The ANNOTICO
Report
In the US, the "food" in drive throughs or even small restaurants tastes like
"cardboard" and would be considered "garbage" in Italy. Not
only in the great Restaurants in Italy, but even in the Trattorias, you will find a great
pride in serving the most savory of Meals.
In various
Regions of Italy, the Treats differ. Below they highlight the Specialties of
that Region.
TOP
TASTES IN ITALY
News.com, Australia
Caron James
July 25 2006
ITALY is paradise for food and wine
lovers and these regions offer the most exciting local produce.
1.
PIEDMONT
THE region is famous for its white truffles, which are available mid-autumn,
sprinkled over risotto and other local specialties. The renowned restaurants of
Turin feature vitello tonnato (a cold dish of
veal and tuna), salami and bean risotto and hare. Polenta, gnocchi and rice are
more common than pasta. Order a pot of la bagna cauda (warm anchovy sauce) as a dip for raw vegetables.
Wines from this region include barolo,
barbaresco and fizzy asti spumante.
2. ALTO
ADIGE
THIS is a mountainous area including the Dolomites, with cuisine heavily
influenced by Germany and Austria. You'll
find sauerkraut on most menus. Polenta, many varieties of funghi
(mushrooms) and canderli a dumpling similar to gnocchi are specialties, as are spicy sausages,
soups and pot roasts. Grappa is the traditional drink.
3.
LOMBARDY
MILAN in
particular is known for its wonderful delicatessens and their array of cheese
and sausages, plus the traditional panettone cake.
Risotto Milanese (ham and saffron risotto) using locally grown arborio rice, is a specialty, as are souffle
flavoured with lemon, bean soup, osso
buco and carbonata (beef in
red wine). Tour the Franciacorta wine region and the
medieval hill-top town of Bergamo.
4. VENETO
VENICE is known
for its amazing food markets, particularly the fish market. Radicchio lettuces,
chicory and dandelions are commercially grown. Padua is also famous for its market and for
its strawberries and asparagus, sausages, and black
risotto. Salt cod, risi e bisi
(rice with peas) and fried fish are specialties of Veneto and polenta is served with
everything. Well known wines include valpolicella and
soave and the rich red, amarone. Grapes have been
grown since the Bronze Age around Verona.
5. EMILIA-ROMAGNA
BOLOGNA is, of
course, home to Bolognese sauce. But you may be surprised how different it
tastes in the restaurants of its homeland to the way we are used to "spag bol" in Australia.
There is much less tomato, for a start, and, if it is with pasta it is, of
course, just the first course. Parma
is most famous for its parmesan cheese and its proscuitto
is acknowledged as the best in the world. The region is also known for its
balsamic vinegar, tortellini, lasagne al forno and eel cooked with peas. Parma once had a thrilling opera house, the Teatro Reggio, where the audience would dine in their boxes
during the show. Known for lambrusco the dry variety, not the exported sweet,
is most common and robust red sangiovese.
6. LIGURIA
THIS area is known for its vegetables and seafood. Its French-influenced food
and white wines are delicate, yet full of flavour. It
is famous for ravioli, whitebait salad, egg and green vegetable pie. Minestrone
alla Genovese strictly no meat is a specialty of the region and is
served with a dollop of Genovese pesto. It has many boutique wineries off the
usual tourist tracks.
7. TUSCANY
PROBABLY the most famous region of Italy,
renowned for its gently rolling farmland and vineyards bathed in that golden
light, the home of Florence and the medieval
university town of Siena.
It is famous for its olive oil (particularly from the elegant city of Lucca which is also known
for torta di verdure, or sweet spinach pie), wine
including chianti and
numerous chicken dishes. Eat cacciucco fish soup in
Livorno and panforte fruit cake in Siena. In the mountains north of Pistoia, chestnuts are
grown and used to make a soft sweet flour that is
baked with olive oil and rosemary into sweet flat castagnaccio
cake. Maremma is a favourite
coastal wine-growing area that produces Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Tignanello.
8.
UMBRIA/MARCHES
UMBRIA is known as "the green heart"
of Italy.
Its best known wine, Orvieto, is great with fish.
Black truffles are a specialty order spaghetti alla
spoletina to sample. Other specialties are paglia e fieno (pasta with prosciutto and cream), oxtail in red wine and crumbed
trout. Perugia and Terni are the major towns here. In the Marches, on the Adriatic Coast,
squid, lobster, sausage and cured pork are specialties and the local wine is verdicchio.
9. LAZIO
DON'T be surprised in Rome
when your cappuccino is served lukewarm that's the way they like it here. By the
way, it gets its name from its resemblance to the head of a Capuchin monk.
Cappuccino is considered suitable for breakfast only Italians will think you ignorant if you
order it after lunch or dinner. And don't ask for espresso here it's called
caffe. Food specialties include fettuccini alla Romana (that is, with butter and Parmesan) and
artichokes fried with garlic. Rome
is dotted with tiny osterias selling pizza incredibly tasty, thin, crisp and
sparsely topped. You'll never eat an Aussie "super supreme" again.
10. CAMPANIA
THE capital, Naples,
is best seen away from the tourist spots, in the old, once-Greek part of the
city called Spaccanapoli, where you'll find spaghetti
vongole or puttanesca.
Along the stunning coastal resorts such as Sorrento,
Amalfi, Positano and Capri, order tomato salad liberally sprinkled with olive
oil, cannelloni and neopolitan ice cream, washed down
with the local caruso wine. Naples is the birthplace
of pizza and it's a deeper type than the Roman variety.
READ ALL
ABOUT IT:
Country Cooking: Regional and
Traditional Recipes from Europe and North America (Marshall
Cavendish, 1982); Simply Pasta
and Italian (Bridgewater, 2001); A Table in Tuscany:
Classic Recipes from the Heart of Italy (Webb &
Bower, 1985). Or see www.winecountry.it