Rabbit recipes and Ischia's traditional food

Ischia's essential elements, born of its volcanic origins and Mediterranean island nature, form a culture of fresh and hearty gastronomy that is typical of southern Italy. The island’s trademark dish is a prime example. Employing that renown Italian ingredient - the tomato - Ischia's customary, must-try plate is coniglio all'ischitana- rabbit Ischian-style.

Ischian-style rabbit is cooked in a savoury tomato and wine sauce and generally served up with the bucatini pasta variety. The pasta type is important and simple spaghetti won't cut it because bucatini pasta is thicker and has tubular insides, both better to absorb the flavoursome sauce of Ischia's rabbit stew.

Ischia's coniglio is also unusual for the island's ancient fosse technique of rabbit breeding. The fosse are special ditches, or burrows, that allow rabbits to grow in a controlled yet wild environment. This tradition developed before ethical sensibilities for free range food and locals swear it also ensures a tastier and better quality meat.
For another typical dish Ischia's seafood specialty is spaghetti alle vongole, clam spaghetti, with a base of garlic, olive oil and parsley, and customarily served up with the clams still in their shells.

Ischia's Mediterranean climate and mineralised soil, like so much of southern Italy, are a great combination for growing fruit and vegetables and eggplants, zucchinis, artichokes, and numerous other veggies fill the island's backyards. The vegetables and herbs spice the island's hand-made sausages, often cooked on open grills during the public sagre, or food festivals and customary celebrations.

Ischia's viticulture has led towards specialised local labels more than the mass market and some of the island's particular wines include the Biancolella, Forastera and Arilla whites and the distinctive reds of Guarnaccia, Per' e Palummo and S. Lunardo. Limoncello, a sweet after dinner liqueur is another locally made produce shared by southern Italy but the more bitter Rucolino variety is more peculiar to Ischia alone.