Small striped succulent plants in dark round pots on a wooden table, blurred indoor space in background Comune Labro

astes of Labro: Must-Try Dishes from a Medieval Hilltop

Perched high above Lake Piediluco in the Rieti province of Lazio, the tiny medieval village of Labro keeps a food culture that has changed very little in centuries. Stone houses, narrow alleys and a castle still shape daily life, and the kitchen follows the same quiet rhythm as the seasons: olive harvests in November, chestnut gatherings in October, lentil sowings in March, and pig slaughters that traditionally stock pantries before winter.

Cuisine here belongs to a wider Sabine and Reatine tradition that stretches from the Velino valley to the Umbrian border. Travellers will recognise flavours familiar from restaurants in Melbourne's Lygon Street or Sydney's Leichhardt, but in Labro the dishes arrive in their original setting, served with lake breezes and church bells rather than espresso-bar bustle.

Australian visitors who appreciate regional Italian food find Labro particularly rewarding. The village's small population makes every plate feel personal, and the producers behind each ingredient — the cheesemaker, the olive presser, the baker who lights the wood oven at dawn — are usually within a short walk. Those who stay more than a day can combine the food trail with stargazing nights, scenic paths and the cultural events that animate the village throughout the warmer months.

Pasta and Grain Traditions

The most typical pasta shape in this corner of Lazio is strangozzi, also called umbricelli in nearby Umbria. Long, thick, hand-rolled strands with a slightly rough surface, strangozzi are made with just flour and water — no eggs — which gives them a firm bite ideal for clinging to rich sauces. In Labro they appear dressed with guanciale and tomato, with wild boar ragù, or simply with extra-virgin olive oil, pecorino and a hint of garlic. Travellers from Melbourne or Brisbane who have learned to recognise regional pasta shapes will notice that strangozzi sit alongside pici from Tuscany and tonnarelli from Rome in the family of eggless wheat pastas.

Grain dishes also lean heavily on the celebrated lenticchie di Rieti, a small, peppery lentil that holds protected designation of origin status. Slow-cooked with onion, carrot, celery, tomato and a bay leaf, the lentils become a thick soup eaten with toasted country bread, sometimes crowned with a swirl of new olive oil. The legume's protected status works much like the geographical indication rules enforced in Australia by the ACCC, which prevent misleading claims about where food comes from on shop shelves.

Cheeses from Pasture and Mountain

Dairy in Labro leans on sheep's milk, as it has for centuries. Pecorino is the everyday cheese, eaten fresh, semi-aged or aged until it crumbles into a sharp, crystalline paste. Younger wheels have a sweet, milky flavour and a soft rind; aged versions carry a piquant kick that pairs beautifully with the local honey or with chunks of dried fig.

Fresh ricotta appears in fillings for ravioli, in simple cakes eaten for breakfast, and dolloped onto warm bread with a drizzle of olive oil. A harder cheese called caciocavallo shows up occasionally, hung over a beam to mature. Australian visitors who grew up with the country's strict food safety framework, administered by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, will appreciate that traditional cheesemakers here still rely on raw milk and time-tested techniques, even if the result is more rustic than the regulated cheeses found on supermarket shelves in Sydney or Perth.

Cured Meats and Slow Cooking

Meat dominates many local tables, especially during the cooler months. Guanciale — cured pork jowl seasoned with pepper and salt — is the foundation of many sauces and is sliced thinly to accompany bread. Salsiccia, the local sausage flavoured with fennel, garlic and sometimes a touch of red wine, often features in stews with chickpeas or with lentils.

Slow-braised dishes are common. Agnello brodettato, a lamb stew thickened with eggs, lemon and pecorino, reflects the Roman and Sabine love of bright, hearty cooking. Wild boar is hunted in surrounding woods and turned into ragù for strangozzi or served sliced with polenta. Many of these dishes echo what Italian-Australians still cook at home, particularly those whose families come from Lazio, Umbria or Abruzzo — communities that gather around slow-cooked meat dishes in suburban backyards from Fairfield to Brunswick.

