Food & Drink

Italians are among the world's greatest cooks. Just ask any one of them. Despite the unification of Italy, regional tradition still dominates the various kitchens, from Rome to Lombardy, from the Valle d'Aosta to Sicily. The term "Italian cuisine" has little meaning unless it's more clearly defined as Neapolitan, Roman, Sardinian, Sicilian, Venetian, Piedmontese, Tuscan, or whatever. Each region has a flavor and a taste of its own, as well as a detailed repertoire of local dishes.

Food has always been one of life's great pleasures for the Italians. This has been true even from the earliest days: To judge from the lifelike banquet scenes found in Etruscan tombs, the Etruscans loved food and took delight in enjoying it. The Romans became famous for their never-ending banquets and for their love of exotic treats, such as flamingo tongues.

Although culinary styles vary, Italy abounds in trattorie specializing in local dishes -- some of which are a delight for carnivores, such as the renowned bistecca alla fiorentina (cut from flavorful Chianina beef and then charcoal-grilled and served with a fruity olive oil). Other dishes, especially those found at the antipasti buffet, would appeal to every vegetarian's heart: peppers, greens, onions, pastas, beans, tomatoes, and fennel.

Incidentally, except in the south, Italians don't use as much garlic in their food as many foreigners seem to believe. Most Italian dishes, especially those in the north, are butter-based. And spaghetti and meatballs isn't an Italian dish, although certain restaurants throughout the country have taken to serving it "for homesick Americans."

Cuisines Around the Country

Rome is the best place to introduce yourself to Italian cuisine because it boasts specialty restaurants representing every region. Throughout your Roman holiday, you'll encounter such specialties as zuppa di pesce (a soup or stew of various fish, cooked in white wine and flavored with herbs), cannelloni (tube-shaped pasta baked with any number of stuffings), riso col gamberi (rice with shrimp, peas, and mushrooms, flavored with white wine and garlic), scampi alla griglia (grilled prawns, one of the best-tasting, albeit expensive, dishes in the city), quaglie col risotto e tartufi (quail with rice and truffles), lepre alla cacciatore (hare flavored with tomato sauce and herbs), zabaglione (a creamy dessert made with sugar, egg yolks, and Marsala), gnocchi alla romana (potato-flour dumplings with a meat sauce, covered with grated cheese), abbacchio (baby spring lamb, often roasted over an open fire), saltimbocca alla romana (literally "jump-in-your-mouth" -- thin slices of veal with sage, ham, and cheese), fritto alla romana (a mixed fry likely to include everything from brains to artichokes), carciofi alla romana (tender artichokes cooked with herbs such as mint and garlic, flavored with white wine), fettuccine all'uovo (egg noodles with butter and cheese), zuppa di cozze (a hearty bowl of mussels cooked in broth), fritto di scampi e calamaretti (baby squid and prawns, fast-fried), fragoline (wild strawberries, in this case from the Alban Hills), and finocchio (fennel, a celerylike raw vegetable with the flavor of anisette, often eaten as a dessert or in a salad).

From Rome, it's on to Tuscany, where you'll encounter the hearty cuisine of the Tuscan hills. The main ingredient for almost any meal is the superb local olive oil, adored for its low acidity and lovely flavor. In Italy's south, the olives are gathered only after they've fallen off the trees, but here they're handpicked off the trees so that they won't get bruised (ensuring lower acidity and milder aroma). Typical Tuscan pastas are pappardelle and penne mingled with a variety of sauces, many of which are tomato based. Tuscans are extremely fond of strong cheeses such as Gorgonzola, fontina, and parmigiano. Meat and fish are prepared simply and might seem undercooked, although locals would argue that it's better to let the inherent flavor of the ingredients survive the cooking process.

The next major city to visit is Venice, where the cookery is typical of the Venezia district. Long ago it was called "tasty, straightforward, and homely" by one food critic, and we concur. Two of the most typical dishes are fegato alla veneziana (liver and onions) and risi e bisi (rice and fresh peas). Seafood figures heavily in the Venetian diet, and grilled fish is often served with the bitter red radicchio, a lettuce that comes from Treviso.

