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Food from
Italy: An Introduction
The
pleasures and love of Italian cuisine are
known the world over. Italian cookery and
recipes vary from region to region, and on
the whole it is very healthy and nutritious,
using natural ingredients that are in
season.
Most
traditional and 'speciality' dishes as we
know today, are on the whole derived from
simple peasant cookery, for example the
Pizza, which could be found a couple of
centuries ago on the streets of Naples being
sold by street vendors to those that had no
cooking facilities of their own at home.
Although there
are essential ingredients that every Italian
kitchen should have, (including basil,
garlic and olive oil!), the most important
ingredients are passion and creativity.
Italians take
great pride and pleasure in their food, and
cooking and eating habits can vary from
region to region, even from village to
village. Each place has their own unique
dishes and ingredients, and even the
traditional dishes that are so popular all
over Italy are cooked in different ways
depending which region you go to. For
example, if you eat a lasagne from Naples,
it doesn't have the bechamel sauce as you
would expect in the more traditional
lasagne. It also has small meatballs (or polpette)as oppposed to mince, and also
salami and eggs.
The different
regional cooking depends on a number of
factors, not only as to what ingredients are
most abundant each region, but also
historical factors. Naples, for example, was
founded by the Greeks, and this had some
influence on the Neapolitan way of life. Not
only in the language and music, but also in
the cookery.
The
Traditional Italian Menu explained!
Antipasto
(Appetizer) - e.g. salami, or bruschetta
Primo Piatto
(First Course) - usually pasta or gnocchi
Secondo Piatto
(Second Course) - usually meat or fish
Contorno
(Side Dish) - vegetables or salad to accompany
the meat
Dolci (Sweet) - Fresh fruit is usually eaten as the
preferred option
Bread is also
usually always eaten alongside the meal.
North
of Italy
Some
original and unique types of ingredients and
cooking originated from the north; Balsamic
vinegar (Modena), pesto (Liguria), and
tortellini (Bologna) to name but a few!
Other food characteristically eaten in the
North is Polenta, that can be eaten in many
different ways, e.g fried and even in a
polenta cake. Dishes in the North tend to be
a bit 'heavier' than that in the South,
(think the ingredients used for Spaghetti
Carbonara compared to the classic healthier
and lighter tomato sauces of the South!)
Central
Italy
Central Italy is very diverse, and such
regions as Rome, Florence and have little in
common. Some examples to be found all around
central Italy are Porchetta (pig stuffed
with rosemary and fennel), pork, lamb, black
truffles and porcini mushrooms.
(Pepperoncini
at a Positano market)
South
Italy
Characterized
by the abundance use of fish, aubergines,
peppers, olives, the spicy ingredient pepperoncino,
and first and foremost
the tomato, which has a huge industry in
Naples. In the Naples and Campania regions,
there is some Spanish and French influence
to be found in the cookery. Pizza and pasta
are especially popular and traditional, the
Pizza Margherita
having been born in Naples. In Apulia, they
have a diet rich in fish (mussels and
oysters being a speciality)and vegetables.
The orecchiette (little ears) pasta,
pictured below,
is also from Apulia.
(Seppie Alla Griglia) Grilled Sepia
Pictures
courtesy of stock.xchang
More
Italian Food & Drink pages:
Italian Food and Drink - back to 'Food
Contents' page
Food from
Italy : An Introduction
Italian Wine
Italian Recipes
Italian Cookery Courses
Italian
Pizza
Tuscan Cuisine
Sardinian
Cuisine
Neapolitan Recipes
Mediterranean Diet
Greek Italy - food
Eat your favourite pasta and still lose
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