Olive Oil and Pantry Staples

Sabina extra-virgin olive oil is one of the area's proudest products and carries its own DOP designation. Pressed from olives grown on terraced hillsides that locals have tended for generations, the oil is grassy, slightly peppery and intensely green. It lands on almost every dish, from a simple bowl of beans to a slice of toasted bread rubbed with tomato.

Chestnuts, once a mainstay during lean winters, return as flour for cakes and as whole nuts preserved in syrup or used to stuff roasted meats. Black truffles grow quietly in nearby woodlands, and Australian visitors familiar with the truffle industry around Manjimup in Western Australia or the small growers of Tasmania will recognise the seasonal excitement that surrounds each harvest. Bringing a few jars and bottles home is the easiest way to relive Labro long after the trip ends.

Pantry items worth bringing home

Sweets and Festive Bakes

Labro's sweet tradition centres on frittelle, simple fried dough balls often flavoured with lemon zest, aniseed or sultanas and dusted with sugar. They are particularly associated with village festivals and are sold by the paper cone at sagre. Another classic is panpepato, a dense, spiced cake made with honey, almonds, walnuts, cocoa, pepper and citrus peel, traditionally baked at Christmas and eaten in thin slices with sweet wine.

Tozzetti, twice-baked biscotti studded with almonds and hazelnuts, are perfect for dunking in a glass of vin santo or simply into a small espresso. Ciambelle al vino, ring-shaped biscuits made with wine and olive oil rather than butter, keep well and travel easily. Australians who enjoy packing a tin of homemade biscuits for the flight home will find these sweets sturdier than most, a useful souvenir when suitcase space is limited.

Wines and Local Drinks

The Rieti province sits at the edge of several Italian wine regions, and the local cellars produce both red and white wines that match the rustic food. Whites tend toward Grechetto and Trebbiano, fresh and lightly floral, working well with ricotta, fish from Lake Piediluco and lighter pasta dishes. Reds lean on Montepulciano and Sangiovese, sometimes blended with Cesanese from further south, producing robust, food-friendly bottles.

Small producers bottle their wine under cooperative labels or family names, often available only at the vineyard door or in nearby shops. Travellers who enjoy the small-batch wine scene around the Adelaide Hills or the Yarra Valley will feel at home with these low-volume releases. A glass of local wine rarely costs more than a flat white in a Melbourne café, which makes an evening tasting a relaxed way to round off a day of walking through the village.

Sagre and Where to Eat

Eating in Labro often means eating at a sagra, the seasonal festival built around a single ingredient or dish. The Sagra della Frittella in spring, chestnut celebrations in autumn and village feast days in summer all offer tasting menus of local specialities at long communal tables set in the piazza. Wandering from stall to stall, visitors taste strangozzi, lentils, grilled sausages, pecorino, honey and pastries in the space of an afternoon.

For those who prefer a quieter meal, family-run trattorias and agriturismi nearby serve set menus featuring whatever is in season. The best way to reach many of these spots is on foot, following the lanes through the historic centre of Labro, where lunch becomes part of a longer walk past stone arches, small chapels and viewpoints over the lake.

Dishes not to miss

Planning a visit around a festival multiplies the experience. Local tourism offices publish a calendar of sagre and religious holidays, and many events fall between May and October when Australian visitors typically plan European travel. Booking a few nights in a stone cottage or B&B inside the village walls makes it easy to walk back after a long lunch and return the next evening for something different.

Pack a soft bag inside the suitcase and bring back what the pantry allows: a bottle of Sabina DOP olive oil, a wedge of pecorino, a packet of strangozzi and a few tozzetti wrapped carefully for the flight home. With a little planning, a trip to Labro becomes a working list of flavours worth recreating long after the lake views have faded.