Those who have had the opportunity to try dishes of national Italian cuisine in its homeland: in Rome, Naples, Bologna and other cities will confirm: this is a completely special story.
The characteristic features of Italian cuisine are explained by the local climate and those products that have become widespread in a particular region. Each region of Italy boasts special recipes. This makes exploring Italian food doubly exciting. Meet 10 national dishes of Italy that tourists must try.
Minestrone
Contrary to popular belief, Italian cuisine is far from limited to foods such as pizza or spaghetti. Soups that are very popular in Italy are: burrida (with seafood), ginestrata (with egg yolks and white wine), minestra di noci (with walnuts and nut puree) and others. But first of all, you should try minestrone – a traditional vegetable soup that has become the embodiment of the characteristics of national Italian cuisine.
Initially, in Italy, minestrone was prepared from leftover main courses or cheap vegetables. And although today there is no trace of such an approach to food in the national cuisine, as in many other Italian recipes, it assumes the ability to “mix everything that is available” so that it turns out divinely tasty.
The main components of minestrone are meat broth and fresh vegetables, of which there can be as many as you like depending on the season. Therefore, the consistency of the dish varies from liquid to incredibly thick. In some national recipes of Italian cuisine, minestrone is complemented with rice, pasta, and pesto sauce. Before eating the soup, add grated Parmesan and fresh chopped herbs to the bowls.
Carpaccio
It is impossible to imagine a list of food things to try in Italy without carpaccio – thinly sliced meat or fish, seasoned with sauce with the addition of mayonnaise, olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice.
Although the recipe for this dish appeared relatively recently in Italy, today it is included in the menu of all restaurants of national cuisine. To prepare it, most often you take raw beef tenderloin, previously placed in the freezer. In Italy, you can also try variations of the dish in which beef is replaced with venison, tuna, salmon, sea bass, octopus or smoked duck.
According to the traditions of Italian cuisine, before serving, carpaccio is sprinkled with thin shavings of cheese and decorated with fresh herbs. It is interesting to try carpaccio with Italian wine . For example, sommeliers recommend rich red wines for venison, and rose wine from the south of Italy for tuna.
Tortellini
The list of national dishes of Italy continues with tortellini – a type of pasta that in appearance is close to such familiar food as dumplings.
In Italy, tortellini is prepared from unleavened unsalted dough and served as a separate dish (with aromatic mushroom, creamy or Bolognese sauce) or added to broths, soups and salads. The most common fillings for tortellini are meat, ham or cheese. The result is a very satisfying and tasty meal.
Don’t miss the opportunity to try other variations of this traditional Italian dish. For example, tortelletti (they are much smaller in size) and tortelli (these, on the contrary, are larger). To give the dough an original color, spinach or tomatoes are sometimes added to it: in the first case, the tortellini will be green, and in the second, red.
Gnocchi
Gnocchi is a fairly simple Italian food, which, nevertheless, is considered one of the most worthy examples of national local cuisine. This dish is a type of dumpling, for the preparation of which cooks take flour, eggs, semolina or corn grits and potatoes.
Small pieces formed from dough are given an oval shape, and then dipped in boiling salted water and boiled with seasonings. Serve as a side dish, but it is better to try gnocchi as a separate dish, with a thick, aromatic sauce. Gnocchi with fish and seafood (shrimp, salmon, crab, sea bass, vongole) is especially popular – it’s a real masterpiece of taste!
There are also many original variations of this national Italian dish. For example, in restaurants in Rome and other Italian cities you can try gnocchi with lemon ricotta or gorgonzola, pumpkin gnocchi with bacon and savoy cabbage in cream, and even gnocchi with chestnuts – such traditional Italian cuisine will definitely not leave you indifferent.
Risotto
If you want to try the best Italian dishes, do not ignore risotto – a food that has become one of the culinary symbols of the country. The basis for its preparation is short-grain rice of special varieties, which is first fried and then stewed. When the dish is almost ready, seafood, minced meat, vegetables or mushrooms are added to it – depending on what the chef wants to get in the end.
