Italian food is a surprisingly diverse cuisine. Each of the twenty Italian regions has distinctive flavors, recipes, products, and ingredients. The Italian areas were not officially united as a nation until the mid-19th century; therefore, each region has retained much of its exclusive identity.
Climate and natural landscapes have played a significant role in shaping regional cuisines. Creamy risotto and other delicately flavored dishes predominate in the Northern regions, while bright olive oil and tomato-based recipes rule the sunny South. Beef is best enjoyed as Florentine steaks in Tuscany from choice cattle raised in the Chianina Valley. The city of Alba and surrounding areas of the Piedmont region are a top source for expensive truffle mushrooms, particularly aromatic white truffles. Access to both the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas makes fresh seafood dominant, though varied, throughout the peninsula.
Proximity to other countries and a history of militant invasions play a role in the uniqueness of regional cuisines. This explains the unprecedented popularity of sauerkraut and goulash in the Alpine regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The culinary footprints of conquerors can be seen in the unexpected presence of Arabic spices and North African couscous in Sicily today. These conquerors were primarily responsible for bringing Italian staples such as tomatoes and basil to flourish in the South.
Artisan products such as wine, cured meat (salumi), and handcrafted cheese can be found throughout Italy. The style and flavor of these delicacies vary greatly according to region.
Italy is one of the largest wine producers in the world, and it has a broad range of white and red varietals. Yet the Sangiovese varietal, originating in Tuscany, is arguably Italy’s winemaking claim to fame. Derived from the words “sanguis Jovis” or “blood of Jobe,” this red wine grape is the main grape in Chianti and Brunello wines.
Cured meats, like the popular prosciuttos of the North and various salamis of the South, are used in culturally significant dishes, such as the savory Easter pies made throughout Central and Southern Italy.
Cheeses range from Campania’s soft, mild Buffalo Mozzarella to the complex, salty Pecorino Romano of Sardinia. These products often carry names indicative of their origins, such as the increasingly popular Grana Padano (a “grainy” cheese from the “Padana” or Po Valley of the Lombardy region).
Location is so essential to many Italian food products that laws exist to protect the authenticity of products made in a particular region. For example, any vinegar labeled Modena Balsamic vinegar must be crafted in Modena, and any cheese labeled Parmigiano Reggiano must be produced in one of several provinces in Emilia-Romagna.
A comprehensive regional assortment of beautiful loaves of bread and kinds of pasta can be found throughout Italy. Italian bread differs significantly in size, taste, and texture. The large, chewy ciabatta loaves of Lombardy’s Lake Como and the thin, crunchy grissini breadsticks of Turin are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Pasta is also unique from place to place. Fresh homemade pasta abounds throughout Italy and is often dressed not to overwhelm its delicate flavor. Dried pasta is most popular in the South and can be adorned in countless inventive ways. Some say there are more pasta shapes in Italy than one person could conceivably eat in a lifetime. Italians have quarreled over a particular pasta shape’s proper name and culinary use. Some shapes have legends behind their creation, such as tortellini from Emilia-Romagna. Legend has it that a lusty innkeeper in Bologna invented this ring-shaped, stuffed pasta after peeping on the goddess Venus through a keyhole. With merely a glimpse of her belly button, he ran straight to the kitchen in a fit of passion to make this pasta in honor of her bewitching navel.
Local cooks will still argue for hours over the proper name, preparation, and origin of particular dishes. Italian food is always a matter of regional pride. But suppose one were to try to sum up this diverse cuisine. In that case, Italian cooking can best be described as a celebration of local flavors held together by a singular appreciation of high-quality, seasonal ingredients in elegant simplicity. Across all regions, Italian dishes are straightforward preparations of a few choice ingredients, which are artfully combined.
Italy is unified by a national concept of classic meal structure. Rather than serving up everything in one or two courses, Italian dinners traditionally include many small plates enjoyed in succession, giving diners an extended time to savor food and company. Meals progress from antipasto (appetizer) to a first course of pasta or other starches, a main dish of meat or fish with a simple side of vegetables, followed by salad, cheese and fruit, coffee, and possibly a digestive (like grappa or sambuca liquor). Contemporary city dwellers, who have largely abandoned this meal structure for convenience’s sake, often follow it on holidays, when the long feast still prevails. Yet these time-consuming meals arguably inform the Italian understanding of food as a sensory bliss beyond mere nourishment.
Dessert is sometimes served at the end of a special meal but is more often enjoyed on its own as a midday snack. Italian Dolci is characteristically restrained in terms of sweetness. Cookies, cakes, pastries, and tarts can be savored with coffee as a daytime energy boost.
The ever-popular tiramisu means “pick me up” and is composed of sweetened mascarpone and Marsala with espresso-soaked ladyfingers. One theory asserts that Northern Italian women created this caffeinated dessert to stimulate and fortify troops during World War I. Some sweets are more specific to the holiday season, such as panettone, a buttery egg bread with dried fruit and candied citrus, eaten around Christmas. This famous Milanese treat is quite laborious, traditionally taking up to a week to complete.
Gelato is a popular year-round dessert. This rich, intensely flavored Italian ice cream can be enjoyed anywhere. The most exceptional Italian contribution to pastry is probably the Piedmontese invention of gianduja (sweet chocolate containing 50% hazelnut paste). Gianduja is used as an ingredient in innovative desserts throughout the world. It even inspired the creation of Nutella, one of Italy’s many famous food exports.
Coffee, particularly espresso, enjoys widespread popularity and cultural significance throughout Italian cities. The vast range of espresso drinks served in Italian cafes has been mimicked in coffee houses worldwide. Luigi Bezzera filed the first patent for a cappuccino in 1901, deriving its name from this foamy drink’s resemblance to the brown and white hooded garments of Capuchin monks. Espresso was first developed in Milan in the early 20th century, although the modern espresso machine did not appear until the mid-1940s. Many people misunderstand the term espresso. Rather than referring to a specific style of coffee bean or roast, espresso is simply a thicker, concentrated extraction of coffee through a highly pressurized brewing process. The barista, responsible for preparing espresso drinks in cafes, is a highly regarded career position in Italy. Busy urbanites rely on local baristas for a delicious pick-me-up at various times of the day.
Street foods like gelato and panini sandwiches are also popular in hectic metropolitan cities. But no street food is as ubiquitous in Italy as pizza. Despite pizza’s global status, most international pizzas bear little resemblance to the thin, crunchy crusts invented in Naples. This tasty, wood-fired bread has a distinctive flavor, served with only a minimal topping of garlic and herbs or fresh mozzarella and basil on sparsely smeared tomato sauce. The tomato sauce, garlic, and herb variety, Pizza Marinara, is said to be the oldest variety of pizza and was named for a Neapolitan fisherman who often enjoyed this dish. Baker Raffaele Esposito created another variety, Pizza Margherita, in honor of Queen Margherita, using red sauce, white mozzarella, and green basil to represent the Italian flag. This queen, who could appreciate the splendor of workingman’s food, subsequently rose in the esteem of her people.
A somewhat more comprehensive variety of pizzas can be found throughout Italy today. Nevertheless, the classic Naples pizza remains a perfect symbol of the beautiful simplicity intrinsic in Italian cuisine: the clever, uncomplicated preparation of a few delicious ingredients to render a genuinely world-class dish that is at once humble and supremely epicurean.
