Why Abruzzo Orders Its Favourite Food One Hundred at a Time

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In the mountains of Abruzzo, there is a dish so beloved that ordering fewer than fifty is almost an insult. You eat them standing up, pulling each tiny cube of spiced lamb from a thin wooden stick while smoke rises from a long channel of glowing charcoal. This is arrosticini — and it has changed very little since Abruzzo’s shepherds first made it, centuries ago.

What Are Arrosticini?

Arrosticini (singular: arrosticino) are small lamb skewers from Abruzzo, in central Italy. Each one is made from tiny cubes of sheep or castrato (castrated male sheep) meat — sometimes with a little fat — threaded onto a thin wooden stick.

They are grilled over a fornacella: a long, narrow charcoal grill designed specifically for this purpose. The skewers are short, around 20 centimetres in total, with the meat sitting only on the bottom third. They cook quickly over intense heat — five minutes is usually enough.

They are never served with sauce. You eat them as they come, straight from the grill, one by one.

Where Do They Come From?

Arrosticini have their roots in the transumanza — the ancient practice of Abruzzo’s shepherds driving their flocks long distances between summer mountain pastures and winter lowland grazing. These journeys could take days or weeks.

During the transumanza, shepherds needed food that was portable, filling, and made from what they had. Older sheep not suitable for prime cuts provided the meat. Nothing was wasted. Small pieces were threaded onto sticks and cooked over whatever fire was available.

For centuries, arrosticini remained the food of the poor and the pastoral. Then, slowly, the rest of Italy discovered them. Today they are celebrated across the country — but Abruzzo remains fiercely protective of the original.

Abruzzo is one of Italy’s most underrated regions. If you want to understand why it rewards visitors unlike anywhere else, read about why Italy’s least-known region is its most rewarding to visit.

The Fornacella — The Only Way to Cook Them

Proper arrosticini require a fornacella. This long, narrow grill looks like a trough or channel. You lay the skewers across it so the meat hangs down into the heat, while the ends of the wooden sticks rest on the raised sides.

The design is deliberate. The meat cooks evenly from below, the fat renders slowly, and the smoke rises straight up through each skewer rather than around it. The result is a flavour you cannot replicate any other way.

In Abruzzo, many families own a fornacella the way families elsewhere own a barbecue. On summer evenings and at any gathering worth having, the fornacella comes out, the charcoal is lit, and several hundred arrosticini begin cooking.

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How to Eat Them Properly

This matters more than it sounds. In Abruzzo, arrosticini come wrapped tightly in paper or foil, placed upright in a tall narrow glass or holder — twenty, fifty, a hundred at a time. You pull them out one by one and eat them standing.

The usual serving is 100g to 200g per person, which gives you roughly eight to sixteen sticks. But at a proper grigliata — an outdoor grill gathering — no one counts. You eat until the fornacella is empty.

The traditional accompaniment is a thick slice of bread to soak up the fat and juices, and a glass of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine. Nothing else is needed. Nothing else is wanted.

Why They Matter Beyond the Food

Arrosticini are more than a dish. They are woven into the identity of Abruzzo in a way that few regional foods manage anywhere in Italy.

When Abruzzesi emigrants left Italy for Argentina, the United States, and Australia during the great migrations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, arrosticini travelled with them — not in a suitcase, but as a memory. Communities abroad recreated the fornacella gatherings as a way of staying connected to home.

In Abruzzo today, no summer evening, no village festa, and no family celebration is complete without the scent of arrosticini smoke drifting across the terrace. They are a sensory bookmark to home — instant, unmistakeable, and entirely their own.

The region’s landscape plays its part too. Abruzzo contains some of Italy’s most dramatic mountain scenery, including the heart-shaped Lake Scanno hidden in the Apennines — a place where the pastoral traditions that gave birth to arrosticini are still very much alive.

Where to Try Arrosticini in Italy

The further you go from Abruzzo’s cities into its mountain villages and hill towns, the more authentic the experience. Look for sagre (local food festivals) in the provinces of Pescara and Chieti, particularly in summer and early autumn. Locals queue for an hour and consider it time very well spent.

In larger towns, look for restaurants or rosticcerie listing arrosticini as a starter. If the menu specifies arrosticini di pecora — made from mature sheep rather than generic lamb — you are exactly where you should be.

Outside Abruzzo, good arrosticini are genuinely hard to find. This is part of the point. Some dishes belong to a place. They are the reason to go.

Frequently Asked Questions About Arrosticini

What do arrosticini taste like?

Arrosticini have a smoky, salty, deeply savoury flavour with a remarkably tender texture. The fat that renders during cooking keeps the meat moist, and the seasoning is typically nothing more than salt. The quality of the lamb does all the work.

Where is the best place to eat arrosticini in Abruzzo?

The provinces of Pescara and Chieti are the heartland. Look for village sagre in summer, family-run restaurants in the hill towns, and any roadside bracere (charcoal grill spot) with a queue. A queue is always a good sign.

What wine pairs best with arrosticini?

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is the traditional pairing — the local red wine, with soft tannins that complement the richness of the lamb perfectly. Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, a dry rosé made from the same grape, is equally authentic and slightly lighter.

Can I make arrosticini at home?

Yes. Use shoulder or leg of lamb cut into small 1cm cubes, season with salt only, and thread onto thin bamboo skewers. Cook quickly over very high heat on a narrow charcoal grill. A proper fornacella is ideal, but a regular barbecue grill works if the heat is intense enough. Do not overcook — they should take no more than five minutes.

Some foods earn their place in a culture through elegance. Arrosticini earned theirs through necessity — and perhaps that is exactly why they have lasted. There is something deeply honest about a dish that began on a mountainside and has never needed to change.

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Ready to experience Abruzzo and the rest of Italy for yourself? The Ultimate Italy Travel Guide covers everything you need — from the best regions to visit to practical travel advice that will make your trip unforgettable.

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