Italian Cuisine

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Italian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Its roots can be traced back to the 4th century BC. The cuisine changed significantly with discovery of the New World which helped shape much of what is known as Italian cuisine today with the introduction of items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell pepper and maize, which are all central parts of the cuisine but were not introduced in scale until the 18th century.

Ingredients and dishes vary by region. There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. Cheese and wine are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, and more specifically espresso, has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy.

Overview of Italian Cuisine History


When contemplating the history of Italian cuisine, it is important to remember that Italy did not exist as a unified country before 1870; prior to that, it was a diverse collection of kingdoms and principalities. Indeed, as Kyle Phillips notes in the introduction to his translation of The Art of Eating Well, only a small percentage of “Italians” actually spoke Italian prior to the 20th century. This political (and cultural) diversity is mirrored by the wide variety of climatic and topographic regions that the Italian peninsula spans. Because of these conditions, there exist a great variety of dishes in the Italian repertoire.

Similarly, one needs to remember that most recipes in the Italian repertoire have come down to us from generations of poor, hard-working people. While the feasts provided by the Medici, Estes and Lombardi are the stuff of legend, court fare was more closely identified with French and Austrian cuisine and subject to changes in fashion and taste. This has little to do with what we now identify as Italian cooking, which was largely dependent on locally and seasonally available products and which probably evolved very slowly over the centuries.

Several major changes have nonetheless shaped Italian cooking, notably the acceptance of tomatoes as a food in the 18th century (prior to then, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous and grown only for decorative reasons). To a lesser extent and at about the same time, potatoes became a regular part of several regional cuisines.

Perhaps the most important change in the history of Italian cooking was the 1891 publication of Pelligrino Artusi's La Scienza in Cucina e l'Arte di Manginar Bene (The Science of the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well). Artusi, a polymath, gourmand and bon vivant, traveled extensively throughout the Italian peninsula, collecting recipes as he went along. His collection became The Art of Eating Well. By all accounts, it was the first modern cookbook to include recipes from many of Italy's regions and to present them in a common dialect. His work has been credited with fostering a national Italian culture; at a minimum, he helped forge the Italian cuisine from its many regional cuisines.

Cuisines of Italy


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.


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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.


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Preparation Methods for Italian Cooking
Italian recipes generally call for no special cooking methods. What is more notable is the absence of oven roasting as a cooking method: reliable ovens were relatively uncommon in Italian households until long after World War II, so nearly all home cooking took place on top of the stove. Instead of being oven roasted, poultry and small game are frequently pan-roasted: actually a form of braising. Dishes which do require baking in an oven were traditionally prepared at home, taken to the local bakery for cooking, then brought back home; this explains why pizza and lasagna are rarely meant to be served at oven temperature. In addition to pan roasting, the most common cooking methods in Italian cooking are grilling, sauteeing, boiling, and poaching.


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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.


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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.


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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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