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Abruzzo

A rustic, undiscovered region in central Italy, home of the Gran Sasso, the tallest of the Apennines and Abruzzo National Park. Good for game dishes, pecorino, saffron, and high-quality pasta: also pizzelle, coglioni di mulo and the extraordinary beany virtú. Dishes cooked all'abruzzese will often have hot peppers in it, and perhaps saffron, or just in the traditional style of the region.

The name comes from Aprutium, the Latin word for the region, probably derived from the Praetutii tribe who lived around modern Teramo.

annoia

Abruzzo sausage

arrabbiata

spicy hot pasta sauce

arrosticini

lamb kebabs

Aurum

orange liqueur

bocconotti

bite-size filled pastries

brodetto

fish soup

cacio e uova

cheese balls

cacio

semi-soft cheese

Caciofiore

fresh sheep's cheese made with vegetable rennet

cagionetti

fried sweet ravioli

calciuni

Sweet chestnut ravioli

Canestrato

partially cooked cheese made in a basket

caprino

goat cheese

Centerbe

Hundred herb liqueur

cicerchia

grass pea

cicerchiata

a ring of tiny doughnuts

coglioni di mulo

traditional Abruzzo salami

confetti

Jordan almonds

cutugnata

quince preserve

diavolini

spicy red chilis

farrotto

spelt cooked like a risotto

ferratelle

similar to waffles

fiadona

savoury or sweet pies

fracchiata

grass pea polenta

fregnacce

wide, flat pasta

Genziana

Giuncata

a soft cheese from the south

gnocchi

dumplings

Gransardo

Hard sheep's milk cheese

lenticchie

lentils

maccheroni

macaroni, and more

mais

corn (maize)

Marcetto

sheep cheese with little worms

mazzarelle

little bundles of offal

miele

honey

mortadella

The Pink Queen of Bologna

muschiska

jerky

Ndocca 'ndocca

stewed pig parts

nnuje

piquant sausage

oliva

olive

pagnotta

white bread

pallotte

meat (or egg and cheese) balls

Panarda

an enormous communal feast

panicelli

hand-shaped bread rolls

parrozzo

Abruzzese almond cake

pecorino

sheep's milk cheese

penne all'arrabbiata

angry quills!

peperoncino

chili peppers

pizz' e foje

corn flour pizza and greens stew

pizza scima

unleavened pizza from Abruzzo

pizzelle

thin waffles

pizzichi

'pinched' spelt pasta

polenta

corn meal

polpo

octopus

ratafià

rustic liqueur

rimpizze

sweet brioches

rintrocilo

long fat pasta cut with a special tool

sagne

flat pasta

salsiccia

sausage

scrippelle

crepes from the Abruzzo

siluro

Wels catfish

solina

'poor wheat' of the Abruzzo

strangozzi

thick square strands of egg pasta

stuzzicarelli

flavoured ribbons of pasta

tacchino

turkey

tacconelle

pasta parallelograms

tartufo

truffle

testine

lamb's head

tiella

a word of many meanings

timballo

pasta or rice casserole

torcinelli

lamb's sweetbreads

troccoli

square strands of pasta

ventricina del vastese

spicy Abruzzo salame

vino cotto

'cooked wine'

virtù

the serious soup of sevens

zafferano

saffron

zeppole

'St Joseph's pastries'

Text © Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls