"Paccasassi" (pickled sea fennel)

"Paccasassi" or "spaccapietre" is the dialect name for sea fennel, a salt-loving herb that grows wild among the stones and rocks of the Conero and whose roots seem to split the rock.

The paccasassi, also mentioned by Shakespeare in "King Lear", are an ancient culinary tradition of the fishermen of the Conero, of which in recent years we had lost track on our tables because of they were harvested excessively.

Recently, their recovery has begun thanks to a small cultivation and a ban on their harvesting in the entire Conero Park. Crunchy and with a hint of fennel, lemon and carrot, they are usually served with fish dishes, but they are also excellent with mortadella or used in jams and sauces.