Within Italy, Le Marche is famous for its typical regional dishes. Try the olive d’Ascolana; deep-fried Ascoli olives filled with meat. If you’re into fish, the Brodetto is an Adriatic fish stew with as its main ingredient red or grey mullet, octopus or squid. The dish is different in each coastal town. The Vincisgrassi is a lasagna with minced meat, mushroom, tomato, béchamel sauce, and … with some luck … white truffle. And last but not least, the local dessert: Pizza Dolce or Frustenga; a cake with raisins, figs and walnuts.

Local delicatesses are easy to find: porcini (mushrooms), tartufo bianco (white truffle) porchetta (sucking pig with garlic), or ciauscolo (a soft spreadable pork salami) are all very tasty, just like various pecorini (sheep cheeses).

Almost every farmer in Le Marche has his own olive orchard, which results in a surprising variety of flavours.

Le Marche is an emerging wine making area. Young and ambitious winegrowers have invested heavily in new storage and yeasting methods, which has resulted in surprisingly good wines at affordable prices. Most wines are made from local grapes. One of the best Italian white wines is Le Marche’s Verdicchio. The Rosso Piceno is the best known red wine, made from a combination of Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes. Vino Cotto is a traditional wine, a ‘cooked’ wine which used to be made in every farm and tastes like port or sherry.