Ancona Food Guide — Brodetto, Olive Ascolane & Local Cuisine
Published June 13, 2026 · 10 min read
The cuisine of Ancona and the Marche is one of Italy's best-kept secrets — a distinctive fusion of Adriatic seafood, mountain charcuterie, and a pasta tradition that rivals Emilia-Romagna to the north. Unlike the internationally famous cuisines of Tuscany or Campania, Marchigiano cooking remains stubbornly local, which is precisely its appeal. The region's geography — a narrow coastal strip backed by rolling hills and the Apennine spine — creates a natural larder of extraordinary richness: wild mussels from the Conero rocks, fish from one of the world's most productive fishing grounds, olives from Ascoli, truffles from Acqualagna, and the vineyards of Jesi and Matelica producing Italy's most age-worthy white wine. In Ancona, you eat where the fishermen eat, and the menu is dictated by the morning's catch. This is the Adriatic at its most honest and delicious.
Brodetto all'Anconetana — The King of Adriatic Fish Stews
Brodetto is not merely a dish in Ancona; it is an identity. Every Adriatic port from Trieste to Bari has its brodetto, but brodetto all'anconetana is unique — and fiercely protected. The Accademia della Brodetto, founded in 1925 by a group of Ancona gastronomes, codified the official recipe: 13 species of fish (never fewer), tomatoes, onion, vinegar, and a crucial pinch of saffron. No garlic, no herbs, no white wine — purists insist on this austerity. The 13 fish must include scorpion fish (scorfano), gurnard (gallinella), monkfish (coda di rospo), John Dory, red mullet, weever, cuttlefish, and at least five other species, all cooked together in a specific order based on how long each needs. The vinegar — a splash of local wine vinegar added at the beginning — cuts through the richness and is the dish's signature note, giving it a slight sourness that distinguishes it from all other Italian fish stews.
The result is a thick, intensely savoury soup where the fish has partially broken down into the tomato-rich broth. It is served traditionally with grilled or fried bread slices for soaking, never pasta. The ritual is precise: the broth is ladled over the bread first, then the fish pieces are arranged on a separate plate. Two courses from one pot. The best brodetto tastes of the sea in a way that is almost alarming in its intensity — this is not a delicate dish. It takes at least two hours of slow, attentive cooking, and most Ancona families make it only for Sunday lunch or special occasions.
Where to eat it: Ristorante La Moretta on Piazza del Plebiscito has been the city's brodetto reference point for generations — they follow the 13-fish rule to the letter and the dining room, with its old photographs of Ancona's port, is a time capsule. Osteria del Poggio in the Passetto neighbourhood does a celebrated version with a terrace overlooking the sea. In Portonovo, Ristorante Emilia serves a legendary seafood menu including brodetto on a terrace practically over the water. During the Festa del Mare in September, brodetto is everywhere — restaurants, street stalls, pop-up kitchens along the port.
Moscioli — The Wild Mussels of the Conero
If brodetto is Ancona's most famous dish, moscioli are its most precious ingredient. These are wild mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) that grow naturally on the submerged rocks of the Conero coast, between Portonovo and Sirolo, in a stretch of the Adriatic where the limestone cliffs plunge vertically into deep water. Unlike farmed mussels, which hang on ropes and are harvested young and tender, moscioli grow slowly on natural rock substrate, developing a dense, intensely flavoured flesh and a darker, more robust shell. They have been designated a Slow Food Presidium, and their harvest is strictly regulated — only licensed fishermen using traditional methods are permitted to take them, and the season runs from May to October to allow natural regeneration.
Moscioli are prepared simply to respect their flavour. The classic preparation is alla marinara — steamed open in their own juices with a splash of white wine, a little garlic, and parsley — or gratinati, topped with breadcrumbs, parsley, and a drizzle of oil and baked until the crust is golden and the mussel beneath is just cooked. They also appear in pasta: spaghetti con i moscioli is a minimalist masterpiece that lets the mussels' intense, briny-sweet liquor do all the work. Moscioli have a firmer texture and a deeper, more mineral flavour than farmed mussels — once you have eaten them on a Portonovo terrace watching the waves break on the same rocks they came from, supermarket mussels lose their appeal.
