Italian Cuisine
From a culinary standpoint Italy should be divided into several regions.
Despite the fact the food differs across regions a few common traits can be noted for all of them. In particular, Italians love fish and all types of seafood, appetizers – antipasti – normally contain spices which excite the appetite, a key feature of Italian food is the large variety of pasta dishes. Preparation of food is inconceivable without fresh vegetables and various greens. During the preparation of Italian dishes cooks are very conservative and try not to change the natural taste of the ingredients. The wide assortment of pastas does not mean that other classical side dishes were replaced. Almost all pasta dishes known as second course dishes in our country are served as separate intercourse between the main entries. This is the reason why the side dish for the second course meals is usually potatoes or rice. Don’t forget that Italy is Europe main rice producing country.
Amateurs usually have preconceived opinions about consuming different types of fat. Tuscany, which is locates in the center of Italy, is a major producer of olive oil, but even there butter is often used to prepare food. Basically one can say that in the north, especially in Lombardy, most of the meals are prepared using regular butter. In the western part of the Emilia-Romagna region pig-breeding is very widespread and many meals are prepared using lard. The well-known Parma ham and Mortadela take birth in this very region.
Gourmands all over the world cannot imagine Italian cuisine without Parmesan cheese. You will find this cheese, usually shredded, on every Italian table, many soups and pasta dishes are sprinkled with it. Northern Italy produces the larges amounts of meat. And very special attention is given here to the processing of milk – a reason for which beef is usually from the bulls. The north of Italy also produces lots of veal, which is a all time Italian favorite. Some specialists note that no other country in Europe consumes the same amounts of veal.
Southern Tirol and the region of Venice have been controlled by the Austrian monarchy for a long time, which influenced the cuisine of both these regions. The Balkan influence can be sensed in certain second course vegetable meals and various deserts, especially in that part of Italy which is closer to the former Yugoslavia. The republic of Venice served as a “front door” for Eastern desert during the Middle Ages. From here the sweets were spread across the whole country and the rest of Europe.
Port Genoa, on the west coast, supplied the continent with all imaginable and unimaginable exotic spices and combined seasonings. Genoa sailors are credited with a very important invention, namely – ravioli. The recipe consisted in mixing all the leftovers of a ship’s food stock similarly to the Scandinavian Labskaus. The region around Genoa is rich in vegetables and is the home of the famous Minestrone vegetable soup. Nowadays this soup is very widespread all over Italy and different regions use different vegetables as its ingredients. In the plains of the Po river there are many rice plantations, but corn is also very common. Corn is used here to prepare different porridge, which is served with a meat dish or tomato sauce, sometimes with butter, but always with shredded cheese. Such porridge, although made from millet, was very common in ancient Rome. Once corn was brought in from America millet was completely substituted with it.
Millet or young wheat was used in the past to prepare the famous pizza. This product is not a national Italian food, contrary to the common belief. Essentially pizza was a Napolitan national meal of the lower ranks of society. Its popularity did not grow until American soldiers “discovered” and noted the benefits of this dish in 1945. Unlike Napoli and its low class pizza, Milan introduced the national Italian cake called panettone, which is also an Italian favorite. This cake is prepared from yeast dough and baked in cylinder type forms. Viticulture has been widespread in Italy since the ancient times. I believe no other country can appreciate good wine like Italy.
