Norcia Food: Norcinerie and Local Products

Norcia food: what to buy in the norcinerie

The norcinerie of Norcia mainly sell Prosciutto di Norcia IGP, traditional cured meats and black truffle, fresh or preserved. They also stock Castelluccio lentils (lenticchia di Castelluccio IGP) and pecorino sheep's cheeses. Many products keep well and can be bought all year round. Fresh truffle, on the other hand, follows precise seasons.

Prosciutto di Norcia IGP. The production rules are strict. Processing must take place in the municipalities of Norcia, Preci, Cascia, Monteleone di Spoleto and Poggiodomo, and only above 500 meters of elevation. The mountain climate matters in the production cycle. To carry the label, Prosciutto di Norcia must have the typical "pear" shape, weigh at least 8.5 kg and be aged at least twelve months from salting to sale. Salting is done in two stages with medium-grain sea salt. The ham has a slightly spiced aroma and a savory but not salty flavor. The slice is firm, from pink to red in color. The rules set no geographical limits on where the pigs come from. In Norcia, in fact, it was the processing and curing techniques that developed, more than pig farming. Some norcinerie extend the aging. The ham is sold whole, on the bone, or in boneless pieces that are easier to take home. At home it should be kept in a cool place, ideally wrapped in a natural linen cloth.

Cured meats. A typical salume of the Norcia area is coglioni di mulo ("mule's balls"), named for their oval shape. They are made from lean pork, finely ground, stuffed into natural casing and tied by hand, with a core of lard that flavors the meat. Corallina is less known outside central Italy. In Rome and the surrounding area it is traditionally eaten for breakfast on Easter morning. Aged Norcia guanciale (cured pork cheek), with pepper or chili, is a basic ingredient of carbonara, gricia and amatriciana. The counters also offer:

• lonza (that is, capocollo) and lonzino;
• fresh and aged sausages, made from pork or wild boar;
• salame norcino and palle del nonno;
• truffle salami and venison salami.

In the past the norcini also processed other animals to preserve their meat all year round: red deer, fallow deer, roe deer and donkeys. A few products of this kind can still be found today, though in small quantities.

Truffles. Norcia's specialty is the Norcia black truffle, the prized tartufo nero pregiato (Tuber melanosporum), locally also called "tartufo buono" to set it apart from the scorzone. The prized black truffle is harvested from December 1 to March 15, throughout the Valnerina. Not all truffles ripen at the same time: finding them takes a dog, which can smell only the ripe ones. In summer, roughly from late May to late August, the scorzone (Tuber aestivum) is harvested. It is the most common summer black truffle and also the one used for truffle sauces. Before the prized truffle season comes the tartufo uncinato, similar but with a much less intense flavor. White truffle is not found in Norcia: the climate and soil are not suitable. Out of season the norcinerie sell truffle preserved in glass jars, whole or ground. The same shops also sell truffle cheeses and truffle pasta.

Lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia IGP. This lentil is grown on the Castelluccio plateau, in the municipalities of Norcia (Umbria) and Castelsantangelo sul Nera (Marche). The whole production area lies within the national park of the Sibillini Mountains. The Protected Geographical Indication has protected it since 1997. The seeds are small, round and flattened, with a thin skin. The color ranges from speckled green to light brown. Thanks to the very thin skin there is no need to soak them before cooking, and they do not break apart when cooked. They are harvested between July and August, but dried lentils can be bought all year. They should be stored in earthenware, glass or paper containers, in a cool, dry place.

Cheeses, honey and sweets. Pecorino is always on the counter next to the cured meats. The town also has a cheese dairy, farms, honey producers, pastry shops and a chocolate maker: they are listed in the next section.

Norcia food shops: where the norcinerie are

Almost all the norcinerie of Norcia are inside the historic center. Corso Sertorio links Piazza San Benedetto to Porta Romana and is lined with shops selling cured meats and local products. Other shops face Piazza San Benedetto or are in the nearby streets. The center is easy to explore on foot, and one walk is enough to compare several counters.

Norcinerie. Brancaleone da Norcia has two shops in town. The older one is recognizable from outside by the medieval suit of armor at the door. Inside there are a large wooden counter and a "pyramid" of IGP hams. Norcineria Felici is among those that reopened right after the earthquake: it started selling again in its historic shop on New Year's Day, a few days after the corso reopened. Brancaleone had also reopened in the same period. Norcineria Laudani has been working in Norcia for about thirty years. After the earthquake the original shop was unusable, and at first the business kept selling by going to fairs. The Ansuini family, like many norcini, also hunts for truffles: it has done so for generations, starting with grandfather Abramo, with his truffle dogs. So fresh truffle reaches the shop during the harvest seasons. The group is completed by Norcineria Coccia, Antica Norcineria and Degusteria Mastro Peppe.

Truffles. Two shops are dedicated to truffles: Moscatelli Tartufi Norcia and La Bottega de Tartufo.

Local product shops. Bottega Albero Bello, Bottega dei Sapori, Il Richiamo della Sibilla, La Volpe d'Oro, Il Casale de li Tappi, Salvatori, da Marco and l'Alveare. Gruppo Grifo Agroalimentare also has a branch in Norcia.

Meat and cheese. For fresh meat and cured meats there are Carni Locali and Savelli Salumi e Carni. For cheese there is the dairy of Gruppo Grifo Agroalimentare, in the locality of Opaco.

Sweets, chocolate and bread. Pasticceria Polenta, whose shop goes by the name Dolce Norcia Tipicità, and Pasticceria Panetteria del Teatro. For chocolate there is the Cioccolateria Vetusta Nursia di Arianna Verucci, with its shop. For bread, Panificio Lucci Massimiliano and the Pizzeria Panetteria San Benedetto.

Farms. Azienda Agricola Di Damiano and Azienda Agricola Sibilla di Norcia.

There is no single "best norcineria" in Norcia. Many shops sell similar products, and the choice depends on what you are looking for: a whole ham, cured meats sliced to order, fresh truffle in season or a gift box. For fresh prized black truffle, the time to go is between December and mid-March. For scorzone, in summer.

The busiest period is between February and March, during Nero Norcia, the truffle festival. It is the national exhibition and market of the prized black truffle and local products and has been held since the 1950s. For two weekends the historic center fills with stalls of truffle hunters, norcini and shepherds: in 2026 there were about 60. To combine shopping with a visit to the town, see the page things to do in Norcia.