Le Marche

This region of dazzling sea and round, dulcet hills offers a cuisine as varied as its landscape. In the hills the cooking is based on the products of the land: crisp peppers, plump olives ready for stuffing or nibbling, cave-ripened sheep's milk cheeses, truffles both white and black. Along the coast, the food is a celebration of the sea: this is where you will find some of the best seafood and fish soups in the country, where cooks turn a simple red mullet or a handful of baby squid into a banquet, and where the golden-green Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi—the area's proudest wine—is poured at every fish feast.

Pastas are still hand-made in homes across the region; the most glorious of all is vincisgrassi, a luxurious lasagna layered with truffles, giblet ragù, and béchamel sauce. Polenta too is important, and it is often topped with sausages or long-simmered cuts of pork.

The Marchigiani, as the people of the Marche are known, have a love for all things stuffed: they stuff everything from olives and vegetables, to rabbit and mussels. They also adore anything fried: their fritto misto is an extravagant combination of deep-fried sweetbreads, apples, artichokes, cauliflower, lamb chops, custard squares, and more, all brought to the table in glistening glory with lemon wedges to provide a refreshing note. Suckling pig is stuffed with wild herbs and garlic, then roasted into a succulent porchetta, and every part of the pig is transformed into something edible: there are pork liver salamis, a spreadable pork paté called ciauscolo, lovely raw hams from Carpegna, and much more.

Desserts are simple affairs: most are honey-based, and many contain cooked grape must or Vino Cotto (cooked wine) for sweetness and complexity.