Italian cuisine is not one cuisine — it is a federation of deeply distinct regional traditions that barely resemble each other. The differences between Sicilian and Venetian cooking, or between Ligurian and Pugliese food, are as great as the differences between French and Spanish cuisine. Here is a guide to the major regional characters.
The North: Butter, Rice, and Polenta
The Po Valley (Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna): Northern Italy has more in common with Austrian and French cooking traditions than with southern Italy — dairy-based sauces, butter over olive oil, rice and polenta over pasta. Piedmont: white truffle (tartufo bianco d’Alba — the world’s most expensive fungus, in season October–December; a good white truffle costs €3,000–5,000/kg); Barolo and Barbaresco (the great wines of Piedmont, made from Nebbiolo, among the most age-worthy wines in Italy); vitello tonnato (cold veal with tuna sauce — a Piedmontese classic that sounds wrong and tastes extraordinary); tajarin (ultra-thin fresh pasta with 30+ egg yolks per kg of flour, a Langhe tradition). Emilia-Romagna: home of Parmigiano Reggiano (the DOP-protected king of Italian cheeses, aged 12–36 months minimum); Prosciutto di Parma (protected air-dried ham aged 12–36 months); mortadella (the original Bologna sausage, 30% fat by law, with pistachio and black pepper — the ancestor of American bologna); tortellini and tortelloni (the filled pasta of Bologna); balsamic vinegar of Modena (the traditional variety, aged in wooden barrels for 12–25+ years, bears no resemblance to the commercial supermarket version). Venice and the Veneto: cicchetti (Venetian tapas — small bites served in the bacaro wine bars: baccalà mantecato — salt cod cream on polenta; sarde in saor — sweet and sour sardines); risotto over pasta (the Po delta provides Carnaroli and Vialone Nano rice); prosecco (from Valdobbiadene in the Veneto hills — the original, now much-imitated sparkling wine).
Central Italy: Pasta, Pork, and Simplicity
Tuscany: the cuisine of restraint — bistecca alla Fiorentina (T-bone steak from Chianina cattle, weighing 1–1.5kg, grilled over wood coals, served rare), ribollita (bread and bean soup, literally “re-boiled” — the peasant economy of using everything), pappardelle al cinghiale (wide pasta ribbons with wild boar ragù), Pecorino Toscano (sheep cheese, younger and milder than Sardinian Pecorino Romano). Lazio and Rome: cacio e pepe (cheese and black pepper pasta — the technique of emulsifying Pecorino Romano with pasta water creates a creamy sauce without cream); carbonara (eggs, guanciale — cured pork cheek — and Pecorino Romano; the American version with cream is not carbonara); amatriciana (guanciale, tomato, Pecorino Romano — named for Amatrice in the Apennines); supplì (Roman street food — fried rice balls with tomato and mozzarella). Umbria: black truffle (tartufo nero — less expensive than white truffle, available year-round, used generously in pasta and on bruschetta); norcineria (the tradition of pork butchery from the town of Norcia — norcino is the Italian word for pork butcher; Umbrian salamis, prosciuttos, and sausages are exceptional).
The South and Islands
Naples and Campania: the source of pizza (Pizza Napoletana is a protected designation — 00 flour, San Marzano DOP tomatoes, Fior di Latte or buffalo mozzarella; cooked in a wood-fired oven at 430–480°C for 60–90 seconds); pasta e fagioli (the classic Southern Italian soup of pasta with beans — the comfort food of the south). Sicily: arancini (deep-fried rice balls filled with ragù and peas — Palermo vs Catania have fought about shape: round vs cone-shaped); caponata (sweet and sour aubergine stew with pine nuts, raisins, and olives); pasta con le sarde (pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel, raisins, and pine nuts — the Arab-influenced Norman heritage of Sicilian cuisine); cannoli (fried pastry tubes filled with sweetened ricotta — the original is dramatically different from the pale international imitation); granita con brioche (Sicilian breakfast — almond, pistachio, or mulberry granita with a soft brioche, better than coffee). Puglia: orecchiette (the pasta of Puglia — small ear-shaped pasta, made traditionally with semolina and water, served with cime di rapa — turnip greens — or ragù di braciole); burrata (the Puglian fresh cheese — a pouch of mozzarella filled with cream and stracciatella; must be eaten within 24 hours of production).
