If you love travelling and eating, you are always looking for new places where you can taste new dishes and find new recipes. However, the first thing a food lover should know well is what his/her homeland tradition has to offer.
Abruzzo has an ancient and deep-rooted sheep farming tradition; shepherds used to travel hundreds of kilometres to reach Apulia from Abruzzo with their flocks. This long journey lasted months and was called transumanza (transhumance). Sheep represented the only treasure many families could count on: they gave milk, cheese, wool…and meat. That is why the Abruzzesi produce many types of delicious Pecorino cheese all around the region, they have many different recipes based on sheep meat and…they invented arrosticini!
Arrosticini are probably the food product that better represents the soul and tradition of Abruzzo. If you ask an Abruzzese what is the first word he/she associates with sheep, we are sure the answer will be arrosticini! They are skewers, made of small pieces of sheep meat (mutton) (some of you may turn up their noses at this, but believe us when we say they are delicious!) cooked on a special brazier, which we call “canala”, that is long and narrow so that the skewers do not burn. You can also find them made of different types of meat: liver, lamb, also chicken and pork (but they are not very common). 
Cooking arrosticini is an art: they must be well done but very tender at the same time, which is not that easy with such small pieces. You can find many restaurants serving only arrosticini as a main course in Abruzzo, together with some typical appetizers. They are perfect if they are eaten right away, don’t wait too long and they will melt in your mouth!
What makes them so special? We are not only talking about a good dish you can eat: we are talking about a particular way of feasting and enjoying the company of family and friends. Why? Because we cook arrosticini to spend time together, to celebrate friendship and country living! Everybody gets around the brazier, talking and drinking while waiting for the great delight! So, if you ever come to Abruzzo to eat arrosticini, you must know that you have to embrace a whole philosophy of life: eat genuine, enjoy company, live at a slow pace.
The only rule: you cannot use forks! Arrosticini must be eaten pulling them out of the skewer with your teeth…no cutlery allowed!
Now you are ready to come to Abruzzo and taste: buon appetito!
Tag:abruzzesi, Abruzzo, arrosticini, cooking, eat, pecorino, slow, Transumanza
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