The different regions of Italy and their food

 

To start our Italian food journey, we will need to take a look at the different regions within Italy itself. If you go to northern Italy, you will get a very different Lasagna than you would in the south of Italy. There are even some towns and village sin Italy that you will find food that you cannot get anywhere else in the country. So, if I miss any recipes or information please let me know! 

If we look at the northern regions of Italy that are close to the Alps, Switzerland and Austria we see hearty, milk and cheese heavy diets and recipes. This is because the cooler alpine climates are known for their cattle and dairy farming and their grains. We see polenta, Risotto (like the famous risotto Milanese), fresh egg pasta, and a variety of cured meats, cheeses and hearty soups and stews. 

Lombardy is known for its risotto and polenta, breaded veal cutlets, Ossobuco and Panettone. Lombardy cuisine is characterised by its use of mostly butter over olive oil. 

Piedmont is known for its rich refined cuisine that usually features truffles. It is also known for its tender beef, high quality risotto rice and famous desserts like panna cotta and Baci di mama cookies which are two small hazelnut cookies sandwiched together by chocolate. Piedmont is one of the Italian capitals for pastry and chocolate (particularly Nutella) and is a region of Italy with the most Cheeses and Wines.

Veneto, or Venetian cuisine is defined largely by its diverse landscape. Pasta is not the prominent carb, rice and polentas are. Game, seafood and vegetable dishes are the most popular. Veneto is known for its cuttlefish ink risotto, sweet and sour marinated sardines and Baccala Mantecato (whipped/creamed salt cod), as well as its Bigoli with duck ragu, Tiramisu, and pandoro.

Liguria is a narrow coastal region of northern Italy and is known for its herbs. Especially in the form of Pesto Genovese, or in Focaccia. It is know for its seafood such as seafood salad, stuffed anchovies, or fritto misto (lightly dusted fried assortment of fish and seafood). There is much more to Liguria but I will tackle that as I make recipes from the region.

Trentino-Alto Adige is known for its blend of Italian-German-Austrian influenced food. Such as Canederli which is a type of Austrian style dumpling, speck which is a ham cured with juniper which can be served as a cured meat or is often included in soups and pasta dishes. Its unique German influences mean this region of Italy have a lot of hearty soups, stews, and meat such as goulash, Oxtail stew, barley soups and bratwurst. Pasta is often egg based, served with richer (often cheese and butter based) sauces and stuffed pasta is popular. Apple strudel is the regions signature dessert with key ingredients for desserts being apples, forest berries, pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, and Grappa. 

Moving onto the central regions of Italy we have:

Tuscany (Toscana). Famous for its vineyards, renaissance cities and its history. Tuscany is known for its simple, almost 'peasant' like food. Its staples are game meats, beans, bread and vegetables. With famous dishes coming out of the region like Ribollita soup, panzanella salad, and cantuccini (biscotti)

Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy and is completely landlocked with natural beauty and medieval towns. Umbria is known for its black truffles, and no surprisingly its pork, its high quality olive oil, sheep's cheese, foraged goods such as berries, mushrooms and wild asparagus. A famous dish from Umbria is Porchetta. You may have heard of porchetta sandwiches? A herb and fennel stuffed rolled pork slow roasted to perfection in crusty fresh Italian bread or in a torta (rustic flatbread famous in Umbria). Umbria is also famous for its cheeses and cured pork or boar, like prosciutto and coppa. 

Lazio, famous for the city of Rome is well known for its Pecorino Romano based sauces such as carbonara, or cacio e pepe. Suckling lamb is also a delicacy of Lazio often roasted and served with potatoes. Although Lamb and guanciale (cured porks cheek) are prominent in Lazio, offal is also very popular, in particular, tripe. If you go to Italy

you will find they are fond of a sweet treat. Particularly in the morning for breakfast (Cornetti/brioche anyone?). Maritozzi is a soft, sweet bun that is split and filled with fresh whipped cream which is perfect for breakfast with a cappuccino or snack with an espresso. Another famous dessert is Crostata di Ricotta (AKA the pre-cursor to modern cheesecake that dates back to 160BC). 

Marche blends both rustic mountain food with fresh coastal ingredients where it faces the Adriatic sea. Common popular eats are stuffed, fried olives, fish stew, Pasta made from egg (a lot of pasta in Italy is made with just water). Mussels are very popular and are
often used in pasta dishes or as part of fritto misto. Porchetta style rabbit is also popular from the land locked side of Marche which is often prepared porchetta style where it is deboned and stuffed with almost a sausagemeat before being roasted. 

