Umbria Outdoor Weekly Markets: What Temptations!

All over Italy, the outoor weekly markets offer tempting local goodness, seasonal and not only…

In February, many stands at the Friday morning Bastia Umbra market near Assisi displayted juicy oranges and tangerines from southern Italy…

Some vendors sold citrus fruits non trattati (“not treated” with pesticides)…

Often flanking the oranges (a wintertime fruit) were finocchi (fennels), a wintertime vegetable:

At some stands, another winter vegetable was purchased by many, la bietola (Swiss chard) – and in the photo below, that Swiss chard flanks fennel:

Caulifower is another favorite winter vegetable and was offered at many stands. Eggplants were sold by some – but not a winter vegetable and raised only in hothouses in the winter. (Few shoppers purchase non-seasonal items).

Carrots, various salads, cauliflower and cavolo romanesco (also called “romanesco broccoli”) and spinach joined the other winter vegetables…

…and at one booth, cabbages and caulifower were in a crate near that cavolo romanesco. flanking broccoli bunches. Radicchio trevisano, too, was near the broccoli. In the fall and winter, we often enjoy that radicchio – a salad similar to chicory with deep red and white leaves – which we bake in the woodoven after splitting each bunch in half, then drizzling the slices with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with salt.

I even spied a bunch or two of cardoons (called “gobbi” in Umbria).

Gobbi alla parmigiana (cardoon parmigiana) is part of the Christmas luncheon feast in Umbria.

Surprisingly, there were even a few sweet potatoes, called by the Italians “patate americane“….

Besides oranges and tangerines, apples are the fruit ofen on tables in the winter months…

—and pears, too, though picked in the autumn months.

Tomatoes were on sale, too, though most definitely not a seasonal vegetable and not purchased by many.

At the Bastia mercato, artichokes – also from Puglia – abounded and were chosen by many:

Funghi (mushrooms) tempted others:

I never leave the Bastia Umbria Friday morning market without a stop at the booth of the pugliesi for those tasty spicy olives (olive piccanti) from Puglia which Pino loves: