Ciociaria's typical products and cuisine

TYPICAL PRODUCTS

WINES AND OLIVE OILS
One of the most widespread cultivations in the Ciociarian countryside is the vineyard. Yet the production of wine in this land has always be made for household consumption and not for marketing purpose. But in recent times, the Ciociarian wines have hit the market successfully thanks to the DOC marks granted to many brands.

CESANESE DEL PIGLIO
The Cesanese del Piglio, thanks to the excellent grapes and the care of the wine-makers, is greatly appreciated outside the province's territory, too. It is a brilliant red wine with a full taste and soft fragrance, slighly tannic and quite strong that perfectly matches even important dishes. In 1973, it was granted the Denomination of Controlled Origins and the approval of the production regulations.

ATINA CABERNET
The Cabernet of Atina is a product of excellent quality. This wine has been made knwon and promoted by the Visocchis, a family that a lot of years ago planted some Cabernet and Merlot vine shoots on the alluvial marls within Atina's territory.

The particular climat conditions favoured their growth and, given the excelletn quality of the grapes, it is destined to meet even more ambitious targets.

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
The olive tree appears to be the most widespread farmed plant of Ciociaria, thanks to the mild climate and the peculiar orography of its land.

The exra-virgin olive oil produced in Ciociaria is quite excellent thanks to the special techniques fo working the row material and especially to the well-timed pressing.

CERVARO OLIVE OILS
In the area of Cervaro there are 250,000 olive trees. The harvesting, strictly handmade, begins at the first signs of the cold weather and finishes in January. A fundamental phase of the production is the 'monita', that is the crashing of olives by means of two big stone rollers. The pulp obtained in this way is put within special natural fibre disks and set under pressing to allow the splitting of the oil from the water. The secret of a supreme quality olive oil lies in a swift and well-timed pressing.

ROSCIOLA OLIVE OIL OF UPPER CIOCIARIA
In the counties of Paliano, Piglio, Serrone, Acuto and Anagni people produce a kind of extra-virgin olive oil of excellent quality, called 'Rosciola'.

It appears slightly cloudy, due to the absence of filtering, and it is golden yellow with a glint of green. Its harmonious taste goes well with all dishes, especially with grilled fish and roasted meats.

The producers of Upper Ciociaria have formed an association to put their product on the market, both national and international.

ATINA AND TERELLE BEANS
The land of the tasty beans 'cannellini' is Atina. The'cannellini' are a very delicate type of white beans with a light fragrance and a smooth taste. Due to their high food value, extremely proteic, beans have been the main ingredient of many 'poor' dishes of countrypeople's cuisine. This kind of pulse is today in great demand and its cultivation has reached a high level of quality. Another renowned variety of beans is the 'bottoncino', that is 'small button', produced at Terelle.

TRUFFLES
The quality of Ciociaria's truffles can very well stand comparison with those produced in more famous places. In particular there are three varieties of truffles in our land: the white truffle, more prized and costly, with a pleasant taste; the French truffle, just a bit less valuable than the white and the summer truffle, called also commom truffle, with a dark brownish colour and a rough surface; it is less valued, but equally palatable and aromatic.

GUARCINO SMOKED HAM
among the most popular and appreciated products of the Ciociarian gastronomy, there is the smoked ham of Guarcino, made with pork meat strictly coming from local stocks and undergone through techniques of processing, conservation and maturing that give it its special flavour. It also is the microclimate of these zones which create the right conditions for the best ripining of this dressed pork product.

The ancient home tradition of pork meat processing of the 'prosciutto' has been accompanied for 40 years now by the industrial production, to whom goes the merit of the popularity of Guarcino smoked ham.

BUFFALO'S MILK MOZZARELLAS

Produced mainly with bufflo's whole milk, this kind of soft cheese is undoubtedly the most popular in Italy. Although it has always been a product of Campania, in recent years this speciality is increrasingly gaining popularity even in some areas of Ciociaria. Amaseno is one of the territories within which buffalo breeding in particular has concentrated. The large farms developed in the last decades abundantly supply the buffalo's milk, the fundamental ingredient for the production of this food.

