Regional Food and Wine
Abruzzo is a mountainous region where agriculture is difficult and sheep-farming dominates. The diet of the area is consequently dominated by lamb : abbacchio , unweaned baby lamb that is usually cut into chunks and roasted; and castrato , castrated lamb, when the meat is often cooked as a casserole with tomatoes, wine, herbs, onion and celery ( intingolo di castrato ), while the innards are typically roasted in the oven ( alenoto di castrato ). Look out as well for agnello a cutturo , an aromatic herby casserole served with bread. The other crucial ingredient in the region's cuisine is chilli ( peperoncino in the rest of Italy, but known locally as pepedinie ), used liberally in all kinds of dishes; in a region prone to magic and superstition, it is believed to be a cure for ailments ranging from neuralgia to arthritis. Abruzzo is most famous for maccheroni alla chitarra , made by pressing a sheet of pasta over a wooden frame wired like a guitar; usually it is served with a tomato or lamb sauce. Other local pastas include the roughly cut strengozze and maltagliati , both inevitably served with a lamb sauce. Cheese tends to be pecorino - most often mature and grainy like parmesan, but you may come across young cheeses that are still mild, soft and milky. The wines of Molise are rarely found outside the region. The most interesting vintages come from the Biferno Valley between Larino and Guglionesi, where a hearty Biferno red is made from a combination of the Montepulciano, Trebbiano Toscano and Aglianico grapes. The best-known wine of Abruzzo is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a heavy red made from the Montepulciano grape with up to 15 percent Sangiovese, commonly found as house red in the restaurants of Abruzzo, Molise and Rome. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuola is a light rosato made from the same grapes; and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo is an often insipid dry white made from the Trebbiano d'Abruzzo and Trebbiano Toscano grapes. There are, however, a few quality producers: look out for wines from the Azienda Agricola Illuminati Dino and from the Azienda Agricola Pepe Emidio, both in the province of Teramo.
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