We were passing through Fossombrone in the Marche region on our way to the Autostrada at Fano when we decided to stop for lunch. Passing a wine shop, we took a quick detour to see if they had anything local and interesting we could take home. The owner waxed poetic about the quality of the Marche's liquirizia, a black licorice digestivo. She then went on to tell us about the local specialty "cocktail", the: Moretta.

Moretta is one of those local coffee drinks. You could call it a type of Caffè corretto, coffee "corrected" with a few drops of liquor. But its way more complicated than that. Preparing a proper Moretta is a ritual, we found out after lunch.

After eating, we, like the rest of the locals, made our way to the little bar. I ordered a Moretta. Everything stopped while it was in production.

The barista took a metal steamer and put small but equal amounts of liquirizia, brandy and rum in it. Then she cut a hunk of lemon rind and dropped it in, along with a bit of sugar. She steamed the whole works until it was quite hot, then poured it into a small glass, which ended up half full. Then she removed the lemon and tilted the glass under the espresso spout and let fresh coffee gently slither down the sides of the glass; a proper Moretta is made in layers--liquor on the bottom, coffee on top.

By golly it was good. I suspect the strong steaming the booze got took some of the alcohol out of it, because it didn't have an overwhelming alcohol bite to it.

Ask for a Moretti if you're so inclined next time you're in the Marche near the coastal town of Fano. You won't regret it. Even Martha tried it, and she hates coffee.

I've spent the week thinking of those out of the way places I love in Italy. Take for example Tuscany's Maremma. It's probably the least known area of Tuscany. Last year we spent part of it on the wild coast of Monte Argentario, at the spectacularly isolated La Trappola. The area is full of the things you come to Italy for. There are spectacular hill towns like Pitigliano, great wine and a very tasty cuisine. Summer festivals are culture rich--or sometimes just rich. The Bugatti International Meeting is being held on the last weekend of May this year in Massa Maritimma in the Maremma.

I also think of Puglia, always on the list to take from Tuscany the prize of "best place to visit in Italy." I did a long archaeological survey there, and found the culture fascinating. Yet Puglia is just too far down the boot for most people who have short vacations. It's a shame.

Then there's Lazio. You land in Rome, see the Forum, Pantheon, and the Colosseum, then you take off for Florence or Venice. Well, what about the Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia? What about the spectacular summer food and wine in the Castelli Romani, just south of Rome? What about the porchetta for crying out loud? And there's Ostia Antica, a real port city, where you can see the well-preserved ruins of ancient apartments and small take-away food stands instead of one rich person's villa after another, like you do at the famous resort towns of Pompeii or Herculaneum.

This year we'll explore some of these out of the way places, which are best explored from a rental villa, where you'll have quiet nights. You'll need them with all the excitement of seeing places your friends didn't have a clue about.