SULMONA - FOOD

- Sugared almonds (Confetti)
The typical sugared almond is made up of an inner core called "anima" ("soul"), consisting of a shelled, peeled whole Pizzuta-of-Avola-type almond. It is coated with superimposed layers of sugar through several soakings. The sugared almond keeps the shape of an almond seed, that is to say that it is very flat with no speckles and cracks.

Buy confetti from Sulmona (sugared almonds) online:
www.confettisulmona.net -> Sulmona Confetti

- Mozzarella
The buffalo mozzarella from Campania is probably the most popular Italian dairy product in the world. It owes its name to the technique that was originally used to cut the paste by hand: its roundish shape can be also changed to form twists and ovoline (similar to eggs) without affecting its taste.
It is produced in the area of Caserta and Salerno, around Naples and in Benevento.
Ancient documents show that monks used to eat it already in the 12th century.

- Red Garlic (Aglio Rosso)
Red garlic is a kind of produce particularly excellent and appreciated on the market. It is also a strong medicine thanks to its active principles (enzymes, hormones); it is eaten for its hypotensive, cardiovascular, antiseptic effects on the gastroenteric system. The red garlic (aglio rosso) from Sulmona is a kind of garlic with white bulb and red cloves, which can be preserved easily and has a very pungent taste. It is registered in the National Variety Register at the Department of Agriculture.

The cooked garlic tastes less pungent than the raw one. You can use it instead of stock cube. Keep the garlic away from dampness to preserve its organoleptic properties.

- Wine Montepulciano
The origins of Montepulciano, considered the most important D.O.C. wine in this region, are uncertain. However, it is certain that vine-growing has a age-old history in Abruzzi. In his narration of Hannibal's gesture during the Punic Wars, Polybius indicates that the wine of the Pretuzi region (modern Teramo)
revived the soldiers fatigued by combat. Made almost exclusively with the grapes of the same name, Montepulciano is produced in the hills around Teramo. There are two types, Rosso (red), made with traditional procedures, and Cerasuolo, given this name for it cherry red color and that fact that it is fermented with the skins for a brief period.

Buy wine from Sulmona online:
www.semidivino.it -> Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

- Saffron (Zafferano)
Without any doubts saffron is one of the most precious among the spices and the saffron produced in Navelli is considered to be the best in the world thanks to its qualities. Gourmets from all over the world appreciate it for its taste and fragrance; but it also has healing properties. You get the saffron from the Crocus Sativus's stigma, i.e. the violet Saffron flower. The spice's typical colour is due just to the red stigma of the saffron flower.
You need about two hundred thousand flowers to get 1 Kg saffron in threads, that is the most excellent kind of saffron thanks to its taste and fragrance, even though it takes quite a long time to prepare: in fact, it needs to be toasted and pulverized or to be soaked in boiling water.
Saffron comes from the Middle East; it was introduced in Italy by a Dominican friar around 1300. The cultivation of saffron spread over Abruzzo and several Italian areas but today it is cultivated only in Navelli, the only place in Italy where it grows with no difficulties.

- Truffles
Few people know that the truffle is one of the typical produce from Abruzzo.
Abruzzo is one of the richest in truffles Italian regions. There are at least 28 varieties: the white truffle from Vasto represents the 15% of the production; the black truffle from L'Aquila and the black truffle from Teramo represent a third of the production; the so-called "scorzone" or summer truffle represents the rest of the production.
The truffles (tartufi) from Abruzzo taste strong and smell unmistakable. Their quality is excellent.