Regional Italian Food

regional-italian-foodA vacation to Italy will change what kind of food you would categorize as Italian food. Throughout your Italian vacation, you will find a varied selection of Italian food that will be very different than most of the Italian food that is served in the United States. The food that is served in Italy by the people who live there and in the restaurants is often a surprise to a lot of people who visit Italy. Visitors often expect to eat pizza, pasta, and traditional red spaghetti sauce the whole time. While you will definitely be able to enjoy these foods, you will also be able to enjoy plenty of regional Italian food as well. Regardless of where in Italy you are eating though, you should make it a point to try the dishes that are made with locally grown ingredients and paired with some of Italy’s great local wines.

There are three regions in Italy; there is Northern Italy, Central Italy, and Southern Italy. Each has Italian dishes that reflect the food available in their region.

Northern Italy’s Cuisine

The meals that you will find in Northern Italy are probably not what you are expecting. For instance, they don’t use a lot of olive oil, pasta, or tomato sauce. Instead, they use a lot of butter, rice, corn polenta, wild game off the countryside (i.e. wild fowl, rabbit and quail) and a lot of seafood and fish originating in nearby streams and rivers.

Central Italy’s Cuisine

What we have come to know as “Italian food” actually originates in Central Italy. This is where Tuscany is located, which is where Italian cooking was born. Here you will eat Italian food cooked with plenty of olive oil, cheeses, and rich tomato sauce. In addition to what is commonly known as Italian food, you will also enjoy a lot of great seafood dishes because of the many coastal areas that are located here.

Southern Italy’s Cuisine

You will find the perfect olive oil here in Southern Italy. A lot of this olive oil isn’t even exported anywhere so you will definitely want to make time to experience its taste while visiting this area of Italy. Naples is one of the many well-known cities that are located here. This town is known for its pizza. There is also a lot of great citrus fruit grown in this region. It is in Southern Italy’s that you will find numerous vineyards, with some of the very best wines.

A cooking class in Italy will assure you the ability to eat real Italian at home whenever you want. Cooking classes will last only a few hours to half a day. They will cost you anywhere between $150 to $250 (2010). Many of these classes are actually hosted by families in their homes while others are held in small inns or at bed and breakfasts. Excellent chefs who not only manage restaurants but also have written their own Italian cookbooks teach some of these classes. They are ready to teach you how to prepare the food and how to pair the food that you make with wines to create delicious meals.

If you can’t visit Italy, you can buy an Italian cookbook that separates the recipes by region or go to an authentic Italian restaurant to taste diffrent regional Italian dishes. In Florida you can go to Mama Jennie’s Italian Restaurant, Catering, and Pizzeria for delicious Italian food.

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