We always tell our apartment guests that the best eating – and at the most economical prices – is at the evening food festivals of the small villages, le sagre.
Our favorite sagra? La Festa di Sant’Anna here in the Assisi countryside (not far from our farmhouse):
On the way to Sant’Anna
At Sant’Anna, many of our rural neighbors volunteer to do the cooking and serving, with the younger ones assisting in serving and also the clean-up. Like most sagre, this one runs for about 10 days, including July 26th the feast day of Sant’Anna – and all the labor is local and volunteer.
Culinary highlights of this sagra? As an antipasto, Peppa’s famous suppli (and “fried rice ball” is an inadequate translation for the savory goodness!):
…and Peppa was on the French fries detail as well as suppli this year:
…..and other farm women joined Peppa in the kitchen, cooking up the goodness:
…..while men worked the grill out behind the tent kitchen:
Peppa’s suppli joined farro, bruschette, prosciutto and melon, the Umbrian torta bread and salamis on this sagra‘s antipasto plate:
The volunteer young servers delivered many an antipasto misto to hungry guests in the food tents:
Our friend Emilie chose another antipasto, bruschetta al tartufo:
For Pino, just the simple bruschetta all’olio and prosciutto e melone for me:
As a primo, Emilie and I both opted for gnocchi al sugo d’oca (potato dumplings with sauce of goose meat), a Festa di Sant’Anna specialty:
Pino skipped the primo, ordering pork shank and roast potatoes as his next dish (yes, the sagra is about eating!):
The grilled lamb won over Emilie:
As the sagre draw in so many locals, we’d arrived early to order and avoid the lines at the booth:
The food tents were filling up as we left……
……and many of those who had feasted were heading to the dance floor for ballroom dancing…
….for after all, at the sagra, the ballroom dancing is as big a draw for many as the food!
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Read about my special ties to an Umbrian Sant’Anna tradition
Read more about Sant’Anna feasting
Read about Peppa and la torta bread here
Click here formore on the sagre (and read all the links!)
Read about another sagranear Assisi where pork shank stars
I think we need a recipe for the fried rice balls! Everything looks yummy!
To learn to make those suppli,come cook with Peppa..no recipe!!
We sure hope there will be a sagre when we come next June!!! All the food looks delicious.
Bev and Nancy