In Lombardy, of which Milan is the center, the cookery is more refined and flavorful. No dish here is more famous than cotoletta alla milanese (cutlets of tender veal dipped in egg and bread crumbs and fried in olive oil until they're a golden brown) -- the Viennese call it Wiener schnitzel. Osso buco is the other great dish of Lombardy; this is cooked with the shin bone of veal in a ragout sauce and served on rice and peas. Risotto alla milanese is also a classic -- rice that can be dressed in almost any way, depending on the chef's imagination. It's often flavored with saffron and butter, to which chicken giblets have been added, and it's seemingly always served with heaps of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Polenta, a cornmeal mush that's "more than mush," is the staff of life in some parts of northeastern Italy and is eaten in lieu of pasta.

The cooking in the Piedmont, of which Turin is the capital, and the Aosta Valley is different from that in the rest of Italy. Victuals here are said to appeal to strong-hearted men returning from a hard day's work in the mountains. You get such dishes as bagna cauda, a sauce made with olive oil, garlic, butter, and anchovies, in which you dip uncooked fresh vegetables. Fonduta is also celebrated: It's made with melted fontina cheese, butter, milk, egg yolks, and, for an elegant touch, white truffles.

In the Trentino-Alto Adige area, whose chief towns are Bolzano, Merano, and Trent, the cooking is naturally influenced by the traditions of the Austrian and Germanic kitchens. South Tirol, of course, used to belong to Austria, and here you get such tasty pastries as strudel.

Liguria, whose chief town is Genoa, turns to the sea for a great deal of its cuisine, as reflected by its version of bouillabaisse, a burrida flavored with spices. But its most famous food item is pesto, a sauce made with fresh basil, garlic, cheese, and walnuts, which is used to dress pasta, fish, and many other dishes.

Emilia-Romagna, with such towns as Modena, Parma, Bologna, Ravenna, and Ferrara, is one of the country's great gastronomic centers. Rich in produce, its school of cooking produces many notable pastas now common around Italy: tagliatelle, tortellini, and cappelletti (larger than tortellini and made in the form of "little hats"). Tagliatelle, of course, are long strips of macaroni, and tortellini are little squares of dough stuffed with chopped pork, veal, or whatever. Equally popular is lasagna, which by now everybody has heard of. In Bologna, it's often made by adding finely shredded spinach to the dough. The best-known sausage of the area is mortadella, and equally famous is a cotoletta alla bolognese (veal cutlet fried with a slice of ham or bacon). The distinctive and famous cheese Parmigiano-Reggiano is a product of Parma and also Reggio Emilia. Zampone (stuffed pig's foot) is a specialty of Modena. Parma is also known for its ham, which is fashioned into air-cured prosciutto di Parma. Served in wafer-thin slices, it's deliciously sweet and hailed by gourmets as the finest in the world.

Much of the cookery of Campania (spaghetti with clam sauce, pizzas, and so forth), with Naples as its major city, is already familiar to North Americans because so many Neapolitans moved to the New World and opened restaurants. Mozzarella, or buffalo cheese, is the classic cheese of this area. Mixed fish fries, done a golden brown, are a staple of nearly every table.

Sicily has a distinctive cuisine, with good, strong flavors and aromatic sauces. A staple of the diet is maccheroni con le sarde (spaghetti with pine nuts, fennel, spices, chopped sardines, and olive oil). Fish is good and fresh in Sicily (try swordfish). Among meat dishes, you'll see involtini siciliani (rolled meat with a stuffing of egg, ham, and cheese cooked in bread crumbs) on the menu. A caponata is a special way of cooking eggplant in a flavorful tomato sauce. The desserts and homemade pastries are excellent, including cannoli, cylindrical pastry cases stuffed with ricotta and candied fruit (or chocolate). Their ice creams, called gelati, are among the best in Italy.

And some Vino to Wash it all Down . . .

Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world; as far back as 800 B.C. the Etruscans were vintners. It's said that more soil is used in Italy for the cultivation of grapes than for the growing of food. Many Italian farmers produce wine just for their own consumption or for their relatives in "the big city." However, it wasn't until 1965 that laws were enacted to guarantee regular consistency in winemaking. Wines regulated by the government are labeled "DOC" (Denominazione di Origine Controllata). "DOCG" on a label (the "G" means garantita) means even better quality control.

The Vineyards of Italy

Following traditions established by the ancient Greeks, Italy produces more wine than any other nation. More than 1.6 million hectares (4 million acres) of soil are cultivated as vineyards, and recently there has been an increased emphasis on recognizing vintages from lesser-known growers who might or might not be designated as working within a zone of controlled origin and name. (It's considered an honor, and usually a source of profit, to own vines within a DOC. Vintners who are presently limited to marketing their products as unpretentious table wines -- vino di tavola -- often expend great efforts lobbying for an elevated status as a DOC.)

