Marches menus cover a thorough mix of meats: quail, pigeon, guinea fowl, chicken, rabbit, lamb, pork, beef and veal (including the Marchigiana breed of cattle, which is covered under the IGP of Vitellone Bianco dell'Appennino Centrale).
It's curious to note that meat and seafood may be cooked in similar ways. For example, poultry, fresh fish or even dried cod are often done in potacchio (with onion, tomato, white wine and rosemary), while duck, rabbit, ham or even sea snails may be done in porchetta (with wild fennel, garlic and rosemary).
The region that stakes persuasive claims to the origins of porchetta, also makes an impressive range of salumi. Notable are the prosciutto from the town of Carpegna, which rates a DOP, the salame of Fabriano and the cotechino of San Leo. Around Macerata they make a sort of sausage called ciauscolo, soft enough to spread on bread like paté.
At Ascoli Piceno, giant olives are stuffed with a meat-cheese-bread filling and deep fried. Zucchine and peas are favored in season, while beans and chickpeas are used year-round for soups. Greens include ròscani, whose spinach like leaves have an acidic bite. Lentils grown in the Apennines to the south of the Marches qualify under the DOP of Lenticchie di Castelluccio di Norcia, centered in Umbria.
Pecorino is preferred young and mild, sometimes almost sweet. Casciotta d'Urbino, a DOP made from a blend of sheep and cow's milk, has been known since the Middle Ages. The rare ambra cheese from the town of Talamello is also made from a mix of sheep and cow's milk into forms wrapped in cloth and buried in pits carved out of tufa where mold forms and accounts for special flavor.
Cheese often figures in focaccia and pizza, as well as in desserts, which are usually moderately sweet. Ravioli-like pastries are Ascoli's calcioni (made with fresh pecorino) and Macerata's piconi (with ricotta, rum and cinnamon). Corn flour is used in Ancona's beccute (biscuits with raisins and nuts) and frustenga (cake with figs, raisins and walnuts).
The region's 11 DOCs are led by Verdicchio, the paragon of fish wines, though that white may also have the weight to accompany poultry, veal and rabbit. Ancona's unsung pride is Rosso Conero, a full-bodied red from the Montepulciano grape. Rosso Piceno, from vineyards to the south, can also show class. Meals often end with Mistrà, an anise liqueur traditionally drunk in the coffee cup with the remains of an espresso.