Many restaurants and cafes in Italy offer menus with different, sometimes very unexpected, types of risotto: eggplant, shrimp, bacon and apple, berries and onions, white truffles, cheese and green asparagus, and even cuttlefish ink. In a word, this is a national dish that you definitely need to try while traveling in Italy.
Pizza
It is impossible to imagine traditional Italian dishes without pizza. They simply adore this food here, which is why you can literally see a sign for one or another pizzeria at every step. There are Italian eateries where the menu consists entirely of different types of pizza. And in some establishments you can even see with your own eyes the process of its preparation in the kitchen.
According to tradition, the pizza dough is left to “ripen” for almost a day (about 18 hours). Only the freshest products are selected for the filling. The pizza is cooked in a wood-fired oven, which preserves the taste and aroma of all the ingredients, and the dish itself turns out divine – you can try it and see for yourself!
Lasagne
Lasagna is one of the most popular and famous Italian dishes that all tourists strive to try. It is a multi-layer casserole in which sheets of dough are alternated with a filling of minced meat, mushrooms or vegetables and generously flavored with a thick, aromatic sauce. An obligatory ingredient of the dish is cheese: ricotta, Parmesan, Gorgonzola or mozzarella.
Lasagna is something that is worth trying in Italy: in no other kitchen in the world is it prepared so inventively and fantastically tasty. In addition to the classic version with meat, in many establishments you can also order vegetarian lasagna – it tastes just as good as its meat counterpart.
Trippa
Those who want to try the best and most popular dishes of Italian cuisine will have to take a chance and order food with a very specific name. Which one? Of course, trippa!
Trippa is prepared from tripe, beef tripe – in other words, from the front part of a cow’s stomach, which is pre-soaked, washed and cut into pieces. Then it is boiled, fried and stewed with wine, vegetable or meat sauce, seasoned with salt and pepper. Serve with grated cheese, sometimes adding mint.
Initially in Italy this food was a dish of the poor. This state of affairs continued almost until the middle of the 20th century. Today trippa is considered a delicacy and is on the menu of many restaurants serving national Italian cuisine.
They say that trippa is one of those traditional Italian dishes that are not very suitable for the “unusual” stomach of a tourist. However, thanks to long-term heat treatment, the food turns out to be quite tender, light and incredibly tasty.
Gelato
Gelato is a national Italian delicacy made from milk, cream and sugar. It contains nuts, fresh fruits and berries, fruit sauce, coffee, cocoa and chocolate, candied fruits, honey, caramel, and liqueur. All over the world, such food is considered a type of ice cream, but differs from it in lower milk fat content and production technology.
For real gelato, only natural ingredients are used. The dessert may contain emulsifiers and stabilizers, but in minimal quantities. In general, gelato is prepared in special pastry shops – gelaterias, where the master creates each dessert by hand and serves it immediately after preparation.
The best gelaterias in Italy offer you to try their exclusive versions of this national delicacy. For example, San Crispino in Rome uses Rhum Clement whiskey and chocolate, Clement rum and cocoa for its desserts. And this example is just one of the many subtleties that make gelato the pinnacle of the national Italian art of creating delicious desserts.
Tiramisu
Tiramisu hardly needs any introduction. To prepare this traditional Italian dessert, you need very few ingredients: savoiardi cookies, mascarpone cheese, freshly brewed coffee, eggs and sugar, as well as cocoa or chocolate chips for sprinkling.
Over the many years of existence of the recipe, various variations have appeared in the collection of national Italian cuisine. You can try tiramisu with the addition of strawberries and other berries, liqueur or cognac. The most delicate, refined taste of this dessert remains unchanged, which will captivate you once and for all.
What else to eat in Italy
Italy will take you on a real gastronomic adventure. Cooking in this country is even more than art – it is a way of life, a national worldview.
How can you have time to try everything? Below you will find a small hint of what else you can eat in Italy:
- Prosciutto (Parma ham);
- Artichokes (boiled, fried, grilled);
- Panini (closed hot sandwich with filling);
- Ravioli (dumplings with various fillings);
- Pasta (with meat, seafood, vegetables);
- Caprese (fresh tomato and mozzarella salad);
- Panna Cotta (dessert made with cream, sugar and vanilla);
- Frittata (baked omelette with vegetables and cheese).