An Italian Day Trip: Sulmona, Where Ovid And Confetti Were Born And The Food Features The Robust Dishes Of Abruzzo

Forbes

a day ago

If you've ever attended an Italian wedding you were probably given a netted bag of white sugar-coated almonds called confetti­­ as a parting gift. And chances are they came from the town of Sulmona in Italy's Abruzzo region, and very probably from Confetti Mario Pellino, which has been producing them since 1783, now in its seventh generation of family owners. Its factory and building were declared 'a Monument of National Interest' by the Ministry of Culture in 1922.
Were you ever to visit Sulmona, a two hours' drive from Rome, you'll find it a small, reclusive town with a few touristic attractions that make it a good day trip where you will find dozens of shops selling confetti, brightly colored and knitted into various complex shapes of flowers and wreaths.
The Cathedral has a sober Romanesque façade, but its interior was updated to baroque after a serious earthquake in 1706. The medieval-Renaissance Palazzo Annunziata and Church of Saint Annunziata are lovely open spaces, while the Piazza Garibaldi with its large baroque fountain is where at Easter they celebrate the event of the Madonna che Scappa, when a statue of the Virgin Mary is carried by running townsmen in green and white past the remarkably well-preserved 12th century Gothic aqueduct as a brass band plays, while others carry a statue of the infant Jesus there for a reuniting with his mother.
Sulmona gave the Catholic world a pope, Innocent VII in the 15th century, but Piazza XX Settembre is the location of Sulmona's foremost historical figure, the greatest of all Roman poets, Ovid, whose bronze statue stands sternly atop a pedestal. As the author of the witty Metamorphoses, he was both an ornery and canny observer of the follies of the Romans, explaining, 'I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved; since I could not give gifts, I gave words.'
Located up a winding road, Sulmona itself is fairly flat and easy to walk through, and there are several very good restaurants that feature the cooking of Abruzzo. Semina Cucina Agricola (Via Manilo d'Eramo 28), whose owners are wholly committed to locality and seasonality in a €39 tasting menu of five courses. A few doors away there's a lavish antipasto table at Ristorante Hostaria dell'Arco (Via Manilo d'Eramo 60 ), and the pasta to have is the tagliatelle with zucchini cream as well as pappardelle with rabbit ragù.
On my last visit to the town I ate at the charming, sunny Ristorante Clemente Sulmona (Via Solimo 25), located just inside the town's ancient gate. Begin with some local Abruzzese cheeses from Casari e Pastori, like pecorino, caciocavallo and pampanellagoat's cheese along with salami like salamella di tratturo made from mutton and the locally revered salsiciotto di Guilmi of simply salt-cured pork, all served with puffy warm pizza-like bread. Next came the Abruzzese specialty spaghetti alla ghitarra, cut on a guitar-string-like instrument, served with crispy pancetta bacon and local saffron. Risotto of Canaroli rice also had the aroma of saffron with an addition of anise, along with ricotta and salami-studded lamb ragù. (Half portions are also available.)
Pork is braised slowly in Montepulciano d'Abruzzo red wine, sided with salted chicory and creamy mashed potatoes. For dessert the signature sweet here is a pan dell'Orso semi-freddo.
The wine list is especially good for bottlings like Montepluciano d'Abruzzo and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. They also serve good house wines in carafes for €5 to €6.
A dinner for two, with wine, tax and service included, runs around $120. The menu has English translations.
Ovid, by the way, seems to have been something of a vegetarian, writing, 'O mortals, do not pollute your bodies with food so impious as the flesh of animals! You have the fruits of the earth, you have apples, bending down the branches with their weight, and grapes swelling in ripeness on the vines, you also have sweet herb.' And apparently not much of a drinker, he insisted, "There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled."
He didn't know what he was missing in Sulmona.