Spoleto and the Valnerina
Food and wine
Spoleto is the chief-town of a vast territory where it is very easy to experience good eating. Spoleto and its territory's cuisine and gastronomy have ancient traditions and take their inspiration from the fabulous products offered by the lands of Spoleto and its surroundings. Trevi's celery is rare and it is only cultivated in the clayey lands near the river Clitunno.
It is excellent when it is eaten raw, dipped into the exquisite oil of Trevi, or it can be cooked as a "parmigiana". Beyond any doubt, black truffle is the product excellence of the territory. Most of the regional cuisine between Norcia and Spoleto depends upon the collection of this precious tuber. Truffle is used to give flavour to home-made pastas but also to meat dishes. Among the typical dishes, there are spaghettis with black truffle, the crayfishes of the crystal-clear Clitunno river or the trouts of the Nera River, and also grilled meats and wild boar.
Among desserts there are the typical "panpepato" and the "crescionda" (a characteristic cake made with eggs, flour, chocolate, macaroons and mistral). Going towards the Valnerina, it is possibile to find a high-quality cheese production and delicious cold meats, such as the AOP Norcia's ham.
Moreover, there is the precious Cascia's saffron, Monteleone's spelt that once was cooked after being roughly ground while today it is also used in grains, and the famous lentil of Castelluccio, namely the gem of Mounts Sibillini. It is the softest and the best lentil in Italy and also the fundamental ingredient of many unforgettable soups.