Marche's cuisine sits between land and sea — Adriatic fish stews alongside mountain-cured meats, with rolling hills producing some of Italy's finest wines and olive oils. It's a region of culinary extremes: the delicate, crisp Verdicchio whites of the Jesi hills, and the pungent formaggio di fossa aged underground. Street food that rivals anything in Italy, and a baked pasta dish (vincisgrassi) that predates lasagne. Here's what to eat.
Olive all'Ascolana — The Iconic Street Food
Giant green Ascolana olives, pitted and stuffed with a mixture of minced beef, pork, and chicken bound with Parmigiano and nutmeg, then breaded and deep-fried until golden. Born in Ascoli Piceno, they're now found across Italy but never taste quite as good as in their hometown. The crunchy exterior gives way to the briny olive and savoury filling. Served as antipasto or street food — €3-5 for a paper cone at Caffè Meletti on Piazza del Popolo.
Vincisgrassi — Marche's Lasagne
Vincisgrassi is the Marche's regal answer to lasagne — layers of egg pasta with a rich ragù (often including chicken livers and sweetbreads), béchamel, and Parmigiano, baked until bubbling. The name supposedly honours an Austrian general, Prince Windisch-Graetz, who fought Napoleon in the region. It's celebration food, found at Sunday lunches and festivals. Far richer and more complex than standard lasagne.
Brodetto — Adriatic Fish Stew
Every Adriatic port has its brodetto, but Ancona's version (brodetto all'anconetana) is the definitive Marche fish stew: at least 13 species of fish and seafood — monkfish, John Dory, cuttlefish, mussels, mantis shrimp — simmered with tomato, vinegar, and wild fennel. The rule: no fewer than 13 species, one for each apostle. Served with grilled bread rubbed with garlic. At Ristorante Gino in Ancona, it's been perfected over 60 years.
Ciauscolo — Spreadable Salami
Ciauscolo is a unique soft salami from the Sibillini foothills — finely ground pork with garlic, black pepper, and white wine, smoked over juniper wood. When spread on warm bread, it melts. Unlike most salami, it contains about 40% fat, giving it its spreadable consistency. Protected by IGP since 2006. Best eaten simply: on grilled bruschetta with a glass of Rosso Piceno.
Formaggio di Fossa — Pit Cheese
One of Italy's most unusual cheeses. Sheep's milk or cow's milk cheese is wrapped in cloth, placed in tufa pits dug into the sandstone, and sealed for 80-100 days. The anaerobic fermentation transforms it into something intense, pungent, and slightly funky — with notes of truffle and mushroom. Produced in Sogliano al Rubicone and Talamello. The 'sfossatura' (pit opening) in November is celebrated with festivals.
Wines of Marche
Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is the flagship — one of Italy's greatest white wines, with crisp acidity and remarkable ageing potential (the best age 10+ years into honeyed, mineral complexity). Rosso Conero (Montepulciano-based, from the Conero hills) is the coast's powerful red. Lacrima di Morro d'Alba is a rare red with intense aromas of violets and dark berries — a true original. Verdicchio di Matelica from the mountain valley is leaner, more mineral. The region's wine roads are some of Italy's most rewarding but least travelled.
Where to Eat: A City-by-City Guide
Ancona: the port is brodetto country. Ristorante Gino (Via Giordano Bruno) has served the definitive 13-fish stew for over 60 years, while the Passetto's seafood trattorias do superb fried anchovies and grilled sardines with Conero white wine. Ascoli Piceno: start at Caffè Meletti on Piazza del Popolo — a Liberty-style café opened in 1907 — with anise-flavoured anisetta and olive ascolane, then move to a trattoria for vincisgrassi. Urbino: the university city excels at simple, honest cooking — crescia sfogliata (a flaky flatbread, Urbino's answer to piadina) stuffed with cured meats, plus truffle-laced pasta in autumn. Pesaro: try brodetto pesarese, which swaps tomato for saffron and vinegar, and the town's fried seafood fritto misto. Macerata: look for ciauscolo on charcuterie boards and crescia al formaggio, a cheese-filled bread. Sirolo and Numana: fish restaurants on the Conero cliffs serve mosciolo (wild mussels) and raw Adriatic prawns — book a sea-view table at sunset. Fermo: known for its olive oil and the historic Piazzale del Girfalco views; the food museum (Museo della Civiltà Contadina) explains the region's rural gastronomy.
Festivals and Food Markets Worth Planning Around
Marche's food calendar rewards the curious traveller. The National Truffle Fair in Acqualagna runs through October and November, showcasing the region's prized white truffles. Formaggio di fossa's 'sfossatura' — the ceremonial opening of the cheese pits — happens in November in Sogliano al Rubicone and Talamello. In September, the Verdicchio wine towns of the Jesi hills hold harvest festivals with tastings straight from the cellar. Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival (August) pairs opera with elegant seafood dinners along Viale Trieste. And every Saturday, Ascoli Piceno's Piazza del Popolo hosts one of Italy's most beautiful open-air markets — perfect for stocking up on ciauscolo, pecorino, and olive oil to take home.