Italian cuisine is diverse, and different regions of the country have their own recipes and traditions of cooking.
National cuisine of Italy
It should be noted that in the north of the country meat dishes are the most popular (meat is even used for making sauces), and in the south - seafood dishes. But in general, in the local cuisine, olive oil, vegetables, seafood, herbs, cheese, pasta are of great importance.
Popular Italian dishes:
- lasagna (sheets of dough stuffed with meat, soaked in béchamel sauce);
- pizza (tomatoes, herbs, cheese and other ingredients are laid out on a thin crust, after which the dish is baked; and its popular types are Pepperoni, Marinara, Margarita and others);
- ravioli (a dish in the form of dumplings with different fillings - meat, fruit, cheese, curd);
- risotto (it is based on rice and seasonings, for example, saffron and onions are added to risotto in Milanese style);
- carpaccio (raw beef that is cut into thin pieces and marinated using vinegar and olive oil);
- minestrone (a soup made with potatoes, legumes, celery, tomatoes, and other vegetables and spices).
Where to taste the national cuisine?
When visiting Italian restaurants, keep in mind that when ordering a table, your bill can almost double than if you take take-out food or decide to sit at the bar (look at the menu - as a rule, it is written there, as well as about that the restaurant may have a service charge or coperto – fee for a basket of bread and cutlery).
In Verona, you can visit the restaurant “Al Carro Armato” (the menu is authentic - you can order different types of pasta and assorted cheeses; the average bill is 35-40 euros); in Rome - pizzeria “Monte Carlo” (in addition to 16 types of pizza, other traditional Italian dishes are served here) or restaurant “La Carbonara” (here you should try Roman cuisine - bucatini all'amatriciana, artichokes, oxtail; average bill for a dinner - 45 euros); in Venice - pizzeria "Al Nono Risorto" (in addition to pizza, there is a rich selection of fish dishes); in Sicily (Palermo) - “Da Calogero” (this fish restaurant offers seafood salads, mussel soup, spiced octopus, and wash it all down with a glass of white Sicilian wine).
Cooking courses in Italy
Those who wish will be able to sign up for a culinary course in Naples, where they will prepare dishes from the Campania region in the form of pizza, various sauces and additives to it and pasta and calzone pie.
In a culinary lesson in Rome, you will be taught how to cook appetizers, pasta, a hot dish and dessert, and you will be offered to taste 4 types of wine from the Lazio region (after a 5-hour lesson, you will be given the recipes that were used in the cooking process).
If you are on holiday in Piedmont, you can take a culinary lesson in which you will learn how to cook beef stew in Barolo wine, Lango plin, veal with tuna sauce and other dishes.
Arriving in Italy should be prepared for the celebration of festivals: in honor of white truffles in Alba (October-November), chocolate - in Turin (November), pizzas - in Naples (September), strascinatiintegrali pasta - in Magliano de Marci (June), Mediterranean culture, cuisine and wine - in Sicily (September), cavatelli - in Vasto (July).
