Eating in Italy: A Traveler's Guide to the Hidden Gastronomic Pleasures of Northern Italy
Grab this book and yourforchetta(fork) and head to Italy for a  tantalizing tour of tastes. Faith Heller Willinger is an American living in  Italy who has devoted her taste buds to sampling and reporting on the best  Italian kitchens have to offer. If you think Italian food equals pizza and  spaghetti, the variety of offerings found in the 11 northern regions explored in  this book will astound you. Each regional section begins with helpful  explanations of Italian dishes from local menus. Next, the wine and food  specialties are temptingly presented with interesting tidbits about production  methods and historical origins. For example,grissini, yard-long  breadsticks of the Piemonte region, were first made in 1668, when "the  Savoia court doctor, Don Baldo Pecchio, had the court baker whip up some  crunchy, thin and easily digestible breadsticks for the sickly Prince Vittorio Amadeo II, who suffered from 'intestinal fevers.'" Each section is  finished off with a listing of restaurants and inns, organized by city. If you  aren't sated yet,Eating in Italyalso provides gelato flavors, a key to Italian opening and closing hours, types of pasta, wine terminology,  and a food glossary.