ABOUT ITALIAN FOOD AND CULTURE The profoundly civilizing influences of Italian kitchens and table manners touch almost everyone. Even a brief examination of Italian cuisine offers convincing evidence that Italy’s mission of civilizing the world may have had its deepest impact on gastronomy. All of this seemed to have been ...

DOMESTIC LIFE AND REGIONAL SPECIALTIES IN ITALY DOMESTIC LIFE Most of Italian daily life from ancient times to today is spent in the streets and squares of cities, towns, and villages. Home is the place to eat dinner hut the streets and squares truly represent Italian life. The squares provide ...

ITALIAN SPECIAL OCCASIONS Almost all of the people of Italy profess the Roman Catholic faith, and according to many observers, the Church comes second only to the family in daily importance. From early infancy, through education and social services, festivities and special occasions, the Church plays a meaningful and important ...

ITALIAN MEALS AND CUSTOMS The influence of Roman gastronomy on the foods and customs of countless peoples is unquestionable. It was a sophisticated influence that included meat inspectors, bakeries, private caterers, and even slave cooks. Early meal patterns comprised two or sometimes three meals a day. Jentaculum or ietaculum was ...

FOODS THAT ARE COMMONLY USED IN ITALY The consideration of foods, facilities, and food customs of ancient times is not for historic interest alone: many parts of Italy and many Italian families still live in much the same way. In ancient times, the majority ate mostly wholewheat in many forms ...

ITALIAN GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS Abbacchio: suckling lamb. Alla Cacciatora: prepared according to the “hunter’s style,” which means slowly simmered in a sauce of vinegar and water liberal with garlic, minced anchovies, rosemary, and sage. Alla Fiorentina: prepared according to the Florentine style, which often (but not always) ...

THE DIFFERENT TYPICAL FOODS OF VENETO IN ITALY VENETO The great staples of this province include polenta, radicchio rosso (a reddish form of chicory or curly endive), rice, and fish of all kinds including the imported salt cod. It was in Venice that the first sack of dried corn reputedly ...

EMILIO-ROMAGNA AND LIGURIA The main city of Liguria on Italy’s north-western coast is Genoa. Often called the richest city in Italy, Genoa is also known for its conservative elegance and fine taste in everything from small cars to discerning food. Basil grown in tiny pots on windowsills represents not only ...

LOMBARDY The city of Milan, bustling and industrialized, dominates the plains of Lombardy. In the 1300s foods were sometimes gilded in the belief that gold was curative; the poor could not imitate this except by the use of saffron and the generous addition of golden butter to as many dishes ...

PIEDMONT White truffles, fonduta, game dishes, risotto, and enticingly sweet desserts are the famous specialties of the region. So insistent are the Piedmontese on the freshness of produce that most families use the fresh-picked seasonal vegetables and herbs from their own backyard gardens. Many varieties of mushrooms are used and ...

ROME-LAZIO While most of Italy balances its cooking between butter and olive oil, Rome prefers matured pork fat called strutto. In other ways Rome is different too: vegetables grown in the surrounding volcanic soil are said to have a distinct taste, and sheep, suckling lamb, and suckling kid (slaughtered often ...

TUSCANY In the 1400s, which city dined first with a knife and a fork and dabbed elegantly with a napkin? Venice, the Venetians, of course, claim, but the Florentines claim it was Florence, in Tuscany. Also in the 1400s, not only was pasta and ravioli of many varieties commonly cooked, ...

CALABRIA, LUCANIA, and APULIA Calabrian cookery is based mostly on pasta, many varieties of vegetables, and cheese. Most coastal towns have their own specialties in fish dishes and these are usually types of fish soups which may be based on fish and/or seafood: brodetto, zuppa di pesce alla marinara, and ...

Corsica Politically, Corsica is a part of France, but her geography, history, and language are linked inexorably with Italy. Most distinctively Corsican cuisine is noted for its imaginative use of chestnuts, which are used whole or ground into a fine flour that forms a part of many types of dishes ...

NAPLES-CAMPAGNA The Neapolitans who emigrated to other lands also made famous their city’s two great dishes: pizza and spaghetti. They also popularized pommarola, the tomato sauce that graces pizza and most pasta dishes. Many North Americans, therefore, are surprised by the great variety of foods in Italy. But it is ...

SICILY AND SARDINIA These two islands represent an unspoiled tradition of what is believed to be the earliest Italian cuisine. The cuisine stems from many influences, especially the early Greeks who conquered Sicily and the early Phoenicians (Lebanese) who conquered Sardinia. It is a tradition dating back more than 2,000 ...