The flat bread
The piadina is the oldest and most widespread dish of the Sammarinese table. The traditional recipe mixes wheat flour, water, pork lard and salt; once the dough included a part of yellow flour. The Consorzio Terra di San Marino defines the local piada as an intermediate variant: thicker than the Rimini piadina, less tall than the Cesena or Ravenna one. It is cooked on a terracotta testo or on a cast iron plate, for a few minutes over a high flame.
As a filling it works with everything: the classic combination of stracchino, rocket and prosciutto crudo, cave cheeses, coppa, sausage, and field herbs boiled in spring. In the Castelli of the hinterland, the piadina remains an element of the daily meal, not a tourist variant.
Pastas made at home
The Sammarinese recipe book shares with Romagna the culture of fresh egg pasta. Tagliatelle with ragù are the Sunday first course par excellence. Cappelletti in capon broth are the dish of Christmas day, preceded on the eve by pasta and chickpeas. Strozzapreti, in dialect "strozapret", are prepared with flour, water and salt, rolled between the palms of the hands and served with meat ragù and pecorino.
Polenta, typical of winter, is served on the wooden board from which it takes its name ("polenta al tagliere"). The classic version is with sausage sauce and grated pecorino; the richer one with sauce of small game birds, lard and sage. It was the only course of peasants, today re-proposed in some osterie of the ridge and the Castelli.
Winter cuisine
Among the seasonal soups stand out pork rinds with beans, a robust dish consumed in the cold months. Almost completely disappeared is the soup of "bobolotti": a sheet of flour, water and salt cut into squares, boiled with lard and dark beans. Among the second courses, tradition follows the calendar: rabbit porchetta-style for the holidays, brick chicken, roast lamb at Easter, grilled meat during the summer fairs.
| Season | Dish | Occasion |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn | Polenta on the board with sausage | Autumn fair |
| Christmas Eve | Pasta and chickpeas | Dinner of 24 December |
| Christmas | Cappelletti in capon broth | Lunch of 25 December |
| Easter | Roast lamb with potatoes | Easter lunch |
| Summer | Tagliatelle with ragù, piadina | Fairs and patron feasts |
| 3 September | Medieval banquets in the Castelli | Feast of San Marino |
The sweet touch
The Torta Tre Monti is the most recognisable dessert-souvenir of the Republic: layers of crumbly wafer separated by cocoa and hazelnut cream, covered with dark chocolate. The name and the triple-rise shape recall the profile of the Titano. Created in the second post-war period, it is today available in the pastry shops of the centre and in the typical product stores.
Alongside the Tre Monti, the bustrengo is the peasant dessert par excellence: a rustic pudding of stale bread, corn flour, raisins, dried figs, honey and lemon zest, baked in a tin. The Romagna ciambella and the corn biscuits are two classic accompaniments to meditation wine, together with the castagnole of Carnival and the frittelle of Saint Joseph.
The Consorzio Vini Tipici
Sammarinese wines are produced by the Consorzio Vini Tipici, founded in 1979 to enhance native grapes. The main productions are five: Sangiovese (full-bodied, structured), Ribolla (fresh white), Biancale (table wine), Brugneto (Riserva) and Tessano (Sangiovese Riserva). The cellars and vineyards are in the ridge Castelli at altitudes between 150 and 500 metres, on clay-limestone soils.
The complete food and wine tour is described in the food itinerary of the Titano, which crosses five historic restaurants. Those who want to combine cuisine and territory can start from the pages of the nine Castelli: each has different fairs and traditional venues.