That Nero Norcia Festival Celebrates Black Truffles

Naturalmente, black truffle (tartufo nero – and thus that “nero norcia“) stars every year (62nd edition this year!) at the Nero Norcia festival:

Pino and I took in the festival on a late Sunday in February, enjoying the spectacular views of the Sibilline mountains as we neared this medieval gem:

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In Norcia, we wandered the town’s medieval alleyways, stopping at the various booths ….

…and stands set up..

….with tempting tastes offered at most stands..

…and enticing tastes of fresh scrambled eggs with truffles tempted visitors, too:

Even sheep’s milk cheese – pecorino – laced with black truffle was offered for sale at more than one stand:

And numerous other varieties of cheeses were sold at the festival as well, including those aged in grapeskins…

….and others aged wrapped in hay..

Although tempted by a pecorino with hot red pepper (peperoncino), Pino chose an aged pecorino.…

And not only truffles and cheeses (with and without truffles) reigned here in Norcia: stands throughout the town offered an array of other culinary tempations.

Those crunchy ring-shaped crackers of the region of Puglia – taralli – were offered, too….

…as well as multiple olive varieties from the region of Puglia:

Another treat from southern Italy – Sicilian cannoli – tempted many an Umbrian visitor, especially as they were made right on site by a cannolaro from the Palermo area:

The area of Norcia has been noted for centuries for its prosciutto, sausages, salami and various cold cuts; in fact, a pig butcher is called a “norcino” (i.e, “one from Norcia”).

A place where pork products are sold is termed “norcineria.”

Norcinerie are numerous in Norcia and for the festival, many shops and stands displayed their numerous and varied pork products:

At his stand in a Norcia backstreet, prosciutto was proudly sliced by a norcino and offered to passersby:

Not only domestic pig but the meat of the wild boar (cinghiale), too, is a protagonist in many a norcineria.

Mortadella di cinghiale drew many to a stand where pecorino (sheep’s milk cheese) was sold, too:

There were even salami made with the meat of cervo (deer):

The Norcia area is also noted for the tiny lentils of nearby Castelluccio and various other legumes – on sale at many a stand:

And the area’s chickpeas (ceci) were a part of the antipasto of a lunch we shared in a favorite Norcia trattoria:

For the weekend of the festival, there was only a set menu at prezzo fisso (fixed price).

Those chickpeas were served alongside a selection (logicamente!) of norcineria:

I barely touched my plate of norcineria (pecorino cheese joining the cold cuts) as I knew abundance was coming.

Even the next antipasto portion would have been a tasty conclusion:

Potatoes roasted in dill and rosemary, grilled sausage, marinated purple cabbage, fennel, and salad:

Inevitably, pasta followed: homemade fregnacce (a roughly cut pasta typical of Latium and Abruzzo whose name indicates something simple – or nonsense) with a generous topping of shaved black truffles…

And after just half a portion of that buonissima pasta, I could only take a look at our secondo: a beef stew

…although Pino would enjoy his…

Our feast ended with a dolce as gran finale:

After caffe’, Pino and I then set out to work off our lunch exploring more of Norcia.

After restoration following the 2016 earthquake, the Basilica di San Benedetto (13th-14th c.) recently reopened to the public. Said to be built on the site of the home of St Benedict and his twin sister, St Scholastica, born in 480 A.D., the Basilica is the heart of Norcia.

Stone sculptures of St Benedict – declared patron saint of Europe in 1958 – and his twin, St. Scholastica, flank the entrance.

A sculpted Annunciation reigns over the doorway with the rose window above.

The symbols of the four Evangelists enricle the rose window with St. John’s eagle on the left above the lion of St. Mark. On the right, St. Luke’s oxen is just below St Matthew’s angel: