Italian food

Italian food is the food created by traditional Italian cooking. It is not any one thing, because it is strongly regionalised. This means that the cooking is different in different parts of Italy.Capatti, Alberto and Montanari, Massimo. 2003. Italian cuisine: a cultural history. New York: Columbia University Press. Riley, Gillian 2007. The Oxford companion to Italian food. Oxford University Press 

Naturally there are some basic foods which can be found all over Italy, and now in many other countries. These are pasta, pizza, cannoli pastry desserts, ice cream and red or white wine. Calamari dishes of  fried squid (fried calamari) are often on the menu.

Olives have been grown in Italy for thousands of years. They are eaten, and also are the basis of olive oil. Olive oil and vinaigrette or balsamic vinegar are always on the table or nearby. Italians also make many kinds of breads in a different style from French bread. Their styles of coffee have also become internationally famous. Some of their liqueurs, like limoncello, are very distinctive.

Italian food is one of the most refined and varied in Europe, from the piquant flavours of Naples and Calabria to the pesto dishes of Liguria and the cheese and risotto dishes of the Italian Alps.

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