Marche
The Marche is a comb of parallel valleys running from the Apennines down to the Adriatic, on Italy's calf. The cooking follows the valleys: fish stew and stockfish on the coast, stuffed fried olives and spreadable salami inland, and vincisgrassi (an older, richer cousin of lasagne) everywhere.
The shape of the Marche explains its food. A dozen rivers run parallel from the Sibillini mountains to the sea, carving separate valleys, each with its own town and none with real primacy. Monte Conero is the single promontory on 200 kilometres of otherwise straight coast. The result is a municipal cuisine that changes valley by valley. Brodetto, the Adriatic fish stew, exists in at least four mutually exclusive versions: Ancona's with thirteen kinds of fish, vinegar and tomato; Fano's with tomato concentrate; San Benedetto's with green tomatoes and no vinegar; and Porto Recanati's, made white with mountain saffron.
The stuffed olive of Ascoli is Italy's most imitated and least understood snack. The variety is the large, soft ascolana tenera; it is pitted by hand in a spiral cut, packed with a filling of three meats, breadcrumbed and fried. The real thing is big, pale and tastes of meat rather than breadcrumb. Around it are ciauscolo, a salami soft enough to spread on bread, lightly smoked over juniper in the Macerata hills; casciotta d'Urbino, a mixed sheep and cow cheese that Michelangelo bought by the wheel; and the ham of Carpegna.
The feast-day dish is vincisgrassi, and it is not lasagne. Cooked wine goes into the pasta dough, the sauce is a long-simmered ragù of giblets, sweetbreads and mixed meats, and in the strictest version there is no béchamel at all. It appears in print in 1779, in a cookbook by Antonio Nebbia of Macerata. Around it sit stockfish stewed for hours with potato and tomato, rabbit boned and rolled with wild fennel, the flaky griddle bread of Urbino, and the moscioli of Portonovo, wild mussels that grow on the Conero cliffs and are gathered by free-divers.
The wine map has a quirk worth knowing. Verdicchio is made in two nearly adjacent zones that taste nothing alike: the broad, sea-facing Castelli di Jesi give a rounder, more approachable wine, while Matelica (the only valley in the region running north to south, and therefore colder) gives a tight, mineral version that ages a decade. Add Rosso Conero from Montepulciano grapes on the limestone headland, the dry or sweet sparkling red Vernaccia di Serrapetrona, and the startlingly perfumed Lacrima di Morro d'Alba.
Signature dishes
- Olive all'ascolana (meat-stuffed fried olives)
- Vincisgrassi (rich baked pasta with giblet ragù)
- Brodetto (Adriatic fish stew, four regional versions)
- Ciauscolo (spreadable lightly smoked salami)
- Stoccafisso all'anconetana (stockfish with potato and tomato)
- Coniglio in porchetta (rabbit rolled with wild fennel)
- Crescia sfogliata (flaky griddle bread from Urbino)
- Frustingo (dense Christmas cake of dried figs and nuts)
Foods from here
When to go
April and May bring Fritto Misto all'Italiana to Ascoli Piceno, the best place to understand a properly made stuffed olive. Summer is brodetto season all along the coast, from Fano down to San Benedetto. The wild mussels of Portonovo are gathered from April to October and celebrated in September, which is also the Verdicchio harvest in the Castelli di Jesi. October and November belong to Acqualagna, a small inland town that handles a large share of Italy's truffle trade and holds a national white truffle fair; between its four species, truffles are traded there almost year-round. November brings new olive oil, and December the frustingo, a dark Christmas cake of dried figs, walnuts and grape must.
Frequently asked
What is the Marche known for?
The Marche is a quiet region on Italy's Adriatic side, between Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo. Its best-known foods are olive all'ascolana, large green olives stuffed with three meats and deep-fried, vincisgrassi, a rich baked pasta, and Verdicchio, one of the better-value white wines in the country.
What are olive all'ascolana?
They are large, soft ascolana tenera olives, pitted by hand in a spiral cut, packed with a filling of three meats, breadcrumbed and fried. The real thing is big and pale and tastes of meat rather than breadcrumb. Ascoli Piceno holds a fried-food festival, Fritto Misto all'Italiana, in April and May.
What is vincisgrassi?
A baked pasta from the Marche, and not simply local lasagne. Cooked wine goes into the dough, the sauce is a long-simmered ragù of giblets, sweetbreads and mixed meats, and the strictest version uses no béchamel at all. It appears in print in 1779, in a cookbook by Antonio Nebbia of Macerata.
Which Verdicchio should I buy?
Both zones are worth trying, and they taste different. Castelli di Jesi, broad and close to the sea, gives a rounder, more approachable wine. Matelica, the only valley in the region running north to south and therefore colder, gives a tighter, more mineral Verdicchio that can age a decade.
Where can I buy truffles in the Marche?
Acqualagna, a small inland town in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, handles a large share of Italy's truffle trade and holds a national white truffle fair in late autumn. Because four different species pass through it, fresh truffle can be found there almost year-round, which is unusual.