Marche

With a long coastline on the Adriatic, and more than two-thirds of the region formed by the foothills and rugged peaks of the Appennines, Marche is dominated by the fruits of the sea and rural countryside. The cuisine here is for gourmets who appreciate the essence of real Italian food - wonderful seafood and home-produced food, using farmyard animals like rabbit, chicken and duck, but also lamb and, of course, pigs.

Originally known as Piceno, the region takes its name from the word ‘Marca’, meaning small areas belonging for a while to invading German armies. Places like the Marca Camerinense (of Camerino) and Marca Ancontana (of Ancona) were united as the Marches or Marche when the entire territory was incorporated into the new Italian kingdom at the beginning of the l*9th century.