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The typical dishes of the Maremma cuisine

Terre di Sacra, Capalbio Capalbio Restaurant, Family holiday in the country

What are the typical dishes of Maremma cuisine? Which are the best known dishes and which are the most unknown and surprising? Here is a selected guided menu with dishes, delights, tastes and scents of the Maremma.

Typical Maremma dishes

The Maremma cuisine has some dishes that are now known and widespread everywhere. These famous dishes speak of the Maremma identity through excellent ingredients and extraordinary taste. But there are also little-known dishes, with intense, savory and unforgettable flavors, which are found only in Maremma.

The Maremma people have always had a constant and direct relationship with the land and the sea; the typical Maremma food therefore has a genuine, frugal cut, with strong and decisive flavors.

This is why vegetable soups, dry soups, game (hare and wild boar above all), and of course the legendary beef, stand out in the ideal Maremma menu. Meat and fish represent an absolute gastronomic excellence, but also wines, oil, cheeses, cured meats, chestnuts, mushrooms, truffles, honey and saffron tell the uniqueness of the territory and the Maremma.

These dishes created with fresh, high-quality local ingredients make up Maremma’s food and wine heritage and can be tasted in the many restaurants and farmhouses. Alternatively, thanks to the many festivals organized in the Maremma villages, they can be found in the squares and markets.

Maremma’s organic meat by Terre di Sacra

Maremma beef has always occupied a special place in the food and wine heritage of the Maremma, and is the fundamental component for many dishes.

Terre di Sacra produces organic Maremma meat from high quality cattle, raised on our estates. The production of meat in Terre di Sacra is deliberately limited to a small number of animals and has small volumes. For this reason, our meat can only be tasted in two Maremma restaurants that can offer exclusive gastronomic delights:

  • The Locanda di Ansedonia, originally created and served as a post station, has now been converted into a traditional inn and a typical Maremma restaurant (Grigl’io) for unforgettable lunches and dinners. Today the Locanda di Ansedonia also sells various raw materials of the highest quality (liqueurs, jams, honey, sauces, oil, etc.), as well as leather bags, perfumes and antiques.
  • Fontanile dei Caprai is a welcoming typical Maremma restaurant surrounded by greenery that offers the flavors and traditions of the most classic Maremma cuisine. At the Fontanile, the organic meats of Terre di Sacra, as well as wild boar and pork, are offered in delicious pan-fried dishes, alla cacciatora, baked, stewed or grilled.

In addition to going to these two restaurants, it is also possible to order Terre di Sacra’s organic meat at home. For more information, to book and purchase, write to info@sacra.it.

So let’s discover the typical dishes of the Maremma tradition, following an ideal path between appetizers, first courses, second courses and typical desserts of the Maremma.

Maremma-style appetizers

Maremma croutons

Crostini Maremmani play a central role in a Maremmana appetizer, i.e. simple homemade croutons covered with various sauces based on chicken livers or pork, simply cooked with celery, carrots, onions and flavored with rosemary, garlic and of course extra virgin olive oil.

Panzanella Maremma

Panzanella Maremmana is another typical appetizer of the area in which the slices of stale bread are softened and flavored with a condiment of tomatoes, cucumbers, capers, red onion, basil and wine vinegar, all further softened by the legendary extra-virgin olive oil of the area.

Wild Boar cold cuts and more

Certainly the king of the Maremma table cannot be missing from the appetizer, i.e. the wild boar. Wild boar meat is the basis for an infinite number of typical Maremma products in the form of ragù, sausages, hams and salami. Wild boar meat, alongside the strong and decisive flavors of an inimitable taste, also offers the pleasure of a meat with a low amount of fat.

Maremma cheeses

Alongside hams and salami, a Maremma-style appetizer certainly offers a selection of typical Maremma cheeses, i.e. pecorino and caciotta of various ages, as well as goat cheese and stracchino.

Maremma first courses

Some legendary Maremma first courses, such as pappardelle with wild boar, have become fully-fledged classic dishes cooked in all regions of Italy. But the Maremma also offers other surprising typical first courses to discover.

Tortelli alla Maremma

A piece of advice: in Maremma never use the word “raviolo” to indicate a filled pasta. Here are the tortelli. In particular, Tortelli Maremmani are cooked here, a succulent Maremma first course created with rigorously homemade egg pasta, filled with fresh ricotta, spinach or chard, grated cheese and a nutmeg secret. Tortelli Maremmani are normally seasoned with a classic meat ragù or wild boar sauce.

