Gourmet Travel in the Marche Region of Italy
Taste Braised Snails, Fish Stew and Michelangelo's Favourite Cheese
Oct 10, 2009
Few people seem to go on vacation to the Marche, the region of Italy that lies between Umbria and the Adriatic. Yet it is a delightful area, with rolling hills, great beaches, long stretches of undeveloped coastline and cultured hilltowns such as Urbino. If you take a cheap flight to the Marche – you can fly to Acona from London - you’ll not only escape the tourists who flock to Tuscany and Rome, you’ll be able to try the region’s delicious cuisine. As Fred Plotkin says in his fascinating book Italy for the Gourmet Traveller (Kyle Cathie £14.99), ‘the combination of sea, hills, and mountains’ in the Marche means that ‘there is superb seafood as well as excellent truffles, mushrooms, meats, olives, grapes, and especially cheeses.’
Vincigrassi and Brodetto
Dishes to look out for on your vacation include vincisgrassi, a rich lasagne made with cream, veal ragu and black truffles; brodetto, a fish stew made with garlic and herbs and served over slices of bread; lumache a nove erbe, which is snails cooked with nine herbs – a speciality of the northern Marche; and sarde alla Marchigiana, a dish of sardines which are baked with breadcrumbs, rosemary, parsley and lemon.
Michelangelo's Favourite Cheese
As you explore the Marche, you will also find speciality cheeses such as Casciotta, a cheese made from a mix of sheep’s milk and cow’s milk, that Fred Plotkin says was Michelangelo’s favourite cheese. Apparently the great Renaissance artist used to eat keep supplies of casciotta handy so he could eat it while he sculpted. Michelangelo liked it so much he eventually bought land near Urbino and grazed sheep on it, so that he would always have casciotta to eat. Other traditional cheeses from the Marche are Formaggio di Fossa, a pecorino cheese stored in caves, and Pecorino Sotto le Foglie di Noci, a pecorino cheese wrapped in walnut leaves.
Gourmet Travel in the Marche
In Italy for the Gourmet Traveller, Fred Plotkin suggests restaurants where you might like to eat when you visit the Marche. He also provides some recipes for classic dishes of the region. This recipe for Shrimps Wrapped in Prosciutto, which appears here with permission, is a speciality of Ristorante delle Rose in Marina di Montemarciano. It uses prosciutto from the town of Carpenga, but if that is unavailable you may substitute it with prosciutto from Parma or San Daniele. Prosciutto from Carpegna is saltier than the others.
Scampi al Prosciutto - Recipe
Proscuitto-Wrapped Shrimps
Ingredients - Serves 6 as a main course, 12 as an antipasto
- 2 kilograms/4 ½ pounds whole (or 1.3 kilograms/3 pounds cleaned) medium shrimps or prawns
- 200 grams/ ½ pound prosciutto, sliced thin
- 4/5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 glass/200ml/ 2/3 cup dry white wine, such as Verdicchio
- If you are using whole shrimps or prawns, clean them carefully and remove the shells, heads, and tails. Wrap each shrimp in a slice of prosciutto (if the slices are long, use half a slice).
- Pour the olive oil in a pan and heat it. Then carefully add the shrimps, shake the pan and cover. Cook over low heat.
- After 5 minutes, turn the shrimps, shake the pan again, and cover. Cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the wine and let it evaporate. Serve immediately.
Now try this recipe for Mountain Lentils from Molise, also from Italy for the Gourmet Traveller
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