Eating In Italy  

Eating in Italy is one of the biggest reasons people vacation there. Pizza in Naples, ribollita in Tuscany, risotto in Milan - Italian food is legendary and the one international cuisine that Americans have embraced more than any other. When you vacation in Italy, food is the one thing you will want to experience wherever you go.

Typical Italian Meal 

Pasta is truly the national dish of Italy, and you will find it in every nook and cranny of the country, and in more sizes and shapes than you can count. