{"id":1109,"date":"2014-05-22T10:11:46","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T10:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2015-03-23T10:30:46","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T10:30:46","slug":"castignano-following-the-scent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/food-and-wine\/castignano-following-the-scent.html","title":{"rendered":"Castignano: following the scent \u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the scent of the mountains<\/strong> takes us to Castignano, an ancient hamlet often associated with the scent of Pimpinella anisum, commonly known as green <\/strong>anise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Castignano<\/strong> aniseed<\/strong> has a powerful fragrance and a distinctive flavour, and is more popular than other types of aniseed thanks to its high concentration of anethole.<\/p>\n

Its uniqueness is so profoundly tied to its native habitat that it has come to be viewed as an essential feature of Castignano\u2019s cultural and historical identity.<\/p>\n

With its clay soil<\/strong>,badlands<\/strong>,and sloping terrain<\/strong>, which ensures exposure to the sun<\/strong>, the conditions are ideal for this plant to thrive.<\/p>\n

Pantries in Castignano were always well-stocked<\/strong> with aniseed, used to give flavour to roasted barley <\/strong>or coffee<\/strong>, or kneaded into dough to make delicately scented biscuits <\/strong>and doughnuts<\/strong>, both of which are hallmark products of Castignano cuisine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Castignano aniseed is used not only in confectionery, however: it is also the essential ingredient<\/strong> in the famous Anisetta Meletti<\/strong>, a liqueur made in nearby Ascoli Piceno which owes its elegant bouquet to this particular variety of aniseed.<\/p>\n

Global market growth and the rise of competing Asian and Middle-Eastern economies, coupled with the complexity of cultivation methods, has led to a decline in the manufacture of this traditional product. Nonetheless, extinction has been averted thanks to the work of a handful of producers and the implementation of policies and initiatives geared to rediscovering Castignano aniseed, which include Anis – Festival dell’Anice Verde.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Piceno recipes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Castignano aniseed biscuits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"aniseed<\/a>For 35<\/strong>\u201340 biscuits<\/strong><\/p>\n

170g all-purpose flour; 90g sugar; 55g dry white wine; 40g extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp of aniseed; 8g of baking powder for cakes; a bowl of sugar<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Preparation <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sift the flour onto the work surface and make a well in the centre; add the sugar, wine, oil, yeast, and aniseeds. Knead the dough until mixture is smooth. Let the dough stand for half an hour, covering with a cloth. Take some of the dough and roll out thin strips (up to 1 cm).Cut the pieces long enough to wrap around a finger and form a small ring. Dredge the biscuits in sugar, arrange on a tray covered in baking paper. Bake at 180 \u00b0C for about 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Travel tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Accommodation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agriturismo Fiorenire<\/p>\n

Contrada Filette, 9; 0736821606<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eating out<\/strong><\/p>\n

La Casa degli Ulivi<\/p>\n

Contrada San Venanzo, 86; 073590548; lacasadegliulivi@libero.it<\/a>\u00a0; www.lacasadegliulivi.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hosteria del Pelo \u2013 rural catering and tasting centre<\/p>\n

Contrada Sant\u2019Angelo 1; Frazione Ripaberarda; 339 7845613<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What to see<\/strong><\/p>\n

Museo Sistino di arte sacra, Piazza San Pietro<\/p>\n

Christmas – Easter – Summer \u00a0 \u00a0Scheduled opening<\/p>\n

Entrance fee \u00a0 \u20ac1.00<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What to buy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sergio Corradetti \u2013 Aniseed<\/p>\n

Piazzale Vittorio Emanuele 5; 3489827964; sergiocorradetti@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simonetti Silvia \u2013 Pottery<\/p>\n

Piazza Umberto I, 6; 347 0866798<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anis – Festival dell’anice verde di Castignano<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the scent of the mountains takes us to Castignano, an ancient hamlet often associated with the scent of Pimpinella anisum, commonly known as green anise. Castignano aniseed has a powerful fragrance and a distinctive flavour, and is more popular than other types of aniseed thanks to its high concentration of anethole. Its uniqueness is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-wine"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2072,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions\/2072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youpiceno.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}