The wild meats and fish of Umbria

Umbria (in particular the town of Norcia) has been famous for its pork and cured meats since Roman times. But it’s the pig’s wild counterpart – the boar (or cinghiale) – that is reserved for the finest salumi and stews. Wild boars are found in large numbers across Umbria, making their homes amongst the chestnut trees and love nothing more than feasting on grapes from the numerous vineyards or snaffling out the occasional truffle. Whether this affects the flavour of the meat or not, most Italians will agree that the best-tasting boar is an Umbrian boar – although neighbouring Tuscans would never admit it.

Boar is a lean meat (more like venison than pork) and the meat is expensive as only some parts of the animal are palatable. Teams of hunters (and their dogs) spend the hunting season scouring the Umbrian landscape for signs of the beasts – a hole dug at the foot of a tree is a sure sign boars have been hunting for truffles – and tend to butcher any successful kills themselves. Some of the meat will be kept fresh for stews and pasta sauces, some reserved for sausages and, depending on the age of the animal (older boars tend to be too tough and gamey), the rest will be cured and turned into prosciutto or salumi. And for big gatherings and feasts, a whole boar will be slowly roasted on a spit, flavoured with plenty of wild herbs and garlic, like a very special porchetta.

From tusked pigs to something smaller, faster and much more agile – the hare. Much more solitary than rabbits, they tend to run rather than hop and are hunted for their lean, intensely flavoured meat. Umbrian hares are often turned into pappardelle alla lepre, a simple ragù for pasta flavoured with bacon and clove. There are also roe deer, which are less common than boar and much harder to hunt, but their meat still finds its way into stews. Their livers and meat are also made into venison charcuterie.

The Umbrian hills and forests might be home to the larger wild animals that make up the backbone of the local cuisine, but the keen cook should also look to the skies for inspiration. Between October and March wild doves, wood pigeons and woodcocks migrate through the region, something hunters would make the most of, while other birds such as quail, partridge and pheasant make their way into ragùs or stews. All game birds are also enjoyed spit-roasted, often stuffed with local sausages, herbs and garlic.

Umbrian dishes which celebrate game birds include palombacci (spit-roast wild doves glazed in a rich game sauce flavoured with wine, garlic and capers), quaglie rincartate (quails baked in bread dough from Orvieto, Terni) and beccaccia alla norcina (stuffed woodcocks on skewers cooked over fire).

The lack of coastline doesn’t stop your average Umbrian from eating fish. While seafood might be a rare sight, freshwater fish from the stunning Lake Trasimeno find their way onto restaurant menus during the fishing seasons (spring and autumn). The most famous dish is tegamaccio, a simple soupy stew of whatever’s fresh that day (usually perch, eel, carp or pike) flavoured with tomatoes, white wine, parsley and plenty of local olive oil, served with slices of thick toasted bread. Larger fish such as tench or perch are also often grilled whole over fire, served with nothing more than salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon, or spit-roasted porchetta style (particularly in Perugia).