On a brisk November day in Terni, a former industrial city in southern Umbria, white-tented booths line either side of the central thoroughfare as families and couples stroll by, stopping to taste the various pastries and chocolates on offer. The combination of sugared air and bundled-up visitors gives the feeling of an Italianized Christmas market.
Irina Rachieru, who lives in the city, is staffing a booth offering mulled wine and warm apple cider. According to her, there’s an obvious reason for the diffusion of food-themed events in Italy.“They are very widespread in Italy, because you eat well here, wherever you go, north to south, right to left, on the islands,” she says. “You eat very well.”
