Abruzzo Cuisine

The custom of the people of Abruzzi in celebrating solemn occasions with those never ending meals called panarde (a multi-course feast ) was born from poverty: the farmers of Abruzzi would take advantage of these to compensate for lengthy periods of fasting.

Vittorio, in the Peligna Valley dedicates its festival to grapes and wine.  Pollutri, in the province of Pescara, Raiano celebrates the product which sustains the local economy, and that is cherries; Carsoli, on the border between Abruzzi and Lazio, does the same with sweet chestnuts;

Capistrello, in the Marsica area, has a festival in the summer in the honour of strawberries; Macchia da Sole, a place of milk and shepherds in the province of Teramo, dedicates its festival to pecorino cheese; Basciano, in the same province, attracts crowds of visitors on the second Sunday in August in the name of its prosciutto ham.

Arsita in the province of Teramo celebrates the "coatto" a typical dish prepared by boiling a leg of mutton at length.But the list of foods honoured by special festivals is still long: it includes the ciambella – a ring-shaped cake - (Goriano Sicoli), the prawns and trout (Popoli), wine (Miglianico e Succiano), chick peas (Navelli), mutton (San Vincenzo Valle Roveto), porchetta - roast pig - (Fresagrandinaria), the sagne a tacconi (Roio del Sangro), the spiedino - kebab - (Montereale and Martinsicuro), the cicerchia – a typical kind of cake - (Castelvecchio Carvisio), Pelagic fish (Giulianova) and honey (Tornareccio).

Saffron is a vegetable aroma which has its Italian birthplace in Abruzzi, but strangely enough, is not used at all in the local cuisine. A

highly prized quality of saffron, with a very distinct flavour, used for flavouring Milanese risottos, Spanish paellas and French bouillabaisses. One of the local dish in which saffron is used is the «scapece» from Vasto.

The most well known recipe of Abruzzi cuisine is  pasta alla chitarra  which is prepared by use of a special utensil, or rather an “instrument”: the chitarra (the guitar).

The name derives from the fact that it is, in fact, an instrument with strings: a rectangular frame of beechwood made by artisans who string a number of extremely thin wires on it, at a distance of one millimetre from each other.

Other traditional Abruzzi pasta dishes are the «maccheroni al ceppo» and «alla molinara», also known as «strangolapreti».

Abruzzi food table is an almost legendary minestrone soup, a ritual dish which is called «le virtu'» - ‘the virtues’ – (of which there are seven, the same as the number of the various ingredients) and which unites different kinds of foods in a single dish.

The whole mixture should cook for seven hours, at the end of which the minestrone soup would finally be ready!

Amongst the meat dishes, apart from porchetta (roast pig), some of the simple and coarse shepherd recipes should at least be mentioned.  Ovine meat is the dominating element: lamb, mutton and kid are cooked in all kinds of different ways throughout the Abruzzi.

The shepherds cooked lamb a «catturo», that is, in a large cooper cauldron suspended by a chain from an iron tripod erected out in the open. The meat is cut into pieces and put together with oil, lard, parsley, sage, onion, chilli pepper and is cooked of a slow fire. This fragrant stew is eaten on large slices of bread.

Usually, the pig is never lacking, giving excellent sausages and salamis amongst which there is the «ventricina» sausage, aromatic and spicy.

Another exquisite dish is offered by the «posticini», skewers of grilled lamb and pork, often sold along the street in small kiosks. Also typical is the «capra alla neratese» (‘neratese style goat’); cut into pieces, the leg of the animal, after having been immersed in running water, is boiled up with aromatic herbs.

The «coniglio alla chietina» (‘rabbit Chieti style’) is baked in the oven after having been stuffed with slices of prosciutto ham, rosemary and knobs of butter; the dish «pollo alla Franceschiello» (‘chicken Franceschiello style’), so called in memory of the King of the Two Sicilies.

The most appreciated products  are those coming from sheep-rearing, and, above all, the cheeses: scamorze, caciocavalli, and pecorini cheeses leave one with perhaps the most memorable flavours after a trip to Abruzzi, where the gastronomical “discoveries” are numerous, especially in the inland and mountainous areas.

A stay along the coastline means being able to encounter the flavours of the seafood; pelagic fish, but also shellfish and crustaceans and the extraordinary tiny red mullets known as "agostinelle" which are preferably cooked by throwing them, having just been dipped in flour, into boiling hot oil and eating them immediately. The fish soups are less renowned and here, as in Romagna and the Marche, every locality offers its own version on the theme of the soup of fish from the Adriatic Sea. The two most well known are the one from Vasto and the one from Pescara.

In most of the localities of the coast, there are opportunities to encounter, apart from fresh fish, other foods and dishes of great interest such as the «scrippelle in brodo o al tartufo» (‘crepes in broth or with truffles’).

The « mazzarelle d'agnello» (lamb’s offal and intestines cooked in a sauce). The «baccala' mollicato», the salted codfish being partially cooked by boiling and then, to finish the cooking, it is sautéed in the pan with the addition of garlic, oil, parsley, oregano and the «coda di rospo al rosmarino» (‘angler fish with rosemary’). 

Other specialties which are enjoyed are the «sole with olives», cooked with small olives cooked with garlic, parsley and lemon juice and the «stuffed red mullets» filled with breadcrumbs, garlic and finely chopped rosemary.

An Abruzzi meal always closes with the desserts which are often with an almond and walnut base: such as the torroni – nougats - (made with chocolate or dried figs), the sugared almonds (i confetti), a celebrated speciality of Sulmona.

The «parrozzo», speciality of Pescara, boasts an «adevertisment» thought up and signed by none less than the Vate (Poet) D'Annunzio. It is a cake with a base of flour, butter, eggs, sugar and almonds, covered with chocolate.

For a wide of variety of cooking recipies please visit The recipes of Italian cuisine.