Where to eat them: Portonovo's cluster of seafood restaurants is moscioli central. Ristorante Emilia and Da Giulia (a more casual beach-shack operation on the pebble beach) are the essential addresses. In Ancona city, look for them at Osteria del Poggio and the fish restaurants along the Passetto.
Olive Ascolane — The Fried Olive That Launched a Thousand Imitations
Olive ascolane come from Ascoli Piceno, 90 km south of Ancona, but they are the Marche's most famous street food and omnipresent across the region. Giant green olives from the Ascoli Tenera variety — large, mild, and meaty — are pitted, stuffed with a mixture of ground meats (typically a blend of beef, pork, and chicken), bound with egg and parmesan, breaded, and deep-fried until golden. The result is a crisp, spherical fritter about the size of a golf ball, with a savoury meat core wrapped around the olive whose gentle bitterness cuts through the richness of the stuffing and the fried coating. They are served hot, often as an antipasto or aperitivo snack, and a plate of olive ascolane with a glass of chilled Verdicchio is one of the Marche's perfect pairings.
In Ancona, olive ascolane appear on almost every antipasto menu and are a fixture of bars during the evening aperitivo hour. The best ones are made in-house (avoid the frozen, industrially produced versions common in low-end tourist spots). Look for irregular, hand-shaped spheres — they should not be perfectly round, and the meat stuffing should be moist and finely textured, not a dense ball.
Vincisgrassi — The Marche's Answer to Lasagne
Vincisgrassi is the most luxurious dish in the Marchigiano repertoire — a layered baked pasta that is richer, more complex, and more deeply historical than the better-known lasagne alla bolognese. The name is a corruption of Windisch-Graz, an Austrian general whose chef is said to have created the dish during the Napoleonic Wars when the Marche was under Austrian control. Whether true or apocryphal, the dish is undeniably aristocratic.
The construction is pasta sheets layered with a ragù that is darker and more intense than Bologna's — it includes chicken livers, sweetbreads, and sometimes brains or other offal alongside minced veal and pork, cooked slowly with wine, tomato, and aromatics until it is almost black. Between the layers, béchamel and plenty of Parmigiano create a creamy counterpoint. Some versions include porcini mushrooms, truffle, or prosciutto. The top is generously cheesed and baked until bubbling and deeply golden. It is a dish for cold weather, celebrations, and serious appetites — one portion is easily a meal in itself. In Ancona, vincisgrassi appears on traditional trattoria menus from autumn through spring.
Ciauscolo — The Spreadable Salami
Ciauscolo is the Marche's most distinctive cured meat — a soft, spreadable salami made from finely ground pork (shoulder and belly), garlic, white wine, and black pepper, cold-smoked over juniper and aged for only a few weeks rather than the months required for hard salami. The fat content is high (around 30–40%), which gives it its signature spreadable texture. It comes from the Sibillini Mountains in the southern Marche, where the cold climate favoured this uniquely soft preservation method, and it is traditionally eaten spread on grilled bread (bruschetta) or rustic country loaves, sometimes with a drizzle of new olive oil.
Ciauscolo's flavour is mild, garlicky, and delicately smoky, with none of the aggressive saltiness of harder salami. It is served as part of an antipasto misto across Ancona or as a bar snack with a glass of Rosso Piceno. The best ciauscolo comes from artisanal producers in the Macerata and Ascoli Piceno provinces; look for the IGP designation. The Mercato delle Erbe in Ancona's centre often has a norcino (pork butcher) selling genuine artisanal ciauscolo by weight.
Seafood Beyond Brodetto
Ancona's fish market at the port is one of the best on the Adriatic, and the variety of local fish is extraordinary. Scorfano (scorpion fish) appears in brodetto but also grilled or baked whole with potatoes and tomatoes. Triglia (red mullet) are usually simply floured and pan-fried — their flavour needs no embellishment. Sogliola (sole) from the sandy Adriatic bottom is considered among Italy's finest. Stoccafisso all'anconetana — stockfish stewed with tomatoes, potatoes, olives, and herbs — reflects the city's historical trade links with Norway, the source of the dried cod, and is a staple of winter menus.
