A “gourmet” trip in the green Umbria.
Among stars, wonders, spells …
Weekend Premium takes you on a “gourmet tour” in one of the most beautiful, enchanting and greedy regions: Umbria.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
Umbria offers a robust, vigorous and straightforward cuisine, with local products, such as truffles, lentils from Castelluccio, cured meats and sausages, traditional desserts, such as Easter ciaramicola, impastoiata, delicious cheese cakes and the unmissable Torta al testo, a soft focaccia that is abundantly stuffed with local capocollo, cured meats or vegetables.
Here are Michelin Stars
Let’s start from Vespasia (Norcia) where one of the Chefs that I absolutely adore has recently landed: Fumiko Sakai who will be paired with Fabio Cappiello. Born in Japan, Fumiko manages to blend oriental tastes and emotions in traditional Italian dishes, attentive and interested in the use of local products.
The dishes of the two chefs aim to delight the palate, with a focus on regional recipes and excellent local ingredients such as black truffles and lentils.
A must: Soft and crunchy suckling pig with apple chutney
Casa Vissani (Baschi)
is open in July, August and September every Wednesday evening, Thursday, Friday and Saturday for lunch and dinner and Sunday for lunch. In the menu of his famous chef Gianfranco Vissani, we find some of his top dishes: Cube of tuna with avocado, lemon and coffee, Japanese bisontè, asparagus with butter and Parmesan cheese, Purgatory bean soup, round of pesto and clams and clams. the legendary Guinea fowl in casserole with Taggiasca olives, mushrooms, capers and potatoes under the embers in oil. La Casa is also a hotel, where you can stay in beautiful rooms to discover Umbria and its wonders.
erugia, the capital of beauty In the center we find the wonderful Piazza della Fontana Maggiore, the Palazzo dei Priori, the National Gallery and the Etruscan Well, right next to the Chef Antica Trattoria San Lorenzo led by Chef Simone Ciccotti.
Surrounded by ancient walls and vaulted ceilings, the restaurant offers a creative cuisine of research, original and personal, drawing on the dishes of the typical Umbrian cuisine and the Italian gastronomic tradition. Simone Ciccotti has been a spokesperson for Italian cuisine abroad for over twenty years, where he participates in the organization of Gastronomic Festivals and cooking classes, on regional dishes, and on traditional Italian dishes. as “The James Beard Foundation in New York.
Hot meets cold: Red onion muffins, tomato jam, gorgonzola ice cream stracchino. while and a quote from the iconic Rossana Perugina candy, revisited with a filling of local caciottina
Simone is a member of the Italian Restaurateurs group in the U.S.A, Chef consultant of the Tuscan Owen NY Group and regional President of the Italcuochi National Academy. Impossible not to mention its superlative Uovo e Uovo, Crispy pheasant egg, Pietralunga potato cream, Giuliani tartufi black truffle water.
Ciccotti has delighted many illustrious names with his dishes, including Pope John Paul II, Sofia Loren, Giorgio Armani, Michael Douglas and Britney Spears.
Let’s change the atmosphere and discover (and it is appropriate to say it) another historic restaurant in Perugia: La Taverna, located in a delightful square in the tortuous Vicolo delle Streghe.
“When I was little, when I was having a tantrum, Mom made me pass through this alley, then uninhabited, where the wind made hisses that were said to be the complaints of the witches … You can imagine my terror …” Tells me Claudio Brugalossi, a great character (and great cook) from Perugia, as well as the owner of this Trattoria that goes back to the Umbrian gastronomic traditions and has always been one of the favorite restaurants of Perugia and beyond ….
Among the illustrious customers it is enough to mention four Presidents of the Republic, the iconic Tony Bennet, great fan of Claudio, Antony Hopkins and the superstar Lady Gaga who, during the Umbria Jazz Festival, wanted to dine at the Pergola bringing with him the whole band and the complete Germanotta family! .
In Brugalossi’s dishes, sweetness and flavor are wisely balanced, like the sweet Cannara steamed onion that marries a tasty pecorino fondue and an abundant rain of truffles. The quote of the famous Rossana candy returns, where Brugalossi reports the red of the package in a red turnip filling.
We leave the Witches to find ourselves in an environment worthy of true Princesses … We are at the Collin’s Restaurant of the Hotel Brufani, an authentic historical piece of Perugia. The delights and surprises arrive immediately, in the lovely terrace where we are served a cocktail based on elderflower and accompanied by irrepressible waffles with liver pathé.
