What to eat in Abruzzo, the best typical foods you must try

If you think of Italy, food is probably the first thing that comes into your mind, and Abruzzo is definitely one of the greatest examples of how this proud national tradition is kept up.

The Abruzzese cuisine is deeply influenced by the region’s location and multifaceted soul, that stretches from the heart of the Apennines to the Adriatic Sea and embraces an amazing coastline, beautiful lakes, breathtaking mountains, and three national parks.

The food perfectly mirrors this variety of landscapes and it’s heterogeneous in nature: mainly made of simple ingredients turned into glorious feasts, it draws on traditions from pastoral and rocky inland areas as well as from coastal areas.

Our delicious culinary tour vacations will let you discover (and taste!) the best recipes this territory offers, and in most cases you will also learn how to prepare some of them.

Now get ready to take notes while we guide you through what we consider to be best typical foods you must try if you are traveling across Abruzzo: as a general rule, you should skip the dishes you already know the names of and opt for something local and traditional.

Antipasti / Appetizers

Antipasti (Appetizers) will give you an initial but quite complete picture of regional traditions, as they usually bring to the table the best local products. Here is a list of what you can’t miss.

• Ventricina salami: probably one of the most widely known products of the area, “celebrated” in many local food festivals, and often rewarded as the best Italian salami, it is a cured sausage of leg, loin and shoulder pork mixed with sweet and piquant red pepper, fennel seeds, black pepper and salt. Deep red in color, it will surprise you with a delightful chilli kick.
  
• Other salami: also, make sure you don’t miss the Salsicciotto frentano (Frentani sausage), a pork sausage made essentially with high-quality lean cuts and simply flavored with salt and pepper, thus considered one of the lowest-fat national salami; Mortadella di Campotosto: Abruzzo’s personal spin on the popular Italian cold cut, mortadella, prepared from lean cuts of pork, with a small addition of bacon; Salsiccia di fegato (Liver sausage), a pork-based product made with its liver, heart and tongue and a mix of some lean and fat meat.
  Our tours will give you the opportunity to taste these products and also learn how to make them in a specific class.
  
• Cozze ripiene (Stuffed mussels): typical of the Trabocchi coast, we are talking about mussels stuffed with a mixture of breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, extra-virgin olive oil, parmesan cheese, eggs and finished with and a splash of tomato sauce. Follow this link to watch the full recipe!
• Pizza scima (Stupid pizza): you might think it’s the bad version of a pizza, but in this case the adjective “scima”, literally stupid, is definitely not an offense: it is a dialectal expression that comes from “ascime” and stands for “azzimo”, that means unleavened.
  It’s simply made of flour, water, salt, extra-virgin olive oil and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo white wine, and just like bread – it actually looks like a thin focaccia – it’s traditionally used to accompany meals.
  
• Pecorino di Farindola: it’s a sheep cheese made in a small mountainous area, located in the heart of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. The “secret” ingredient, that makes it different from any other pecorino and gives it a sweet note, is the pig rennet. Its recipe is kept as a strong tradition of the area and passed down through generations.
• Other cheeses: any worthy of its name cheese board of the region, just to mention a few more products, might also include Ricotta, a creamy white, mild, fresh cheese with a soft texture and a slightly sweet flavor – our tours will teach you how to prepare it – Caciocavallo, a tear-drop shaped cheese made out of cow‘s milk, and Canestrato di Casteldelmonte, a special pecorino produced with raw sheep’s milk, salt and rennet.
• Pallotte Cac e ove (Cheese and Egg balls): bits of cheese and breadcrumbs, bound together with egg, formed into balls – that you can fry, if you want – and simmered in tomato sauce. In the past they used to be served as a vegetarian main course and typically during Christmas dinner to replace costly meat, but they currently show up as an appetizer as well.

Primi piatti / First courses

Being home to the oldest Italian cookery school and arguably Italy’s most famous pasta, De Cecco, Abruzzo has a very strong pasta – and, generally speaking – first courses tradition.

• Maccheroni alla chitarra (Guitar maccheroni): fat maccheroni made by rolling out egg dough over thin wires stretched on a wooden frame like a guitar; the name “alla chitarra” – where “chitarra” means guitar – comes from the sound this particular tool makes. Usually served with pork, goose, or lamb ragout, they are very tasty because of the squared shape, graininess and cut that absorb the sauce very well.
  
  
• Ravioli dolci (Ravioli with sugar): a variation of the classic Ravioli you can eat anywhere in Italy, Ravioli with sugar are typical of Abruzzo and usually prepared during Carnival time. Larger than traditional ones and stuffed with ricotta, egg yolk, sugar, lemon and cinnamon, they are ideal for those who like rich and strong tastes.