Italy's wine producers range from among the most automated and technologically sophisticated in Europe to low-tech, labor-intensive family plots that turn out just a few hundred bottles per year. You can sometimes save money by buying directly from a producer (the signs beside the highway of any wine-producing district will advertise VENDITA DIRETTA). Not only will you avoid paying the retailer's markup, but you also might get a glimpse of the vines that produced the vintage you carry home with you.

Useful vocabulary words for such endeavors are bottiglieria (a simple wine shop) and enoteche (a more upscale shop where many vintages, from several growers, are displayed and sold like magazines in a bookstore). In some cases, you can buy a glass of the product before you buy the bottle, and platters of cold cuts or cheeses are sometimes available to offset the tang (and alcoholic effects) of the wine.

Regional Wines

Here we've cited only a few popular wines. Rest assured that there are hundreds more, and you'll have a great time sampling them to find your own favorites.

Latium: In this major wine-producing region, many of the local wines come from the Castelli Romani, the hill towns around Rome. Horace and Juvenal sang the praises of Latium wines even in imperial times. These wines, experts agree, are best drunk when young, and they're most often white, mellow, and dry (or "demi-sec"). There are seven types, including Falerno (straw yellow in color) and Cecubo (often served with roast meat). Try also Colli Albani (straw yellow with amber tints, served with both fish and meat). The golden yellow wines of Frascati are famous, produced in both a demi-sec and a sweet variety, the latter served with dessert.

Tuscany: Tuscan wines rank with some of the finest reds in France. Chianti is the best known, and it comes in several varieties. The most highly regarded is Chianti Classico, a lively ruby-red wine mellow in flavor with a bouquet of violets. A good label is Antinori. A lesser known but remarkably fine Tuscan wine is Brunello di Montalcino, a brilliant garnet red served with roasts and game. The ruby-red, almost purple Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has a rich, rugged body; it's a noble wine that's aged for 4 years. The area around San Gimignano produces a light, sweet white wine called Vernaccia. While you're in Tuscany, order the wonderful dessert wine called Vin Santo, which tastes almost like sherry and is usually accompanied by biscotti that you dunk into your glass.

Emilia-Romagna: The sparkling Lambrusco of this region is by now best known by Americans, but this wine can be of widely varying quality. Most of it is a brilliant ruby red. Be more experimental and try such wines as the dark ruby red Sangiovese (with a delicate bouquet) and the golden yellow Albana, somewhat sweet. Trebbiano, generally dry, is best served with fish.

The Veneto: From this rich breadbasket in northeastern Italy come such world-famous wines as Bardolino (a light ruby red often served with poultry), Valpolicella (produced in "ordinary quality" and "superior dry," best served with meats), and Soave (beloved by W. Somerset Maugham), which has a pale amber color with a light aroma and a velvety flavor. Also try one of the Cabernets, either the ruby-red Cabernet di Treviso (ideal with roasts and game) or the even deeper ruby-red Cabernet Franc, which has a marked herbal bouquet and is served with roasts.

Trentino-Alto Adige: This area produces wine influenced by Austria. Known for its vineyards, the region has some 20 varieties of wine. The straw-yellow, slightly pale-green Riesling is served with fish, as is the pale green-yellow Terlano. Santa Maddalena, a cross between garnet and ruby, is served with wild fowl and red meats, and Traminer, straw yellow, has a distinctive aroma and is served with fish. A Pinot Bianco, straw yellow with greenish glints, has a light bouquet and a noble history, and is also served with fish.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia: This area attracts those who enjoy a "brut" wine with a trace of flint. From classic grapes come Merlot, deep ruby in color, and several varieties of Pinot, including Pinot Grigio, whose color ranges from straw yellow to gray-pink (good with fish). Also served with fish, the Sauvignon has a straw-yellow color and a delicate bouquet.

Lombardy: These wines are justly renowned -- and, if you don't believe us, would you instead take the advice of Leonardo da Vinci, Pliny, and Virgil? These great men have sung the praises of this wine-rich region bordered by the Alps to the north and the Po River to the south. To go with the tasty, refined cuisine of the Lombard kitchen are such wines as Frecciarossa (a pale straw-yellow color with a delicate bouquet -- order it with fish), Sassella (bright ruby red -- order it with game, red meat, and roasts), and the amusingly named Inferno (a deep ruby red with a penetrating bouquet; order it with meats).

