Agorà is a bar and restaurant serving it’s own line of products, including the Olive Ascolana del Piceno DOP. Chef Oriana Tirabassi explains that the name of the establishment is derived from the Greek Piazza, and they want to use this ideological term to represent the city’s meeting point. “We also sell the fried olives ‘on the go’, but only of very good quality. Above all, don’t call Olive Ascolana del Piceno street food!”
“Oliva Ascolana is tradition,” Oriana explains. “For me, this is Sunday lunch and I have lots of fond memories of this delicacy. My grandma and mum didn’t make them every day because it’s labour-intensive, but on Sundays they did! It was a rich dish with all that meat. On holidays, stuffed olives are still served as a main course here in the area, along with cremini and fried lamb chops. Oliva ascolana is pure nostalgia; maybe that’s why I made it my profession,” Oriana concludes.
Address: Agorà Olive Ascolane, Piazza Arringo 47, Ascoli Piceno
Oliva Ascolana Piceno on the street
Of course, the stuffed olive is best known as a street dish and to experience it in that form, I head to Piazza Arringo in the centre of the city of Ascoli Piceno. At the kiosk Migliori Olive Ascolana, the delicious olives are offered in a cartoccio, or cardboard cone bag. On 4 August 1985, the cartoccio di Olive Ascolane as a street dish, was born here. It was owner Zè Migliori himself who invented them. Migliori is also a lovely deli on Arringo Square owned by the Migliori family.
Address: Migliori Olive Ascolana, Piazza Arringo 2, Ascoli Piceno