rt and literature have emphasized the extravagant banquets of Renaissance courts, the revelry of Medieval hunting and harvest feasts, the conspicuous consumption of the ancient Romans. Yet, barring the occasional episodes of excess, patterns of eating in central Italy have historically upheld the culture of country cooking and the virtues of simplicity and balance.
The diet in all six regions adheres to Mediterranean standards in the reliance on olive oil, grains and seasonal produce. But cooking styles vary markedly in a territory split into ethnical enclaves by the Apennines, the mountainous spine of the peninsula. In ancient times, the Adriatic side was inhabited by Sabellian and Oscan tribes of the Abruzzi and Molise and Piceni and Senone Gauls of the Marches. On the Tyrrhenian side, Latium was inhabited by Latins and Sabines, Umbria by Umbri and Etruscans, who from their base in Tuscany gained territory up and down the peninsula before being subdued by the Romans.
Notions of unity were advanced under the Roman empire, but for centuries after its fall the various states of central Italy struggled to assert autonomy against the menace of foreign invaders and the hegemony of papal Rome. Umbria and the Marches remained largely loyal to the papacy. The Abruzzi, of which Molise was a province until 1963, maintained historical ties to southern regimes. Tuscany, despite battles between Florence and other city states and spells of foreign rule, upheld a measure of independence.
Historical patterns still reflect in regional diets. As the national capital, Rome serves as an intermediary between north and south in political as well as culinary matters. Abruzzi and Molise show a southern touch in dishes that are decisively piquant. The Marches shares recipes with central neighbors, as well as Emilia-Romagna to the north. Tuscany and Umbria have tastes in common, though throughout the heartland cooks uphold traditions in local ways.
The ancient grain called farro, the predecessor of hard wheat, is still used in soups. Until recent times, the chestnut was the leading staple of the diet in the uplands of the Apennines. Eaten roasted or boiled, chestnuts were also dried and ground into flour for polenta, soups, flat breads, cakes and pastries. They were even used to fatten pigs. Today, of course, wheat is the base of pasta and most bread, including the unsalted loaves unique to Tuscany, Umbria and the Marches.
Over all the use of pasta is about evenly split between dried and fresh types in the central regions, where rice and polenta play secondary roles. Abruzzi and Molise have solid traditions of maccheroni. In Latium, spaghetti, bucatini and rigatoni share the spotlight with Rome's egg-based fettuccine. Dried pasta is produced in quantity in Umbria and the Marches, though cooks still often hand roll the dough for tagliatelle and local delights. Homemade noodles are also preferred in Tuscany, but that's one place where bread historically outweighed pasta.
Fine olive oil is made through the central hills, though the paragon of extra vergine comes from Tuscany, Umbria, northern Latium and Abruzzi. Garden produce is rigorously seasonal. Rome is renowned for artichokes and peas, Tuscany for white beans and black cabbage, the uplands of Abruzzi, Umbria and the Marches for lentils, chickpeas and potatoes. The central Apennines are a major source of truffles, both the prized white varieties found in the Marches and parts of Tuscany and the black varieties that thrive in Umbria.
Consumption of fresh seafood was historically confined to coastal areas. Each Adriatic port boasts a local recipe for the fish soup called brodetto. Along the Tuscan coast the counterpart is cacciucco. But even in inland places, such as landlocked Umbria, cooks made good use of preserved anchovies, tuna, sardines and salt cod.
Meat plays a key role in regional diets, with preferences for lamb and kid to the south and veal and beef to the north, particularly in Tuscany, whose Chianina steers provide the legendary bistecca alla fiorentina. Chianina, like the Marches' Marchigiana and Romagna's Romagnola breeds of white cattle are protected under the DOP of Vitellone Bianco dell'Appennino Centrale, which extends through the central part of the Apennines. Poultry and rabbit are appreciated everywhere, as are game birds, hare and wild boar in regions where hunting is still considered more a birthright than a sport.
Pork is prominent everywhere, in the salumi made by butchers whose ancient craft was perfected in the Umbrian town of Norcia. The Marches, Latium, Umbria and Tuscany all claim the origins of porchetta, a whole pig boned and stuffed with garlic, wild fennel, rock salt and peppercorns and roasted slowly in wood-burning ovens.
Pecorino is the dominant cheese in all regions, though styles range from soft, young marzolino (made from milk of sheep or goats grazed on green grass in early spring) to firm and tangy types to aged Pecorino Romano, hard and sharp and used mainly for grating.
The six central regions between them produce less than a quarter of Italy's wines, yet they account for more than a third of the DOC/DOCG total. The so-called renaissance in Italian wine gained impetus in Tuscany, renowned not only for the classics of Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano but also for unclassified reds sometimes lauded as "Super Tuscans." The red Montepulciano of the Abruzzi has won growing acclaim, though the best known wines of other regions are white: the Marches with Verdicchio, Umbria with Orvieto and Latium with Frascati and other wines of the Castelli Romani.
