Foligno Backdrops the Mercato Europeo

In mid-March, the Umbrian city of Foligno becomes an open market – il Mercato Europeo – as over 80 vendors offer cuilinary goodness and artisan creations from their booths lining the Foligno streets.

Various countries, too – Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Austria, France, Poland, Argentina, Spain among others – offered their specialties, both artisanal and culinary.

One of the first stands we encountered enticed immediately: that of Bari, Puglia where taralli starred:

A wheat-based cracker, similar in taste to grissini (breadsticks), taralli originated in the 15th-century in the region of Puglia.

Taralli flavors at the market were endless: with cumin and ginger, beets, wild fennel, rosemary, onion…and not only. Tastes were gladly offered to shoppers.

I purchased taralli and that glorious mountain oregano (just 3 Euro a bunch!), those oregano bunches fanning out around the sun-dried tomatoes.

At another region of Puglia stand, olives starred and garlic, too.

On top of the glass case, olives were offered as tastes to passers-by:

Jars of anchovies were on sale, too:

A wooden tub of lampascioni (a specialty of Puglia, Calabria and Basilicata) – edible bulbs of the tassel hyacinth – flanked the wooden tub of garlic:

Across the way, culinary goodness from the region of Piedmont in northern Italy enticed visitors: buonissimi cheeses, including goats’ milk cheese varieties.

Sicily starred, too..wiith cannoli – and not only:

Friend Jennifer could not resist a taste:

At an adjacent booth, a young artisan offered her creations of semi-precious stones:

Crafts from Scotland were on sale too:

At a nearby booth, a group of us shared a taste of Liguria: la farinata (a chickpea focaccia):

At that same booth, the famous Ligurian basilico di Pra (organic) – so essential for a top pesto – was on sale, too:

A smiiing bearded man offered black ruffles from the Marches region – and wild mushrooms, too:

Sticks of licorice pointed towards a booth selling Baltic amber.

Lavender from Provence enhanced soaps, creams, shampoos and oils at another booth – a colorful one:

Colors caught the eye in another artisan booth where silk scarves were draped. A sign attached to a pink scarf with a clothes pin invited visitors to “Touch me”:

Another booth displayed coloful scarves made of bamboo:

That booth was right on Foligno’s main square, Piazza della Repubblica:

On this main square, a booth with pasticceria napolitana (Neapolitan pastries) enticed many a shopper, Jennifer as well:

The bright red Casa del Peperoncino on the main square was backdropped by Foligno’s civic palace, il Palazzo Comunale, constructed in the 13th-c. but restored during the 16th and 17th centuries and then in the 19th century following seismic activity: