Abruzzo’s cuisine is genuine and frugal based on simple dishes which epitomize the ancient flavours of pastoral life. Some of the ancient specialties include “M’paniccia”, slices of stale bread softened in hot whey; “Mazzapico”, a type of soft cheese made from curds sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon; and “M’cisca”, dried goat or sheep meat, especially used by shepherds during their treks on sheep-tracks.
More elaborate soups enrich the daily diet such as tagliolini e fagioli (thin tagliatelle with beans), sagne e ceci (tagliatelle with chickpeas), ravioli con ricotta (ravioli with soft fresh cottage cheese) and the classic gnocchi di patate (gnocchi made from potatoes). Pecora al cotturo (stewed sheep meat) is a characteristic dish within the Park’s district.
Abruzzo’s cheeses made from cow’s and sheep’s milk such as ricotta, scamorza, caciocavallo, treccia and the famous Abruzzo pecorino are particularly tasty and appetizing.
A mouth-watering variety of sweets and local cakes are typically made from flour, eggs and almonds to celebrate special occasions and festivities and are given different names and shapes accordingly. The Christmas large eel, Easter Lamb, the Hare to celebrate the birth of the first grandchild. At wedding receptions scarselle, mostaccioli and delicious torroncini (small dried almond nougats) iced with naspro are particularly popular. For Carnival, taste the typical fried sweets called cecamarini and tinozzi. Aromatic liqueurs include fragolino made from wild strawberries, ginepro made from juniper, nocino made from nuts and the typical genziana (gentian) and many many more…