Pescara is a thoroughly modern city with miles of beaches and typical Italian beach resorts. However, it is also home to fascinating culinary delights and some of the best coffee in Italy.

Foodie Pescara

Maccheroni alla Chitarra

One of the most unique pasta shapes in Italy is Maccheroni alla Chitarra, aka Spaghetti all Chitarra. The pasta is named for tool used to cut it, a Chitarra, or Guitar. The shape, and the method for making it originated in nearby Chieti (or Teramo, no one knows for sure) about 150 years ago.

Spaghetti alla Chitarra (photo: Brent Petersen)

To make Maccheroni alla Chitarra, a dough of eggs and flour is rolled out into sheets. Then, the dough is cut using the Chitarra, a wooden frame with metal wires strung across it, resembling a guitar. Sheets of pasta dough are pressed through the Chitarra, giving the pasta its distinct square, rather than round, shape.

Maccheroni alla Chitarra is especially good at soaking up sauce, so it is often paired with a meat ragu or marinara.

Sampling Spaghetti alla Chitarra (photo: Karen L. Campopiano)

There’s a little restaurant in Pescara that makes fresh pasta, including Chitarra. At…

Read the entire Food & Travel guide to Pescara, Italy