Sampling the cucina of Le Marché by John Szabo, Master Sommelier Some of the most dramatic seaside scenery of the Adriatic can be found on the Riviera del Conero, the section of coastline beneath the limestone peak of Monte Conero south of Ancona. With all the charm of Tuscany or Umbria, this is also where you want to go to find la cucina tipica. Inquire with the locals about their sagra, a festival dedicated to the town's culinary specialty. During these feast days, townspeople and accidental tourists come together for several days to revel on dishes prepared not in restaurants but in home kitchens. Some of the specialties you are likely to encounter include olive ascolani (spectacularly tasty, deep-fried, meat-stuffed olives), coniglio in porchetta (rabbit cooked with fennel), suckling pig, stuffed pigeons, tender young lamb, mountain-cured ham (prosciutto di caregna) to rival the very best from parma, and formaggio di fossa, a strong-flavored cheese aged in underground caves. More meat…and fish
If your travels fall outside of the local sagra, you are still in luck as most restaurants are relatively inexpensive and simple but of more than reliable quality. The vast majority draw strictly on local and seasonal ingredients, and even the haute restaurants aim to prepare dishes just like nonna used to make rather than fuss about with elaborate, over-wrought creations. Though the Marchigiani statistically eat more meat than any other Italians, there is an abundance of seafood and shellfish delivered straight from fishing ports up and down the coast. The preparations are usually simple but delicious. Fish and shellfish are often served raw with a drizzle of superb local extra-virgin olive oil, a drop or two of lemon, and aromatized with fresh local herbs. Ask for a plate of this pesce crudo and expect quality that would make many sushi chef envious. Just be sure to avoid August, however, as most of the fishermen take their holidays then as does the rest of Italy. Eat like a local: Giacchetta, Via Portonovo 171, 60020 Ancona; tel. 071-801384/8. This restaurant at the foot of the imposing Monte Conero is one of the most highly regarded seafood specialists on a coast known for fine Adriatic fish and shellfish. The catch of the day arrives at the beach a couple of dozen yards or so from the restaurant's main entrance, and is on your table usually before your aperitif is finished.
Hosteria San Floriano, Via F. Conti 2, Jesi (AN); tel. 0731.53028; website: www.marchedinotte.it/sanfloriano. If your tastes run more toward inland fare, don't miss San Floriano's signature "coniglio in porchetta"-succulent suckling pig rolled around tender rabbit and finely aromatized with local herbs. A table downstairs in the cellar almost demands consumption of a well chilled bottle of the local Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi.
Sleep like a monk: San Domenico, Piazza Rinascimento, 3- 61029 Urbino (PU); website: www.viphotels.it/ing/hotel_sandomenico.htm-a 14th-century monastery.
…or a farmer: Fosso del Lupo, Via Monte Tomba 10 (Scotaneto), 61029 Urbino; website: www.fossolupo.it-farmhouse accommodation in Urbino.
…or a duke: Il Casale, Via Casale Superiore 146, 63030 Colli del Tronto; tel. 0736.814720; website: www.hotelcasale.it ; e-mail: info@hotelcasale.it. A stunning hotel on an unspoiled hillside in the southern part of Le Marche. The rooms are spacious and well appointed, each with a balcony overlooking the fountain in the central courtyard or out onto the vine and olive tree-covered hills beyond.
P.S. Follow the old Roman Via Salaria, or "Salty Way" inland from the former salt fields on the Adriatic coast, which leads all the way to Rome. So important was this commodity to the Romans that legionnaires were often paid in salt, and hence gave us our English word "salary." |
