Most Italian towns, it seems, have a culinary claim to fame. Nestling in the shadow of the Sibillini mountains, the town of Ascoli Piceno has two: its large olives, stuffed with meat, breaded and deep fried (olive all'Ascolana) and its anisetta, a clear, aniseed-tasting digestif, best enjoyed sitting on the terrace of the grand Caffé Meletti, overlooking the pastel-stoned Piazza di Popoli. Not to disappoint the Ascolians, we tried both.
At a canopied stall at the edge of the square we bought a plentiful paper cone-full of olives and one of suppli di riso to eat as we wandered. The olives were salty and strong, with a crisp coating of fine crumbs. The suppli, crunchy and subtly cheesy. Street food of quite a refined nature.
From our vantage point on the Meletti's terrace we sipped anisetta (and dusted off the crumbs) as we watched a scene that, in essence, has probably not changed for hundreds of years – a piazza polished smooth by a million footsteps. Caffé Meletti is one of those Italian institutions that's oddly out of proportion to its location. Inside, its polished wood and brass and tiles seem more in keeping with a cosmopolitan city than a mountain town. I can't help wondering how, before tourism touched here, it was sufficiently frequented to stay in business. Maybe the locals drank a lot of anisetta?
I would, if I lived here. It would help to wash down all those olives.
Caffé Meletti, via del Trivio n. 56, 63100 Ascoli Piceno
Tel 0736-255559
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