The view of the Sibillini Mountains, Le Marche, Italy from our garden

Holiday apartments near the Sibillini Mountains in Le Marche, Italy

There are a wide range of restaurants in the area offering typical food of the region mostly sourced locally. Should you wish to try your own hand at cooking each town also has a weekly market offering a wide range of fresh foods. These markets are a time for the community to come together - especially in summer - and great place to soak up the local atmosphere.

Cooking in the Marche is determined by the area you are in whether it be the mountains or by the coast. Dishes of the countryside are strongly flavoured and meat is the predominante component. Porchetta is an example, whole piglet roasted according to ancient tradition flavoured with fennel and garlic. In the countryside the contadini (subsistence farmers) traditionally cooked the meat over the wood fire used to heat their homes. Meat is now often offered alla braccia, that is grilled, in many restaurants.
Pecorino is the locally made sheeps cheese supported by the slowfood movement. The cheese is made using raw sheep milk and semi-cooked curds. According to the slowfood website besides the richness of the pasture in the Monti Sibillini, the real secret of the cheese is the rennet, to which is added herbs or other ingredients in accordance with well-guarded recipes. The cheese is sold in various stages of maturity. The really mature pecorino is used for flavouring dishes in much the same way as parmesan. The local Ricotta cheese is made after the pecorina from the residual whey.
Should you venture away from the mountains to the coast fish is, of course, on the menu. The keynote dish is brodo (soup) for which each town has its own recipe. The many beachside restaurants along the Adriatic coast are excellent value in the fresh fish menus they serve.

The main source of meat, especially among the contadini is pork. No part of the animal is allowed to go to waste. It is from this that foods such as ciauscolo (a spreadable salami flavoured with garlic and vino cotto) and salame lardelleto have emerged. Hunting in the winter provides a reliable source of wild boar. This is used to make wonderful casseroles or salami. Pigeon and rabbit are also often on the menu in this region. In the north of the Marche around Urbino, beef is popular with dishes such as tournados all Rossini and braccia di Urbino.
Tartufo (truffles) are to be found in many of the Marche mountain regions, so it is a popular, if expensive, flavouring for many dishes including vincisgrassi. This is a type of lasagne, containing liver, truffles and mushrooms, supposedly named after an Austrian capitan fighting in the Marche on behalf of Napoleon. The Ascolana olive is cultivated throughout the Marche . Larger than the average eating olive it is often served stuffed with a mixture of meats, deepfried in breadcrumbs and served as an antipasti. Look out for honey from the Monti Sibillini during your visit. There are various flavours among them acacia, thousand flowers and chestnut.
Italian cooking differs from region to region you can read more specific details on Marchigiani cooking on italianfood.about.com.

For Italian recipes in English try italiancook.ca