Umbria is an area steeped in history and culture. It is crossed by two valleys: the Umbrian valley from Perugia to Spoleto, and the Tiber Valley, from Citta di Castello to the border with Lazio. Travel expert Marco Palermi tells us about his favorite places to visit.
There are many hills and historical towns in this area, such as Perugia, Assisi, Norcia, Gubbio, Spoleto, Todi, Orvieto, Castiglione del Lago and many other small cities. To simply wander through these beautiful hill towns will immerse you in their extraordinary history (from Etruscan to Roman, to Napoleonic), but there are a few places of note that are my favorites:
• The wall around Spoleto – A great example of classic, ancient Umbrian design and style
• Ipogeo dei Volumni – An Etruscan archaeological site near Perugia with crypts, tombs and sculpted marble sarcophagi
• Carsulae – An wonderful old Roman town on the way to Terni, and one of the most impressive archaeological ruins in Italy. It was even once used as a quarry for building materials transported to cities like Spoleto!
• Trasimeno Lake – Roman history buffs will love to explore the battleground for the biggest Roman defense in response to Hannibal’s invasion from Carthage.
This only scratches the surface of the rich history Umbria has to offer, and during your travels to Umbria, you will most definitely find your own favorite corner of Umbria that will offer you a look into the past, as you stand in the present.
I haven’t written much about my recent trip to Italy yet. There’s quite simply too much to say, if I wanted to convey how much I saw and learned on this expedition. Instead, I’ll focus on a single simple experience: watching a steak being cooked. Driving to Norcia, the walled town in southern Umbria famed for its excellent cured pork and as the home of some heady saints (Saint Benedict of Nursia and his sister Saint Scholastica), Chef Simone, informed me of a plan to stop for dinner on the way back north. But for now, we headed on to Norcia. This town was swimming in little butcher shops. Mostly selling the local cured pork and wild boar products, norcineria. The prosciutto here was so well-balanced: nutty, sweet, salty, that I was ready to write the USDA and complain about their importation requirements right then and there. And it sure didn’t help that we were trying this in a little restaurant on the main piazza in the shadow of St. Benedict and his church. I could go on and on, but we’ll save that for another time.
After leaving the dizzying array of hanging cured meats behind us, we headed to the mountainside town where dinner was on the agenda. There certainly wasn’t much to this town, a few cafes and restaurants, with a truffle museum being the only real tourist attraction. The restaurant destination was a little osteria that felt more like a basement than a restaurant. Vaulted stone sealing, maybe ten tables, and a raging fireplace. Flanking the fireplace, a table with a whole prosciutto, sliced only by hand, made by the chef from pigs he raised himself. Above that, links of his dried sausage. This was the definition of comfortable.
For our main course, we ordered a steak, rare. To cook it, he brought out a little metal grill, placed in front of the fire and started moving the hot coals underneath it. Before too long, there was a massive steak sizzling right there in front of us. I was beside myself. Here I am, on an Italian mountainside, watching my steak being grilled right in front of me: on the floor of the restaurant. And unsurprisingly, looking at glowing hot coals, my mind wandered and I remembered all the times we grilled growing up.
Fortunately for me, with this memory in mind, it’s starting to warm up here. What I mean to say is, it is almost time for us to start grilling too. We may not be able to cook up a steak right in our fireplaces, but we sure can cook on the open flame. At the Via Umbria meat counter, we’re ready. Having seen this steak transformed from raw meat into delicious dinner right in front of me, I think we should translate that experience to our own backyards. Whether it’s a prime cut that you’ve heard of: the ribeye, the New York strip, the fiorentina, or an off cut you may never have tried before: the hanger, the bavette, teres major, let’s throw that beef over some hot coals (or gas flame, if that’s what’s available). I’ll likely never have that experience again, coming immediately from one of the meat capitals of the world to fireplace-cooked steak; but we can make something just as delicious in our own backyards. So come on down, get a steak. Bring on grilling season!
This week, we hear from Deborah, who has been combing every nook and corner of Italy for fabulous new products to stock the Via Umbria shelves.
For the past 12 days, I’ve been traveling the roads of Italy on a 19-day food buying tour. I’ve seen more of Italy then I ever expected to, and we’ve already traveled from the far northern edges to the very tip of the heel in Puglia. In a few days, we head to Sicily.
My companions on this journey have been quite interesting, and I’ve travelled with friends old and new. Scott, our butcher, joined me for the Northern leg of the journey, and I think he’s tasted more chocolate that he’s eaten in his entire life. Rissa, who has been instrumental in establishing our food program, is here with me in the South.
This hillside view in Montepulciano, Tuscany is enough to make anybody jealous.
I’ve also travelled with the Chef and owner of a restaurant in Traverse City, a restaurant owner in Nashville and his videographer, a Lithuanian with several different food-related businesses in Vilnius, and a woman from Northern Michigan who is earning her sommelier certification and working at a wine shop. Conversations in the van and around the table have covered everything from hiring to “what do you suppose is in this dish?” to “have you tried this wine?” The opportunity to spend time with everyone has been invaluable, and we’ve had a great time getting to know each other. I hope we will stay in touch.
Sampling delicious spreads by Villa Reale.
From the start, Suzy and Bill have always emphasized the importance of the product. What’s in it, who made it, and ultimately, the quality. As a result, Via Umbria has shelves filled with amazing products made by people they’ve met personally, in facilities they have visited. That’s what I am doing on trip, and I’ve found it so humbling. For every producer we meet, this is very serious business. Careful thought and extreme care go into every detail of each visit and tasting. We have been feted in very small communities where restaurants and producers work together to find both creative and traditional ways of pairing their products with local, seasonal foods and wines.
Rissa suits up for a facility tour at Gluti Niente, a gluten-free pasta producer in Salerno.
Almost every company we’ve seen is family-run, from the five generations of nougat and chocolate experts at Barbero to the brother-and sister enterprise Gluti Niente, a high-quality gluten-free pasta business entering its second year. And although it isn’t family-owned, Latteria di Cameri, which makes amazing gorgonzola dolce, is controlled by a consortium of dairy farmers who collectively set the standards for the cheese production. The stories of all of these producers are an integral part of their products, and it’s amazing to see the attention they devote to every step of the process, from the initial idea to the final packaging.
I can’t wait to share photos of the rest of my trip with you! Hopefully when you see them, you’ll feel a bit of what I do every time I step out of the van.
