Talking about food in Italy is a social, economic, cultural, anthropological and even political act.
It depends on the relationship established with nature, the environment, people and the environment itself.
You talk about food while you eat, cook, live, make love and travel.
Benvenuti!
In 1973, Marco Ferreri directed
La grande bouffe
(
La gran comilona
), a grotesque-erotic film where four gentlemen decide, devoured by boredom, to lock themselves in a house to eat until they die.
The story could be a fierce criticism of consumerism, but in reality it is the reflection, exaggerated and morbid, of a country in love with what they consider the best cuisine in the world: theirs.
This is an appetizing alphabetical tour that gutters clichés and undermines archetypes through the typical dishes of the 20 Italian regions.
I think, then eat.
Abruzzo
Seafood broth,
maccheroni alla chitarra, pallotte cace e ove
(meatballs with egg and cheese) and the sweet
parrozzo
are some of the delicacies of a region sustained by L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara and the Gran Sasso massif.
Basilicata
Pasta with beans, sausage with mushrooms and orecchiette al sugo di pomodoro.
Second, roast meats with legumes and vegetables.
Potenza, Matera and the Lucan Dolomites are some of its cardinal points.
Friuli Venice Giulia
Border land of mountains, hills and blue sea, Trieste's identity conflict gives it a rich and contradictory aura.
In his kitchen, the San Daniele ham with pasta, the vegetable stew and the
goulash stand out
.
straight
Rome is the totem that overshadows everything, but the region rivals its neighbors.
His coat of arms: s
paghetti all'amatriciana,
carbonara,
supplì
(rice balls with tomato and
mozzarella
),
pecorino
cheese
and crispy pizzas
Molise
Campobasso is the most important city.
Quadrucci
, pasta cooked in broth of suckling pig tripe stuffed with pecorino, eggs, parsley and pepper, the
top
.
Sobrasada, apple liqueur and
caciocavallo
cheese
, the complement.
Piedmont
A
gastro
icon
.
Bianco d'Alba truffle that perfumes cheeses, Menabrea beer, Santena asparagus, Carmagnola peppers, Turin chocolate.
And wines (Barolo, Barbaresco, Moscato) among the best in the world.
Tuscany
Beef steak, Chianti wine,
lampredotto
sandwich
(offal) and pork lard with rosemary shine alongside Michelangelo and Dante.
Rabbits and pheasants from the Val di Chiana mark the triumph of meat over fish.
Trentino-Alto Adige
Speck
smoky mountain, deer sausage, cheese Casolet and buckwheat polenta cover meat or mushrooms.
More craft beers and chardonnay and pinot wines that feed the list of works of art.
Calabria
The
'nduja
(spiced sausage), the pasta with mountain goat and the
bergamotto
(bey pear soda) delight this ancient region, rough and depopulated with shepherds, seas and mountains stigmatized by the Mafia.
Campania
Pompeii, the Amalfi coast.
Poetry, toto,
mozzarella
di bufala,
limoncello
.
As Pino Daniele would say, Naples is the south of the world.
Spaghetti with clams, Neapolitan pizza and sweets (
babà, sfogliatella
) delight the visitor.
Emilia-Romagna
Bologna, Parma and countless corners treasure a menu based on Modena vinegar,
prosciutto
, Parmesan (umami stimulator), Sangiovese wine and lambrusco.
Cappelletti in brodo
and cheese or pumpkin filled ravioli give the palate a real orgasm.
Liguria
Genoa, the singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André and Cinque Terre.
Good poor kitchen table: leftover meat that today is a gastronomic and artisan delicacy.
The
cheese
focaccia
and pesto round out the sin.
Lombardy
Cotoletta alla milanese
(fine breaded beef fillet) is the symbol.
The Valtellina mountains, Lake Garda or Bergamasco offer wines such as Franciacorta sparkling wine, ideal with a r
isotto alla milanese.
The Brands
Vincisgrassi,
lasagna with cut ragout, plus
porchetta
rabbit
stuffed with ins and outs.
There is a mountain and a sea, so there is no shortage of fish soups.
Among its starters: cold cuts, cheeses and fried olives.
Apulia
Bathed by two seas, the heel of the boot, with the baroque of Lecce and the beaches of Gallipoli, puts on the table fried fish, stuffed aubergines,
panzerotti
(fried pizza) and breadsticks baked with almonds and olives.
Sardinia
Mediterranean island always besieged, its people left the coast and took refuge in the interior.
The Sardinian is shy, but noble.
Eat
porceddu
(suckling pig) and drink Cannonau wine.
He also enjoys the Ichnusa beer and the
caraau
bread
.
Sicily
The
cannoli
with ricotta and almond hailstorm cool the island.
Heaven in Syracuse, Cefalù and Ragusa, ecstasy with couscous with octopus and sandwich with
panelle
.
They drink, sing and don't talk about Cosa Nostra.
Umbria
Region in the shadow of Tuscany, but of supreme culinary art.
Pasta with black truffle, extra virgin oil and
palomba alla ghiotta
(wild pigeon) in Todi, a medieval town where hunting predominates.
In fact, wild boar or duck are second course.
Aosta Valley
Alpine territory that borders France and Switzerland.
It stands out for polenta and meats marinated with conifers, sage, carrots and celery.
It does not have the gorgonzola from Milan, but it does have the
fonduta
, melted cheese with milk and eggs.
Veneto
Black polenta, soups and
risotti
.
Between the rice fields of the Po and the Dolomites, mountain honeys, fish and crustaceans, and Valpolicella prosecco.
The tiramisu, with a delicate mascarpone, cannot be missing in the dessert.
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