Abruzzo, similar to marche, is a blend of mountain and coastal traditions. Popular dishes include Arrosticini (simple lamb skewers), fish stew (Brodetto alla Vastese), and spit-roasted pork are all popular. With flavours such as saffron, seafood, Pecorino, and rich olive oils and wines doing all the talking Abruzzo cuisine focuses more on simple flavours and letting ingredients speak for themselves (Abruzzo is also often grouped with the south). 

Moving onto southern Italy.

Campania we see tomatoes, lemons, and seafood start to take over. But of course, southern Italy would

be nothing without Pizza! Campania is known for its creamy cheeses (particularly its buffalo mozzarella) and its san marzana tomatoes (caprese salad anyone?). I could go on about Italian lemons for hours.. paired with the abundant fresh fish and seafood and tomatoes make for beautiful seafood pastas, dishes such as spaghetti alle vongole, pizza Margherita, stuffed anchovies are all popular dishes. As far as sweet treats go, we have one of my all time favourites, sfogliatelle, and my granddads favourite Baba. 

Puglia is known for vegetable heavy food, they often have seafood and the pasta from this region is usually made out of durum wheat. Puglia makes most of Italy's olive oil so as you can imagine, this

region of Italy uses olive oil generously. Orecchiette is a popular shape of pasta in this region. Also known as little ear. The popular pasta is often served with broccoli rabe cooked with olive oil, garlic, anchovy and pepperoncini. A must try dish along this costal region is Cozze alla Tarantina. Beautiful fresh mussels steamed and sauteed with garlic, white wine, and tomatoes. A dish that has become popular thanks to tiktok and youtube is Spaghetti all'Assassina. It is a crispy spicy spaghetti cooked like risotto in the sauce but left to purposely get crisp on the bottom. The oily tomato sauce is usually quite spicy making it a 'killer'. 

Calabria would probably be my husbands favourite region if we ever got to visit. Think chillies everywhere. We are talking Nduja (a mega spicy spreadable cured meat paste like a spreadable spicy salami), morzello (a hearty stew with tomatoes, offal and chilli), Licurdia (onions, potato, and you guessed it, chilli!!). Also known for its beautiful Tropea onions that are sweet and red, often used raw in salads, cooked down and braised to make pasta dishes or soup bases or even on pizza and focaccia.

Sicily is a beautiful island on the edge of Italy's "boot" with stunning Greek temple and Mount Etna. 

Sicilian food is a fusion of Greek, Italian, Arab and Spanish influences. Popular dishes include Pasta alla Norma (aubergine/eggplant tomato and ricotta salata pasta), Pasta con le sarde (sardine and fennel pasta), Arancini (Deep fried rice balls stuffed with ragu, cheese and other fillings). Popular breakfasts in this region include granita (an icy sweet treat that come in a variety of flavours) served with a sweet brioche style bread. We can't forget Sicily's most famous dessert, the Cannoli! A crispy pastry like shell stuffed with creamy ricotta and the ends dipped in some kind of topping like chopped nuts or chocolate.

Basilicata is almost land-locked. It is a stunning mountainous area of southern Italy with beautiful caves. Most traditional dishes of the region are focused around lamb, mutton, and even sometimes, pork although often made into cured meats and sausages. The pasta in this region is often made solely with durum wheat flour and water. The bread of this region is IGP-Protected, shaped like a rugged mountain landscape and made using ancient sourdough techniques. Lamb, goat, or mutton stew is often prepared with herbs and potatoes. Pasta dishes include "poor" dishes (Pasta Molicata) where pasta is tossed with fried breadcrumbs that have been cooked with anchovies and garlic. Another popular pasta is Lagane which is a wide, flat pasta that is served with chickpeas. Basilicata mostly uses salt cod that are usually simply prepared with tomatoes olives and capers or those from Basilicata will often have stuffed sardines.

Sardinia is an island known for pristine beaches and Bronze age megaliths. Sardinian food is a rustic
combination of the land and sea. Specialties of sardinia include roast suckling pig (Porceddu), Spaghetti with sea urchins, and a flatbread staple called Pane Carasau (a super thin crispy flatbread), Casu Marzu (a pungent sheep's milk cheese), Seadas (fried pastries filled with fresh cheese and drizzled with honey), and Mirto (a liquer made from myrtle berries). 

I am not entirely sure where to start first but it would make sense to start at either the top or bottom of the country. Because this is part of "around the world" I think we are going to stop at the bottom so by the time we get to the top of Italy we can branch off into one of the attached countries. I am certainly looking forward to researching southern italy and its surrounding islands in more depth. If you have any traditional recipes from Italy that you want me to try please pop me a message. I am going to turn this into a TikTok series so if you want to pop me a follow please do https://www.tiktok.com/@fooddivine

See you all soon,

Emily