Italian Cuisine

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Italian - Cooking and Food

Overview of Italian Cuisine History
The history of the Italian cuisine and cooking methods began in the times of the Magna Grecia, when the regular basic diet consisted of meats like pork and salted fish, chickpeas, lentils, lupines, olive pickles and dried figs. By the time of the Roman Empire the custom of cereal, honey, dried fruit and cheese served at breakfast became a regular thing. The meals became more and more sophisticated, usually accompanied by sweet, scented wines. This is the time when wineries began to emerge and when high society people took part in feasts and food banquets like the ones at Lucullu and Trimalchio.the Italian people are gourmands and have been for centuries. In the Barbarian Era, the food habits were considerably different from those of the Roman Empire and were based on roast meats, stuffed pastries and oven-baked pies. By the XVII century, the diversification of dishes contained grilled, roast and boiled meats, meat pastries, vegetable and refined salads, almond-based sweets, pine-nuts and candied fruits. The wheat and the rice gain popularity in the Italian peninsula, leading to the pasta-dishes being the nation’s first course. Plantations of coffee beans were first influenced by the Turkish culture, and grew slower to individualized crops of original Italian coffee.

Cuisines of Italy


By Geographic Area and Style:


 * Valle D' Aosta
 * Aosta Cuisine

The Italian cuisine is characterized by some specific unique dishes, like pasta, risotto and pizza, which are served in all parts of the country. However, regional differences may occur in the cooking process of a meal, resulting in variations of the same recipe, or unique specific ones of a single area, like the Napoli pizza, specific to the Neapolitan region. Also, Peperoni Imbottiti is another specific Neapolitan dish, and consists of stuffed bell peppers with eggplant and bread crumbs. In the Tuscan region, harty soups are a common thing, as well as fish stews. Cacciucco and scottiglia are some of the specific Tuscan stews. Other Tuscan specialties include “alla fiorentina” steak, ribollita, a thick vegetable soup and fagioli all'uccelletto, sautéed beans in garlic and Sage with tomatoes. In the Piedmont region you can find a special dish called fonduta, containing melted cheese dip of milk, eggs and white truffles. Also, boiled veal tongue and fish assortments like anchovies, eels, carp, trout, and snails are available in all region. Lombardy is well known for Milan related dishes, such as spaghetti Milanese and minestrone alla Milanese, and for other specialties such as creamy Gorgonzola and polenta. Rice and peas are specific for the Veneto region, where you can also find calf's liver fried with onions, shellfish, eels and dried cod. In Genoa region pesto is the main ingredient, and in Norcia, the Italian cuisine capital, you can find pork dishes, black truffles, and hand-made pasta like ‘strozzapreti’. Sicily is rich in fruits and seafood, as well as Sardinia, which is also known for sausages, sweet green olives, and lamb steaks.


 * Piedmont
 * Turin Cuisine
 * Alessandria Cuisine
 * Asti Cuisine
 * Biella Cuisine
 * Cuneo Cuisine
 * Novara Cuisine
 * Verbania Cuisine
 * Vercelli Cuisine


 * Lombardy
 * Milan Cuisine
 * Bergamo Cuisine
 * Brescia Cuisine
 * Como Cuisine
 * Cremona Cuisine
 * Lecco Cuisine
 * Lodi Cuisine
 * Mantua Cuisine
 * Pavia Cuisine
 * Sondrio Cuisine
 * Varese Cuisine


 * Trentino-Alto Adige
 * Trento Cuisine
 * Bolzano Cuisine


 * Veneto
 * Venice Cuisine
 * Belluno Cuisine
 * Padua Cuisine
 * Rovigo Cuisine
 * Treviso Cuisine
 * Verona Cuisine
 * Vicenza Cuisine


 * Friuli-Venezia Giulia
 * Trieste Cuisine
 * Gorizia Cuisine
 * Pordenone Cuisine
 * Udine Cuisine


 * Liguria
 * Genoa Cuisine
 * Imperia Cuisine
 * La Spezia Cuisine
 * Savona Cuisine


 * Emilia-Romagna
 * Bologna Cuisine
 * Ferrara Cuisine
 * Forli-Cesena Cuisine
 * Modena Cuisine
 * Parma Cuisine
 * Piacenza Cuisine
 * Ravenna Cuisine
 * Reggio nell'Emilia Cuisine
 * Rimini Cuisine


 * Tuscany
 * Florence Cuisine
 * Arezzo Cuisine
 * Grosseto Cuisine
 * Livorno Cuisine
 * Lucca Cuisine
 * Massa-Carrara Cuisine
 * Pisa Cuisine
 * Prato Cuisine
 * Siena Cuisine


 * Marche
 * Ancona Cuisine
 * Ascoli Piceno Cuisine
 * Macerata Cuisine
 * Pesaro-Urbino Cuisine


