The ancient rural tradition here has brought a specific relation between landscape and typical products..
The distinctive characters of this area are:

- a nature generous in wild fruits;
- A harsh soil and a hard climate as a guarantee for quality ;
- A touch of genius in inventing and transforming products.

These three elements have made for a cuisine of ancient and inimitable flavours, yet extremely up to date.
Traditional stories tell that jewish slaves displaced in Valnerina, after the distruction of Jerusalem, invented the art of preserving pork meat, as they could not eat it forreligious reasons, and had to preserveit in order to trade with it.


However, this art has actually developed in the higher middle ages, when the vast oak tree forests hosted numerous pork herds, largely feed on acorn. Since those days, salting and ageing hams, cold cuts and sausages, became a distinctive activity of the inhabitants of this area. This is where the names "Norcineria" given to that art, and "norcino" to that trade, come from.

Many products are made by salting and ageing pork meat:prosciutti (ham) spallette (shoulder) capocolli (neck) or Lonze, Pancette (bacon) and Guanciali, eachj with it’s pecific features and well defined taste. Norcia and the Valnerina are also very well known for their sausages and salami, made with minced and mixed meats.

There is actually a vast varietyof Salami, Coralline, Sausages, Sanguinacci, Coppa and Ciauscolo, all very tasty and inviting. In the valleys that are rich in green fields and cereal cultivation, milk cow breeding has developed as well. So while cow milk is mostly gathered and processed in the Caseificio Sociale di Norcia, sheep milk is still directly processed by the producers. The food processing is very important here.

The rich and inviting pastureland in these mountains have made farming one of the main assetts for these territoeries. Until a few decades ago, the farmers would move to Lazio and Maremma every winter, coming back in late spring.

This tradition has almost dissaperead now, so the farming takes place in the nearby valleys all year round, with the cattle being taken to the mountains only during the summer. In the valleys that are rich in green fields and cereal cultivation, milk cow breeding has developed as well. So while cow milk is mostly gathered and processed in the Caseificio Sociale di Norcia, sheep milk is still directly processed by the producers. Many different kinds of cheese are produced in Valnerina, but teh real specialties are Pecorino, Caciotte and Ricotta.

It is a country that owes it’s flavour and fruits to poverty: the severe climate is the best possible pest protection, an incontaminated virgin soil makes it easier to grow healthy products. Different types of legumes and cereals grown all over the world, had to make the hardest effort to adapt and grow, with the stubborness we all know yealds the best fruits. The results are the Monteleone Emmer wheat and the Castelluccio Lentil, well known wprldwide fortheir qualities, while the late flowers of the highlands help the bees give us an extraordinarily sweet and delicate Millefiori Honey.