When it comes to good food the people of the Abruzzi are blessed for this is the land of plenty and birthplace of Italy's most accomplished chefs. Here a healthy appetite is a prerequisite and the faint of heart, not to mention the stomach, need not apply.

Traditional, often spontaneous feasts known as Panardas still live on in some of the Abruzzi's more remote mountain villages. This colossal meal, reminiscent of the banquets of ancient Rome and classical Greece, traditionally begins at midday and continues on long into the night. Honor demands that guests do nothing less than negotiate their way through up to 30 different courses. Fortunately, the cuisine is more than up to the task.

Lavish, hearty and robust, even zesty at times, the cooking of the Abruzzi is also inventive and daring. Natives relish a little hot seasoning now and then and even chili peppers sometimes find their way onto the list of ingredients.

Saffron is another seasoning that makes an appearance on the Abruzzi menu. The Abruzzi is Italy's principal source of saffron, with the majority grown for export. Worth more than its weight in gold, it takes approximately 130,000 flowers to produce just two pounds, saffron is used respectfully and sparingly by judicious Abruzzi cooks.

Nowhere in Italy is more closely identified with fine quality pasta and pasta dishes. Maccheroni alla Chitarra a macaroni served with a rich, slightly piquant tomato sauce flavored with peppers, bacon and Pecorino cheese, is its most celebrated regional specialty.

Lamb, ham, salamis and delicious pork sausages prepared with fennel, peppers and orange peel are a staple in the region's interior, whose mountainous slopes provide the perfect grazing grounds for large flocks of sheep and a variety of wild game. Abruzzi farmers claim that grazing at high altitudes causes their lamb and pork to be leaner and thus exceptionally flavorful.

Along the Abruzzi coastline where skillful fishermen trawl their nights in the abundant Adriatic sea, fish is a mainstay of the local menu. But even here meat dishes are enjoyed.

For anyone with the good fortune to be invited for dinner in an Abruzzi home, be sure to leave room for a tempting dessert, especially if it's Parrozzo, a fabulously soft, creamy cake coated in chocolate. And after such a sumptuous meal what better aid to the digestion than a few sips of a delicious homemade liqueur distilled from mountain-grown herbs?