Umbria
Umbria is the only landlocked region in central Italy, and it cooks like one: black truffle from Norcia, pork cured by butchers whose town gave Italian its word for the trade, highland pulses, very bitter olive oil and meat over embers.
With no coast, Umbria built its cooking on woodland, pasture and a few waterways. The Valnerina descends from the Sibillini mountains, the Piano Grande plateau at Castelluccio sits at 1,350 metres, Lake Trasimeno is broad but only a few metres deep, and the Tiber runs the length of the region. The only traditional fish is freshwater: a lake stew called tegamaccio, carp roasted with fennel, eel, perch. Everything else comes off the land.
Norcia named a profession. In Italian, a butcher who works pork is a norcino, after this small mountain town whose butchers travelled central Italy seasonally. From here come Prosciutto di Norcia IGP, salami and capocollo, plus the prized black truffle, Tuber melanosporum, dug from December to March, of which Umbria produces more than almost any other region. In summer the lighter scorzone takes over.
The pulses are highland and specific. Castelluccio lentils grow on the Piano Grande, have skins thin enough that they need no soaking, and cook in twenty minutes. Between late June and early July the plain fills with bands of colour (lentil flowers, poppies, wild mustard) and people drive up for the bloom alone. Alongside them are grass pea, roveja, the tiny beans of Trasimeno and protected spelt from Monteleone di Spoleto. Umbrian olive oil, especially the Moraiolo grown on the Assisi-Spoleto belt, is among the most bitter and peppery in Italy, made for bruschetta and bean soup rather than for salad.
The rest of the table is grill and oven. Torta al testo is a flatbread cooked on a scalding disc, split and filled with sausage, wild greens or ham. Strangozzi, umbricelli and ciriole are eggless flour-and-water pastas built to carry poor sauces and shaved truffle. Wood pigeon is cooked in its own sauce. As for wine, Sagrantino di Montefalco is one of the most tannic grape varieties in the world, historically made sweet from dried grapes for feast days; Torgiano has its own reserve DOCG, and Orvieto its white, made in cellars cut into volcanic tufa. Perugia, meanwhile, has been a chocolate town since 1907.
Signature dishes
- Strangozzi al tartufo nero (eggless pasta with black truffle)
- Torta al testo (griddle flatbread, split and filled)
- Lenticchie di Castelluccio (highland lentils with sausage)
- Porchetta (fennel-scented whole roast pork)
- Palombacci alla ghiotta (wood pigeon in its own sauce)
- Tegamaccio del Trasimeno (lake fish stew)
- Salsicce e fagioli (sausages with beans)
- Rocciata (rolled apple, nut and raisin pastry)
Foods from here
When to go
Prized black truffle is dug from December to March, and in late February Norcia holds Nero Norcia, a market that also opens the town's pork shops to visitors. Between late June and early July comes the Castelluccio bloom, three weeks in which the high plain changes colour every few days. September brings the onion festival at Cannara; October, Eurochocolate in Perugia and the late Sagrantino harvest. November is Frantoi Aperti, when the olive mills of the Assisi-Spoleto belt open to the public and the new oil is tasted on grilled bread. Winter is pork, bean soup and game.
Frequently asked
What food is Umbria famous for?
Black truffle and pork. The prized winter truffle, Tuber melanosporum, is dug around Norcia, a mountain town whose butchers gave Italian its word for a pork butcher, norcino. The other signatures are Castelluccio lentils, eggless hand-rolled pasta such as strangozzi and umbricelli, and a very bitter, peppery olive oil.
When is truffle season in Umbria?
The prized black truffle is dug from December to March, and Norcia holds its truffle market in late February. A lighter summer species, the scorzone, is found from roughly May to September and costs a fraction of the price. Menus list them separately, so check which one you are being charged for.
What is torta al testo?
Torta al testo is Umbria's flatbread, cooked on a scalding stone or iron disc called a testo, then split and filled while hot. Standard fillings are sausage, ham and cheese, or bitter wild greens sautéed with garlic. It works as a fast lunch and is sold at almost every village festival in the region.
How is Umbrian food different from Tuscan food?
Umbria is landlocked and more mountainous, so it leans harder on truffle, pork and highland pulses, while Tuscany has a coast, a bread-based repertoire and Chianina beef. Umbrian bread is also unsalted, and both regions grill meat plainly, but Umbria adds truffle where Tuscany adds olive oil. Umbria has no equivalent of the Florentine steak culture.
What wine is Umbria known for?
Sagrantino di Montefalco, made from one of the most tannic grape varieties in the world and historically produced sweet from dried grapes for feast days. Torgiano Rosso Riserva is the region's other DOCG. For white, Orvieto is the name to know, made in cellars cut into the volcanic tufa beneath the town.