Here we find Chef Marco Gargaglia, whose stylistic code is clear: sensational, authentic and seasonal raw materials that just ask to be enhanced; technique capable of enhancing the flavors, elegance and harmony of each dish.
Young, brilliant, eager to grow up, obviously passing through the best Asian expressions (become a real obsession of his, indeed a maniacal passion.
Tataki di gambero irrorato da estratto di prosciutto e paccheri rigati con agnello stracotto e cipolla caramellata
I chose for you
Buca di San Francesco (Assisi)
La locanda del Cardinale (Assisi)
Serpillo, Da Oscar (Bevagna)
La Bastiglia (Spello)
Fiorfiore (Todi)
I sette Consoli, La Palomba( Orvieto)
San Lorenzo, Apollinare, Tempio del Gusto (Spoleto)
Nascostoposto (Terni
Porta Tesseneca (Gubbio)
Narni (Terni): when “Chef” is feminine: Mariana’s exquisite cuisine
Here we are in Narni, an extraordinary village … above and below! Ancient Roman fortress, today it is released between squares, shops, alleys, stairways and incomparable panoramic views, among which the most suggestive is located in the direction of the bridge over the Nera, where you can admire the majestic surviving arch of the Augustus Bridge, built in the first century B.C
The underground of Narni offers us an astonishing path, which winds through aqueducts, cisterns, tunnels, crypts and even the torture room of the Inquisition Tribunal, with a cell that still shows the graffiti engraved by prisoners waiting to be sentenced BC.
We go back to the light and discover the Il Fondaco restaurant, located in the historic center, on the ground floor of a historic building from the 16th century. We are welcomed by the exuberant chef Mariana Sima who proposes typical dishes of the cuisine of the lower Umbria including the traditional handmade manfricoli and seasoned with tomato and hot pepper, very spicy …
That hidden village …
In Torgiano (Perugia) an enchanting strip of Umbria awaits us. Between the green of its gardens and the turquoise of the splendid swimming pool, the wonderful Resort & Spa Tre Vaselle houses the elegant Le Melograne restaurant where Chef Marco Di Pietrantonio reigns.
The Chef’s prerogative are simplicity and clarity. Di Pietrantonio prefers clear and distinct flavors, rarely in his dish we find more than three ingredients, in perfect aromatic and gustatory fusion, such as his pasta chitarra with sea urchin pulp, cherry tomatoes and basil or seared sea bass on a bed of olives taggiasche and dried tomatoes, where the dressing is entrusted to a mint and lime jus.
In the glass, a heavenly Torre di Giano “Vigna Il Pino” 2015 obtained from Vermentino, Grechetto and Trebbiano grapes, a pleasant white with hints of fruit with a light sweet spiciness and a hint of vanilla, a true masterpiece of the Lungarotti Distilleries, owners of the Resort.
And finally … The Castle of Petroia: a secret to be discovered
Halfway along the ancient road that leads from Perugia to Gubbio, the severe and majestic bulk of the Castle of Petroia stands out on the horizon, with its Tower, the Castle of the Signori and the Castle of the servants. This fairy tale building offers guest rooms, breakfast room, restaurant, library and 9 suites.
The menu is curated by Walter Passeri who, with careful historical research of ancient Umbrian cuisine, has created a skilful combination of tradition and innovation. In the evening, dinner is by candlelight.
Among the Umbria we have chosen …
The Lungarotti wineries, symbol of enological excellence, started by Giorgio Lungarotti, pioneer of modern Italian oenology and founder of the company of Torgiano, a small village a few steps from Perugia, a passion that continues from generation to generation and that counts 250 hectares of vineyards,
Fino dal 1962, Il cavallo di battaglia delle cantine Lungarotti è il Rubesco, un rosso dal corpo equilibrato, uve Sangiovese e Colorino, colore rubino, profumi speziati con decisi richiami al pepe e al tabacco dolce e sottofondo di confettura rossa e violetta.
INFO
Sviluppo Umbria
Narni Sotterranea
Antica Trattoria San Lorenzo
Vespasia
Casa Vissani
Collin’s
Tre Vaselle
Le Melograne
La Taverna
Lungarotti Wines
Il Fondaco
CESARE ZUCCA
Travel, food & lifestyle.
Born in Milan, Cesare lives between New York, Milan and the rest of the world.
For WEEKEND PREMIUM he photographs and writes about cities, cultures, lifestyles.
He likes to discover both traditional and innovative gastronomic delights, to meet and interview top chefs from all over the world and to ‘steal ‘their recipes… All of them treasured in his blog, with a “Non Touristy Tourist ” style
