Of all the places in Umbria, Terni is where you will find the simplest and less elaborate dishes. You will think that all the food coming out of the kitchens first passed through a wise grandmother’s hands, who added just that touch of love and care like they do for their grandchildren’s health. In spring or summer you can experience very traditional genuine food if you can go to a village fete or sagra, which are numerous and very popular in those seasons. These occasions are organized by local citizens, and if you can get a glimpse inside the kitchens, you will see an ‘army’ of women of all ages working away with their aprons stained with flour or tomato paste, busy carrying out one of the most noble activities known to man-cooking.
Terni food uses a lot of things from the woods and mountains- both plants and animals. Wild asparagus is an ingredient of many recipes like the really delicious frittata pasqualina (an omelette), to which sausage, artichokes or zucchini can be added at will. If you prefer something lighter, in some periods of the year you can find misticanza (mixture of herbs) on the table; it is made up of wild herbs and field plants picked in spring or winter. These herbs don’t really have a proper name in Italian, but different names for them exist in local dialects within a 20 km radius: pimpinella, caccialepri, raponzoli, saprodella, graspigni, cicorietta and mastrici are some of the names used over the centuries. The classic pasta dish is called ciriole, particular egg noodles served with a simple ‘sauce’ of olive oil, garlic and chili pepper. There are game meats – we recommend guinea hen or smooth-hound shark (faraona, palomba), or the more fattening leccarda, chicken liver wrapped in bacon slices and roasted on skewers. And last but not least, you can’t leave the table without trying pampepato, another ancient regional recipe, a mixture of honey, chocolate, nuts, and flour with mosto cotto, the juice of freshly mashed fermented grapes.
In Terni and the surrounding territory you can drink some of the most healthy and therapeutic water in Italy. From multiple mountain springs near the town flows alkaline water containing minerals, in the past times considered a cure. The Sangemini, Feronia, San Faustino and Furapane springs are the most well-known. Legend has it that St Francis in passing, stopped at the Amerina spring in the village of Acquasparta to cure some of his ails.