A real food and wine journey to discover Italian food can last weeks, if not months. The typical Italian dishes are many, with regional variations and even more local customizations. They are passed down from generation to generation, exported all over the world, perfected, celebrated and, above all, enjoyed at the table. Article by https://jfrankhenderson.com/

Let’s briefly discover what to eat in Italy.

Pizza

It is the queen of typical Italian dishes, a symbol of the Bel Paese all over the world. It is now found throughout Italy, but to enjoy it in its purest and most original form we suggest you go to Naples, Campania. It is precisely to the partner city, in fact, that the genesis of this tasty preparation can be traced back. The oldest pizzeria in the world is located in Naples: it is the Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba and was founded in 1738!

Cassoeula and polenta

For the wet, cold and foggy winter evenings in Northern Italy, nothing is better than a dish of cassoeula and polenta, perhaps prepared over the fire in the fireplace. The dish based on pork, seasonal vegetables and cabbage is a hymn to simplicity, practicality and taste. Accompanied by homemade polenta, it is the typical dish of Milan.

Italian breakfast

The Italian breakfast is different from that in the rest of Europe (and the world) mainly because it is based on sweet foods: croissants, croissants, bread with butter and jam, biscuits … All accompanied by a good coffee, cappuccino, coffee milk or, for children, milk and cocoa. Depending on the region, you will also find cereals, rusks, yoghurt and honey. It is the most important meal of the day, and its wide variety is a testament to this.

Buffalo mozzarella

It is produced only in some areas of southern Italy, and should be eaten strictly fresh. For this reason mozzarella di bufala campana is a typical Italian dish that is really difficult to find elsewhere. The cheese is produced from the milk of the buffalo “River”, also known as Mediterranean – a pure bred and reared only in Italy, especially in Campania, Lazio and Puglia.

Seafood spaghetti

After pizza, pasta is the symbol of Italian food in the world. Typical of the marine regions of Central and South Italy, seafood spaghetti combines the most common type of pasta with the taste of mussels, clams, crustaceans and other molluscs. All served with fresh tomatoes, parsley and a sprinkling of olive oil – a joy for the palate.

Pizzoccheri

Typical dish of the Valtellina, the pizzoccheri are extra large buckwheat tagliatelle, seasoned with potatoes, cabbage, butter, sage, garlic and melted cheese Casera. Accompanied by a good glass of red wine, it is the first choice dish in mountain huts in autumn and winter. Even better if the pasta is fresh and prepared by hand.

Artisan ice cream

The peculiarity of Italian ice cream compared to the various types of “ice cream” produced in the rest of the world is that it contains fresh and natural ingredients, and a very low concentration of fat. This does not mean that eating a lot of them every day is healthy – but a small summer bite of homemade ice cream on the Romagna seafront is sure to be forgiven.

Tiramisu

Among the typical sweets of the Peninsula, the tiramisu is perhaps the most characteristic. The cake, made with Savoiardi biscuits, mascarpone, eggs and coffee, is as laborious to prepare as it is soft and tasty to enjoy. Widespread throughout Italy, its roots lie in the lands of Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Tuscany.

Saffron risotto

The precious spice gives the characteristic yellow colour and gives a very particular flavour to risotto alla milanese (with ossobuco) and to risotto alla monzese (with the typical “lüganega” sausage). It is an almost unique use of saffron in Italian cuisine, and is typical of many provinces of Lombardy.

Bread and chocolate

No, we haven’t forgotten about snacks and snacks. Whether at home, in front of the TV, in the garden, in the city park, on the beach or at school, the mid-morning snack and afternoon snack is traditionally based on bread and hazelnut cream and chocolate. The typical Italian snack is the one that leaves you to lick the corners of your mouth.