Pappardelle with wild boar

Alongside tortelli, Maremma cuisine makes the most of egg pasta, especially pappardelle, proposing what has become a national dish in all respects: Pappardelle al Cinghiale (with wild boar). Made fresh egg pappardelle, the sauce is prepared with wild boar meat slowly cooked with extra virgin olive oil, celery, carrots, onions, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic, Maremma red wine, tomato sauce and pepper.

Pappardelle with hare sauce

As an alternative to wild boar sauce, Pappardelle al sugo di Lepre (with hare sauce) is offered in Maremma. As with wild boar, hare meat should always be cooked with extra virgin olive oil, celery, carrots, onions, rosemary, bay leaf, red wine, tomato sauce, garlic and pepper.

The Acquacotta

Acquacotta is a soup born as lunch for Maremma herdsmen, therefore a poor but substantial dish, designed to accompany the cowherds during the working day. In Acquacotta, the vegetable broth is flavored with white onions, celery, garlic and seasoned with ripe tomatoes, eggs, salt, pepper, cheese and stale bread. There are many variations of Acquacotta, even with mushrooms.

Ciaffagnoni di Manciano

In addition to the great classic first courses, in Maremma you can taste a unique and very ancient first course, such as the Ciaffagnoni di Manciano. The Ciaffagnoni di Manciano recipe refers to a very ancient recipe, which is halfway between an omelette and a rustic crêpe. Indeed, legend has it that the Ciaffagnoni are the ancestors of the famous French crepes. In fact, Caterina de’ Medici, once she became queen consort of the French king Henry II, brought to the court of Paris a cook originally from Tuscany who prepared excellent Ciaffagnoni, which later became the classic French crêpes.

Ciaffagnoni are therefore prepared with water, eggs, flour and lard, then simply stuffed with pecorino, pepper and honey or, in a richer alternative, with spinach, ricotta, béchamel, pecorino and pepper.

Pici with ragù sauce, with wild boar, with hare sauce

Now widespread throughout Tuscany, Pici are a simple and delicious first course. It is a type of pasta made up of only water, flour and salt that resembles spaghetti, but with greater thickness, greater roughness and irregular shape, because it is traditionally made by hand. Seasoned with meat sauce, Pici become irresistible and delicious first courses.

Maremma-style second courses

Maremma-style stew

The tastiest preparation and the natural destination for quality Maremma meat is certainly the Maremmana stew. The traditional preparation of a Spezzatino alla Maremmana is very long, but the result is extraordinary. In the traditional recipe, Spezzatino alla Maremmana is prepared with the most muscular pieces and a long “dry” marinade with rosemary, sage, pepper. The actual preparation involves cooking the beef with extra virgin olive oil, red onion, broth, celery, parsley, garlic, Maremma red wine, tomato concentrate.

Peposo stew

Another legendary second course of Maremma meat is Peposo, a beef stew in which pepper plays a fundamental role. The preparation of Peposo is similar to stew, but with different details. The piece of beef called the “priest’s hat” – cappello del prete – is used, cooked in Chianti and adding extra virgin olive oil, garlic and of course black peppercorns. Traditionally, Peposo is enjoyed accompanying it with polenta.

Maremma desserts

To close a typical Maremma lunch, desserts are not lacking; here are some typical Maremma sweets.

Sfratti di Pitigliano

Sfratti di Pitigliano are typical sweets of the Jewish tradition of the Pitigliano area: made as delicious cigar-shaped biscuits, Sfratti are covered in a thin shell of unleavened dough, filled with chopped walnuts, honey, spices and orange peel.

Topi di Castell’Azzara

The Topi di Castell’Azzara are typical sweets of the lower Maremma with a golden color. Made in the shape of a crescent or half a circle, they taste similar to the traditional crunchy, but are softer. They are prepared with walnuts, honey, cinnamon and orange peel which go to fill a pastry prepared with flour, eggs, oil, mint rosolio, sugar and yeast.

Cantucci 

Cantucci di Maremma are traditional biscuits consumed throughout the year. Made with almonds and hazelnuts, they are flavored in different ways: with orange peel, dark chocolate or chilli pepper.