 * Umbria
 * Perugia Cuisine
 * Terni Cuisine


 * Lazio
 * Rome Cuisine
 * Frosinone Cuisine
 * Latina Cuisine
 * Rieti Cuisine
 * Viterbo Cuisine


 * Abruzzo
 * L'Aquila Cuisine
 * Chieti Cuisine
 * Pescara Cuisine
 * Teramo Cuisine


 * Molise
 * Campobasso Cuisine
 * Isernia Cuisine


 * Campania
 * Naples Cuisine
 * Avellino Cuisine
 * Benevento Cuisine
 * Caserta Cuisine
 * Salerno Cuisine


 * Puglia
 * Bari Cuisine
 * Brindisi Cuisine
 * Foggia Cuisine
 * Lecce Cuisine
 * Taranto Cuisine


 * Basilicata
 * Potenza Cuisine
 * Matera Cuisine


 * Calabria
 * Catanzaro Cuisine
 * Cosenza Cuisine
 * Crotone Cuisine
 * Reggio di Calabria Cuisine
 * Vibo Valentia Cuisine


 * Sicily
 * Palermo Cuisine
 * Agrigento Cuisine
 * Caltanissetta Cuisine
 * Catania Cuisine
 * Enna Cuisine
 * Messina Cuisine
 * Ragusa Cuisine
 * Syracuse Cuisine
 * Trapani Cuisine


 * Sardinia
 * Cagliari Cuisine
 * Nuoro Cuisine
 * Oristano Cuisine
 * Sassari Cuisine

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Italian Food Glossary
Finding the ingredients for a Italian Recipe is not so easy when you do not know the names of the ingredients. Take time to make a list of ingredients and the name they may be found under at the Local Markets.


 * Check out the Italian Food Glossary

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Preparation Methods for Italian Cooking
Preparing a pizza or pasta specialty implies that you know a few skills specific to this cuisine alone. First, you need to learn how to flip the pizza dough like a professional. The flat dough represents the basis of any variation of pizza specialty and has to be made perfectly so that it won’t come out too hard or too soft. Blending condiments is another important matter in the Italian cooking process. Oregano and basil are the most important ones, and they need to be mixed with the tomato juice in a right combination to make the pizza taste in the original way. The pastas have many preparation methods, but one thing is certain for any diversification: the boiling time for the pasta is really the crucial matter. You need to boil the pasta in water to which you add some olive oil. You have to make sure you don’t let the pasta boil for too long, and that it will come out al-dente, just perfect, not too soft and not too hard.

Special Equipment for Italian Cooking
When you plan on cooking in an Italian manner, you will be in need of a lot of pots and serving spoons, spatulas, forks, turners, scrapers and tongs. Big pots that can be placed over open fires are specific to this cuisine. Also, baking pots and dishes are very popular in the Italian cuisine, since a lot of meals are prepared in the oven rather then on an electric fire. The famous pizza specialties are only baked in ceramic or clay ovens to give the crispy taste to the dough. Wooden spatulas are frequently used in the cooking process, not only for stirring, but for pizza-grabbing and handling. Food processors, mixers, grinders and splatters are of great utility in this cuisine, especially in the sausage making process, and for grating hard condiments like black pepper or cinnamon. Deep serving dishes are required for the traditional Italian pasta, for soups and for stews. You need to consider cover lids and insulated food carriers to keep the temperature of the food constant, if you plan on serving the dishes at their optimized temperature.

Italian Food Traditions and Festivals
Italians are a nation known for their Latin blood that makes them full of life and celebration spirit. All year round there are lots of food-related festivals and traditions kept very well. In January, in the Piedmont region, there is a luganiga festival, a celebration of a type of sausage, celebrated with boiled sausages, potatoes and sauerkraut. Early April has a feast of the cherry trees, and the Sagra dei Garagoi, a celebration dedicated to the garagoi, or sea snails, a time when they are cooked in tomato sauce with lots of pepper. There are festas dedicated to fried flatbread, festa of the Duck, and a festa del Lambrusco when red wine is sampled with gnocco fritto, or fried puffs of pasta dough, accompanied by prosciutto and salame. All festivals usually contain a lot of music and dances, Italians being party people by nature, having dance spirit in their blood.

People in Italian Food
Italians are gourmands by their nature, and many of them love to cook and put their personal mark on the food they prepare. Chefs have a great sense of flavor, and they know the secrets to a delicious pizza, risotto or pasta recipe. The many recipes and even more methods of preparing special traditional Italian meals are basically due to the feeling that a chef adds to the cooking process. There are over a six hundred types of pizza and pasta-dishes in Italy and most of them are made by chefs that add ingredients according to their personal taste. Combining available ingredients depends on the chef’s personal method, and can result in Italian dishes that will become even more original and delicious than the already spectacular ones. The cooking process doesn’t stop with food, but goes on to the coffee making one, Italians enjoying every diversification of a cappuccino, macchiato or latte coffee.
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Italian Cuisine Related Recipes

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