Due to its high quality, the buffalo mozzarella, strictly produced with the Amaseno milk, boasts the mark of D.O.P. (Denomination of Protected Origins).

'MARZOLINAS'

The 'marzolina' is a typical cheese made of sheep's milk with a strong and peculiar flavour.

Its production, initially homemade, has evolved in recent years, so this cheese can now be found in all shops selling food stuff. The simple processing techniques, such as the coagulation of milk, the salting, the ripining and eventually the seasoning, all add to the Marzolina a savoury but also quite mild taste.

Amaseno is the area where this cheese is largely produced; here yhanks to the many buffalo breeding farms, people also produce a soft cheese similar to the Marzolina but using buffalo's milk as the main ingredient,

'CORNETTO' PEPPER OF THE LIRI VALLEY
The growth of the 'cornetto' pepper is one of the most important cultivations in Ciociaria; its production has increased in the last years, thanks to the implementation of an agriculture diversity policy, with the aim of reaching a better balance between supply and demand on the market, and focusing on quality targets.

The 'Cornetto' pepper is traditionally grown within the territory of Pontecorvo and Pignataro Inteamna, along the banks of the river Liri.

Because of its high quality, this long-shaped palatable vegetable can aspire to the mark of Denomination of Protected Origins or Protected Geographical Indication.

In the Ciociarian cuisine the 'Cornetto' is an excellent ingredient for main courses, as well as a side dish.

CUISINE

The Ciociarian cuisine has a countryside tradition, so it is simple and genuine.

The fundamental basis of its typical dishes are the ingredients, undoubtedly 'poor' yet of excellent quality.

One of the most popular dishes is a kind of egg pasta, homemade and cut in thin noodles called 'fini fini', seasoned with meat sauce or simply tomato sauce.

Among the main courses, there are also the 'gnocchi' (flour and potato dumplings), 'cannelloni' (finger-thick tube of stuffed pasta) and the well-known 'timballo ciociario', also known as 'Boniface VIII's. Soups such as 'sagne and beans', 'pasta and potatoes', pasta and chick-peas', prepared according to the Ciociarian tradition, have a typical flavour.

The second courses see a predominance of pork, sheep, rabbit or chicken meats, which in the countryside still is genuine and tasty, because it usually comes from small, traditional stock farms.

Usually these meats are served with side dishes such as vegetables and greens, creating popular specialities such as chicken or rabbit with peppers, pork sausages with sprouting broccoli and spring lamb with baked potatoes.

As for sweets, athough they are not very complex, they still have a peculiar fragrance.
They are mainly oven-baked cakes, such as the 'ciambellone' (a big ring-shaped cake), the pigna (Easter cake with dried fruits), small ring-shaped cakes in syrup or with wine, tarts with home-made jam or ricotta (a kind of cottage cheese), small hazelnut biscuits, and the popular 'macaroons' of Guarcino (soft almond biscuits).

Farm Tourism
Ciociaria gives the opportunity to spend a farm tourism holiday all year around wish a differentiated offer.

Splendid are the farms and the rural estates surrounded by vegetation against the setting of an unspoiled environment.

This form of holiday gives you the opportunity to see that Ciociaria is a land full of ancient boroughs, castles, archaeological sites, churches and monasteries, ancient arts and crafts and many delectable rural traditions.

Farm tourism, a real tourism activity, not only allows to re-riscover countrypeople's nature, the manenvironment-nature relationship, the production cycles and wine-making, but also the architecture of the farmhouses or the rural dwelling, the treasures hidden inside the rural churches, usually out of the main tourism tracks, as well as local handicraft.

The mountain lovers, or those who like the hillside or the plain land side, choose Ciociaria to spend a holiday centred on 'once upon a time' fragrances and flavours.

Texts and photos courtesy of A.P.T. di Frosinone