Only in Italy: Culinary Gems of the Old World

Food has long been Italy’s national pastime. On a Sunday afternoon, locals scavenge the Tuscan woods for porcini mushrooms while truffle hunters trail their dogs in search of golf ball-sized tubers. Italian towns celebrate summertime food festivals and the grape harvest conditions are a common topic of conversation. Thanks to this rich food heritage, Italy is a treasure trove for gastro-tourism and a true foodie’s playground. Taste the cultural legacy of ancient foods with nine culinary gems that can only be found in Italy.

A Humble Pea with Heritage

Think wine is the only Italian product that earns the label of protected origin? Along with farro from Spoleto and Castelluccio lentils, the roveja from Cascia are one of Umbria’s D.O.P. foods. In a region with a strong agricultural identity, these wild pea-like legume were thought extinct until they re-emerged in an earthenware jar, excavated by a woman who found them buried in her basement. At their height, roveja were a staple peasant food. Today, they’re slow-cooked into stews and soups, a prized relic of culinary legacy.

Sweet Wine with Chestnuts

Once called the “bread of the poor,” chestnuts are now a seasonal Tuscan treat. At the Fiera di San Leonardo in Montefollonico, baskets of freshly roasted nuts are passed around parties like popcorn, washed down by a special drink called vino dolce. Supplied by local winemaker Vittorio Innocenti, this fruity, fizzy grape juice is sweet and only partially fermented. The resulting wine is slightly alcoholic and pairs beautifully with roasted chestnuts, so even kids get to have a taste as they snack on nuts and try to beat their grandpas at a round of Italian bingo.

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! Visit Vittorio Innocenti’s cantina in Montefollonico on our Tuscany cycling tour.

Pretty in Pink

Originally cultivated at the foothills of the Sibillini Mountains, the ancient production of these native apples almost ceased until producers revived the fruit in recent years. Today, they’re grown in Montedinove, a commune in Le Marche, up to 3,000 feet above sea level. Considered a Slow Food, the flesh of these blush-colored apples is sweet and slightly tart, and their shape is charmingly squat.

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! Smell the aromatic apple blossoms and taste this rare treat on a DuVine Italian Coast-to-Coast Bike Tour.

The Wormy Cheese

Fortune favors the bold when it comes to Casu Marzu. Hailing from Sardinia, this squirmy delicacy is made by placing a wheel of sheep’s milk cheese outside and cutting a hole in the top. “Cheese flies enter into the cheese and lay eggs, which turn into larvae that decompose the cheese,” explains pecorino farmer Giovanni Chironi. Pungent, creamy, and delicious, Casu Marzu is served on a slice of bread with the live maggots still wriggling inside. “You have to be very brave but it’s exquisite,” says Giovanni. Casu Marzu can’t be sold in stores so if you have the chance to sample this unique cheese, summon your culinary courage.

The Everlasting Tomato

Called the queen’s tomato for its crown-shaped stem blossom, this Pugliese pomodoro lives up to her royal reputation. Thanks to the brackish waters of the Alto Salento region and the tomato’s thick skin, the pomodoro Regina can stay fresh in taste and color for over half a year. A cotton thread is wound around each tomato’s stem and the bright red clusters are hung from rafters like bunches of lollipop-sized grapes. In the 1800s, these ramasole were prized as a symbol of wealth and social status—young suitors whose homes were draped with ramasole were in high demand. So much for a bouquet. All hail the queen!

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! Learn more during a cooking class at Massaria Salamina while cycling through Puglia.

The Kissing Garlic

Aglione is Tuscany’s culinary wingman. Ten times the size of normal garlic and weighing nearly two pounds, these gigantic bulbs are odorless, easy to digest, and will spare you from ubiquitous garlic breath after a romantic dinner. Compared to its potent little brother, aglione lends a milder and more subtle garlic flavor to dishes. Though the number of aglione producers in Tuscany has dwindled, this “kissing garlic” has captured the imaginations of Michelin chefs who are reviving it as an Italian culinary essential.

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! Order a plate of classic pici pasta all’aglione on a DuVine Tuscany biking vacation.

Veneto’s Sweet + Spicy Specialty

When you arrive at Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde, owners Ilaria and Nicola welcome you with a hug, a glass of Amarone, and a platter of Monte Veronese cheese served with dark cherry mostarda. The name belies this condiment; it’s certainly not the mustard you’re accustomed to. Originally used to smother the flavor of old meat, mostarda is Northern Italy’s lovechild between nonna’s marmalade and Sriracha. Spicy and sweet, chunky and tangy, the secret to its kick is that mustard seed is cooked into the fruit. So don’t be fooled—these succulent cherries pack a punch!

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! Meet Ilaria and Nicola and sample local mostardas with us on our tour of Verona + Lake Garda.

Sweet Blue Peas

The sweet blue “grass pea” is the foundational legume of Italy’s Le Marche region. Once a staple in the local diet, this versatile ingredient is delicious cooked into soups, blended into a puree, or ground into a flour for pasta. If you’re lucky enough to find cicerchia on a menu, don’t expect an aquamarine Doctor Seuss-style platter. The name comes from the plant’s bright blue flowers, but the peas are tiny, angular, and speckled grey or light brown. For the adventurous eater, try cicerchia in zampone, a traditional roasted pig’s trotter stuffed with legumes and ground pork.

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! Treat yourself to a taste of cicerchia while cycling on our Italy: Sea-to-Sea tour.

Sicily’s Ancient Grain

One of Sicily’s 30-something cereal cultivars, tumminia once fed emperors and armies in the powerful Roman capital. A food that’s been around since the Middle Ages (at least), tumminia remains relevant to the dietary demands of a modern world: it’s rich in fiber and easily digested, with a gluten content lower than wheat. In Sicily, you’ll find sweet-and-nutty tumminia as the base for pasta and bread—including the “black bread” of Castelvetrano. In the 2000s, Sicilian farms saw the potential of their ancient grain and reinvented its cultivation with a wave of mill restorations and crop conversions, preserving this Slow Food for centuries to come.

EXPERIENCE ON TOUR! A warm and hearty taste awaits on DuVine’s bike tour of Sicily.