Without salt, as in Tuscany, this bread is the result of a choice born of historical necessity, linked to the Salt War, and it’s perfect for enhancing seasonings such as new extra virgin olive oil and a variety of accompaniments, especially norcineria products.

The name comes from the Latin “testum”, meaning both a brick or tile and the terracotta vessel filled with hot embers used by the Romans to cook food, especially bread or flatbread-like preparations. Today known as “neither bread nor focaccia”, it is made from a simple, often unleavened dough, cooked on stone or cast iron. Born as subsistence food, it is now one of the most famous dishes in the Perugia area, where it represents the ultimate convivial dish, meant to be filled and shared at the centre of the table.

Before the widespread cultivation of wheat, in the Umbrian mountains chestnuts were a fundamental resource: dried and ground, they were often turned into a hearty flour used to make bread and polenta.

In Umbria, legume soups such as fagiolina del Trasimeno or roveja, along with cereals, especially spelt, are never individual dishes: they are meant to be shared. Traditionally prepared in large quantities and eaten together, they reinforce the value of conviviality that lies at the heart of the UNESCO recognition.

This curious and playful popular expression refers to the continuous and precise movement of the hips needed to stretch a hand-rolled pastry sheet to perfection.

From a simple dough made of flour and water come some of the most typical Umbrian pasta shapes, some of which have such ancient origins that they are attributed to the Etruscans. Names and preparation methods vary from area to area: from Perugia’s umbricelli to Terni’s ciriole, to Spoleto’s strangozzi, also known as strozzapreti, a popular name linked to the history of the Papal States.

“Quanto basta” (as needed), “a occhio” (by eye), “finché regge” (until it holds together). In many Umbrian recipes there are no precise quantities: knowledge is passed on through experience, not measured on scales.

Recognising, gathering and cooking wild herbs is knowledge passed down orally for centuries, preserved in traditional recipes such as fojata, whose filling can be made with a variety of wild herbs, but is traditionally based on strigoli.