Slow Food Presidia in Marche

The Salame di Fabriano, in the lard salami category, is mentioned in 17th and 18th century documents, where it was given a higher value than ham. It is also mentioned in a letter of thanks from Garibaldi, in Caprera, for a gift of a mixture of lean pork meats, without fat and nerves, thinly mashed, with 120 lard pats, 24 of them die shaped, dressed with salt and black pepper, and packed in pig gut. Nowadays, production is increasing and, for this reason, a specific Consortium for its production and protection has been constituted at Fabriano.

For information:
http://www.salamedifabriano.it/

Figs were once grown all over the Marche countryside, particularly around the Vallesina. One of the most common ways of preserving them was to turn them into sweet salami. Once dried, the figs were mixed with other traditional peasant ingredients: almonds, walnut pieces and star anise seeds. Sometimes a little sapa, slow-cooked grape must, was added, or mistra` (aniseed liqueur), and then the mixture was formed into logs and wrapped in fig leaves. Tied with a piece of string or wool, the lonzino would last until spring. Slices were given to children as a snack or eaten after festive meals. Fig lonzino is also excellent paired with cheese and dessert wine.

The Serra de’ Conti cicerchia is a tiny, irregularly shaped legume, ranging in color from gray to speckled pale brown. It has a tender skin and a less bitter flavor than other varieties. Already by the second half of the 20th century, few growers were still cultivating this humble but tasty legume, which had spread from its zone of origin to the rest of the Marche region. Eventually it was completely abandoned, leaving the market free to be dominated for years by the large, insipid versions produced by multinationals.

Around Ancona, mussels that reproduce naturally and live attached to underwater rocks off the Conero coast are known as “moscioli”. The local trattorias made them famous in the 1950s, and the mollusks began to be harvested on a large scale by small fishing boats with the help of divers. During the following two decades, there were around 80 active boats along the Conero coast, 30 of which belonged to the Portonovo fishing cooperative. Eventually, difficulties in harvesting the mussels and competition from farmed mollusks led to a steep fall in production. The number of divers willing to do this type of work also fell steeply.

These pink apples have long been cultivated in the foothills leading up towards the slopes of the Sibillini Mountains, at altitudes between 450 and 900 meters above sea level. The Presidium has identified eight ecotypes, belonging to three groups, with varying colors and textures. However, they all have sweet, slightly acidic flesh and an intense, aromatic fragrance. Very small, irregularly shaped, slightly squashed and with a short stalk, the apples are delicious but not very striking in appearance. This makes it hard for them to compete with the modern varieties currently found on the market.
In autums two events are dedicated to the Sibillini Mountains Pink Apples: the Pink Apple Festival in Montedinove (AP) and in Monte San Martino (MC).

The traces of an important pastoral civilization, which practiced transhumance, the seasonal migration of livestock, can still be found in the Sibillini Mountains. In recent years, however, the presence of shepherds in these mountain areas has significantly diminished. Guardians of techniques and knowledge, they were the ones who began making a local sheep’s cheese (pecorino) from raw milk. According to tradition, the curd was semi-cooked and the cheeses were aged naturally, turned every two or three days to encourage the formation of the rind. They can be eaten after just a couple of months, though they are best when aged at least 100 days.