For the few who do not know them, the Tenera Ascolana olives, large and fleshy, are stoned and stuffed with a mixture of meat (beef, pork and chicken) cooked for a long time with butter, oil, celery, carrot and onion. After cooking the meat is minced and mixed with eggs, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese: this filling will replace the core. The olives are then breaded and fried in plenty of boiling oil. The good workmanship of Ascoli olives is one of the yardstick used to judge the restaurants and taverns in the area. Like the cherries, one pulls the other, especially when accompanied by fresh sips of sparkling passerina (native grape variety). Together with cremini (cubes of solid custard), lamb chops, courgettes and artichokes, they form one of the main dishes of all the celebrations that take place in the Piceno area, the Fritto Misto all’Ascolana.
