. The pizza di pasqua dolce is a brioche with candied fruits covered with a white glaze. Pesche dolci is a brioche filled with chocolate cream and colored in red and yellow. Finally, the maritozzi are raisin and aniseed buns with a white glaze.

In Umbria, ciaramicola is prepared for Easter. This ring-shaped orange cake is tinted with alkermes (red liquor with spices) and covered with a white icing. The zuppa inglese - very common in central Italy - consists of alternating spoonfuls of cookies soaked in alkeres and chocolate and vanilla cream. The salame del Re has the same ingredients but takes the form of a rolled cake.

The crescionda is a pie filled with a cream of amaretti (bitter almond cookies) and cocoa, and is made especially for the carnival of Spoleto. The fave dei morti are crumbly almond cookies, while the pampepato is a very dense Christmas cake made with a mixture of cocoa, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, honey and spices.

The rocciata is a crumbly spiral cake filled with apple, nuts, rum and cocoa. The torciglione is a snake-shaped cake filled with a mixture of almonds, pine nuts and sugar. Finally, the torcolo di San Costanzo is a crown-shaped cake with candied fruit, raisins and aniseed.

In Umbria, the main vineyards are concentrated in the territories of Orvieto, Montefalco, Torgiano and the area of Lake Trasimeno, famous for their vineyards, from which many DOP wines are obtained. The Torgiano Rosso Riserva, the only DOCG wine of the region, is produced with Sangiovese and Canaiolo Nero grapes. The production of DOC Torgiano wines is varied: white, red, rosé and sparkling.

The Marche region has many remarkable wines. Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva, Rosso Conero Riserva and Piceno Vernaccia di Serrapetrona are DOCG wines. The region also features white wines such as Pecorino, which has no relation to the cheese of the same name. Pecorino is a white grape variety used only for winemaking, widespread in Marche and Abruzzo.

The region's flagship liqueur is mistrà, with green anise, produced by the Varnelli distillery, founded in 1868 in the Marche region. Although sambuco (star anise, green anise, elderflower) and sassolino (star anise) come from Rome and Modena respectively, they are both appreciated in the region. They are diluted in iced water, like pastis. Vino di visciole is a cherry wine that is 14°.