The Piedmont: The finest wines in Italy, mostly red, are said to be produced on the vine-clad slopes of the Piedmont. Of course, Asti Spumante, the color of straw with an abundant champagnelike foam, is the prototype of Italian sparkling wines. While traveling through this area of northwestern Italy, you'll want to sample Barbaresco (brilliant ruby red with a delicate flavor -- order it with red meats), Barolo (also brilliant ruby red, best when it mellows into a velvety old age), Cortese (pale straw yellow with green glints -- order it with fish), and Gattinara (an intense ruby-red beauty in youth that changes with age). Piedmont is also the home of vermouth, a white wine to which aromatic herbs and spices, among other ingredients, have been added; it's served as an aperitif.

Liguria: This area doesn't have as many wine-producing regions as other parts of Italy, yet it grows dozens of different grapes. These are made into such wines as Dolceacqua (lightish ruby red, served with hearty food) and Vermentino Ligure (pale yellow with a good bouquet, often served with fish).

Campania: From the volcanic soil of Vesuvius, the wines of Campania have been extolled for 2,000 years. Homer praised the glory of Falerno, straw yellow in color. Neapolitans are fond of ordering a wine known as Lacrima Christi ("tears of Christ") to accompany many seafood dishes. It comes in amber, red, and pink. With meat dishes, try the dark mulberry-color Gragnano, which has a faint bouquet of faded violets. The reds and whites of Ischia and Capri are also justly renowned.

Apulia: The heel of the Italian boot, Apulia, produces more wine than any other part of Italy. Try Castel del Monte, which comes in shades of pink, white, and red. Other wines of the region are the dull red Aleatico di Puglia, with a mellow taste so sweet and aromatic that it's almost a liqueur; Barletta, a highly alcoholic wine made from grapes grown around Troia; the notably pleasant and fragrant Mistella, a really fleshy wine usually offered with desserts; the brilliant amber Moscato della Murge, aromatic and sweet; Moscato di Trani, which is velvety and tastes of a bouquet of faded roses; and Primitivo di Gioia, a full-bodied acid wine that, when dry, appears with roasts and, when sweet, appears with desserts. One of the region's best wines to drink with fish is Torre Giulia, which is dark yellow tending toward amber -- a "brut" wine with a distinctive bouquet.

Sicily: The wines of Sicily, called a "paradise of the grape," were extolled by the ancient poets, including Martial. Caesar himself lavished praise on Mamertine when it was served at a banquet honoring his third consulship. Marsala, an amber wine served with desserts, is the most famous wine of Sicily; it's velvety and fruity and sometimes used in cooking, as in veal Marsala. The wines made from grapes grown in the volcanic soil of Etna come in both red and white varieties. Also try the Corvo Bianco di Casteldaccia (straw yellow, with a distinctive bouquet) and the Corvo Rosso di Casteldaccia (ruby red, almost garnet, full-bodied and fruity).

Other Drinks

Italians drink other libations as well. The most famous drink is Campari, bright red in color and flavored with herbs; it has a quinine bitterness to it. It's customary to serve it with ice cubes and soda.

Limoncello, a bright yellow drink made by infusing pure alcohol with lemon zest, has become Italy's second-most popular drink. It has long been a staple in the lemon-producing region along the Amalfi Coast in Capri and Sorrento, and recipes for the sweetly potent concoction have been passed down by families there for generations. About a decade ago, restaurants in Sorrento, Naples, and Rome started making their own versions. Visitors to those restaurants as well as the Sorrento peninsula began singing limoncello's praises and requesting bottles to go. Now it's one of the most up-and-coming liqueurs in the world, thanks to heavy advertising promotions.

Beer, once treated as a libation of little interest, is still far inferior to wines produced domestically, but foreign beers, especially those of Ireland and England, are gaining great popularity with Italian youth, especially in Rome. This popularity is mainly because of atmospheric pubs, which now number more than 300 in Rome alone, where young people linger over a pint and a conversation. Most pubs are in the Roman center, and many are licensed by Guinness and its Guinness Italia operations. In a city with 5,000 watering holes, 300 pubs might seem like a drop, but because the clientele is young, the wine industry is trying to devise a plan to keep that drop from becoming a steady stream of Italians who prefer grain to grapes.

High-proof grappa is made from the "leftovers" after the grapes have been pressed. Many Italians drink this before or after dinner (some put it into their coffee). It's an acquired taste -- to an untrained foreign palate, it often seems rough and harsh.