Fritto misto dell'Adriatico — a mixed fry of tiny local fish (paranza) including anchovies, squid rings, baby octopus, and small red mullet, dusted in semolina flour and flash-fried — is the ultimate seaside lunch, served in a paper cone with a squeeze of lemon. The best fritto misto is found at the casual beachfront restaurants along the Passetto and in Portonovo, where the fish were swimming that morning.
Verdicchio and the Wines of the Marche
The Marche's greatest contribution to the world of wine is Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC, produced in the hills immediately inland from Ancona. Verdicchio is one of Italy's most underrated white wines — capable of producing everything from crisp, unoaked, lemon-and-almond bottles designed for immediate drinking (annata) to complex, structured Classico Superiore versions that can age for a decade or more, developing honeyed, petrolly notes reminiscent of aged Riesling. The best producers — Bucci, Villa Bucci, Sartarelli, Umani Ronchi — are recognised worldwide, and their wines are served throughout Ancona.
Verdicchio di Matelica DOC, from a smaller inland valley at higher altitude, produces a leaner, more mineral style. On the red side, Rosso Conero DOC — Montepulciano grapes grown on the mineral-rich limestone of the Conero massif — produces medium-bodied, earthy reds with structure and ageing potential, while Rosso Piceno DOC (a blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese from the region's south) is the everyday red of Ancona's trattorias.
For a digestivo, try Vino di Visciole — a sweet cherry wine made by macerating wild visciole cherries in red wine with sugar, traditionally from the area around Pergola. It is served chilled with desserts or, occasionally, poured over a scoop of vanilla gelato.
Where To Eat in Ancona
Fine dining: La Moretta (Piazza del Plebiscito, 52) is the essential Ancona restaurant — a beautifully preserved historic dining room where brodetto is a religion and the service is old-school Marchigiano warmth. Emilia in Portonovo combines a spectacular bay-view terrace with some of the most precise seafood cooking on the Conero coast.
Traditional trattorias: Osteria del Poggio (Via del Poggio, near Passetto) serves excellent brodetto, fritto misto, and homemade pasta with a terrace over the cliffs. Trattoria da Gino (Corso Carlo Alberto) is an unpretentious, family-run classic downtown where the vincisgrassi and olive ascolane are outstanding. Osteria della Piazza near Piazza Cavour serves simple, honest Marchigiano food at gentle prices.
Seafood casual: The cluster of informal restaurants and beach shacks along the Passetto — La Capannina, La Vela — serve fritto misto, grilled fish, and moscioli steps from the sea. In Portonovo, Da Giulia and Laghetto are the ultimate barefoot seafood experiences.
Wine bars and aperitivo: Enoteca delle Marche (Corso Mazzini) has the best by-the-glass selection of regional wines. Bar Gelateria Rosa on the Viale della Vittoria is the classic evening aperitivo spot, where olive ascolane and a glass of Verdicchio cost about €6.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What food is Ancona famous for?
- Ancona is most famous for brodetto all'anconetana — a fish stew made with 13 species of Adriatic fish, tomatoes, vinegar, and saffron, codified by the Accademia della Brodetto in 1925. Moscioli (wild mussels from the Conero rocks, a Slow Food Presidium) are the city's most precious local ingredient. The wider Marche region contributes olive ascolane (giant stuffed fried olives), vincisgrassi (the region's rich, offal-laced lasagne), ciauscolo (spreadable cured salami), and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi wine.
- Where can I eat authentic brodetto in Ancona?
- Ristorante La Moretta on Piazza del Plebiscito is the historic reference — a beautifully preserved dining room where the 13-fish brodetto is served exactly as tradition demands. Osteria del Poggio in Passetto and Ristorante Emilia in Portonovo also serve outstanding versions. During the Festa del Mare in September, brodetto is available at pop-up kitchens and tastings throughout the port area.
- What wine pairs best with Marchigiano food?
- Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC is the classic pairing for brodetto, moscioli, and fried seafood — its crisp, mineral, citrus-and-almond profile cuts through the richness of fish stews and fried dishes beautifully. For vincisgrassi and meat-based dishes, Rosso Conero DOC (Montepulciano from the Conero slopes) is the traditional choice. Vino di Visciole (sweet cherry wine) is the local digestivo of choice.