The Marches, a land of superfine products all to be revealed
3 minutes
It is hard to find the harmony, balance and colours of the Marche landscape in other places, with its hills, forests, beaches and villages, living in a time of their own, to be meditated upon and experienced, where every delicacy rhymes with the innate creativity of the region.
The journey commences with home-made pastas, such as lumachelle all'urbinate, maccheroncini di Campofilone, passatelli, and vincisgrassi. The latter, with fried olives and ciauscolo, are some of the best-known dishes, typical of the Macerata area: seven hand-rolled layers of pasta with béchamel sauce and giblet-flavoured meat sauce.
You cannot overlook the crescia, a focaccia made with flour (durum wheat or corn), eggs, water, salt, pepper and often lard, widespread in all provinces of the region with local variations.
And how about Ciavarro, a dish from Ripatransone (Ap)? It consists of a soup with 12 varieties of cereals and legumes.
Kudos for ciauscolo, the Igp spreadable cured meat, made with pork meat mixed and stuffed into a natural casing, and Fabriano salami, made with pork from breeds indigenous to the hinterland of Ancona.
The fried cream, "i cremini", usually comes with the typical hors d'oeuvre, "olive all’ascolana". These are prepared with the Tenera Ascolana Dop variety, and stuffed with a mixture of roasted minced meat, mixed with egg, grated Parmesan cheese and nutmeg, fried and served hot.
Keep an eye out for the wonderful Conero Riviera with its fish specialities, but especially with its moscioli, “wild" mussels that, unlike the others, are caught and not bred.
The wine list is everything, from Lacrima di Morro d'Alba to Rosso Conero, from Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi to Bianchello del Metauro and Colli Pesaresi.
There is also Mistrà, an end-of-meal bitter liqueur made with green aniseed, wild fennel, apples and oranges. To contemplate breathtaking landscapes and dishes.
A taste heritage in the province of Pesaro Urbino
Wish Pesaro, Capital of Culture 2024, well by tasting some of its traditional dishes, such as cappelletti in brodo alla pesarese or cannelloni alla Rossini, honouring the famous musician who was born here.
Just a stone's throw away is the sea, which offers seafood dishes such as mullet with ham, stuffed cuttlefish or garagoli (murex sautéed in oil with various spices).
Among the desserts, choose bostrengo, boiled rice with dried figs, sultanas, honey, alchermes, cornmeal, cocoa, apples and pears.
In Urbino, take a bow to the crescia sfogliata, which was eaten on the tables of the ducal court; in the territory, do not miss a PDO excellence: the Casciotta d'Urbino (transcribed in the 16th century with an extra s) with its fresh dairy flavour and aromatic fragrance, but first and foremost the sovereign of the table, the truffle, white and black.
The extremely prized product of the earth finds its ideal realm in Acqualagna, which has devoted three national fairs to it and which also makes up the economy of Sant'Angelo in Vado, while in Fossombrone you will find the “bianchetto" truffle, also known as Marzuolo, a variety of white truffle with a rather strong and spicy aroma. In Pergola, make a stop to taste some of the area's champions, such as the fruity-tasting "vernaccia di Pergola", "il tristo di Montesecco” and the “Visner" made from local sour cherries.
A stopover is recommended also in Cartoceto, the cradle of high quality extra virgin olive oil, and of "pecorino di fossa" cheese, the wheels of which are stored for 90 days in tufa pits in August, and when they are "fished out" at the end of November, it is a big party.
Lunano, a paradise of chestnuts, offers you the opportunity to taste sweets and delicacies made using chestnut flour. In Belforte, on the other hand, enjoy traditional products and sweets made with honey and in Carpegna the excellent prosciutto in the "Ghianda" and "San Leo" versions.
Typical dishes
Frascarelli
Among the oldest recipes of the Marche peasant tradition, they are a simple and tasty first course, resembling polenta but based on rice and wheat flour. The name seems to stem from the 'frasche', three-pronged wooden sticks used in ancient times to mix the dough.
Stoccafisso all'Anconitana
One of the city's traditional dishes, which evokes an ancient history between the Adriatic Sea and the Norwegian Lofoten Islands, and to which a festival and culinary academy is dedicated. It is mostly eaten around Christmas time. It is notable for its very long cooking time.
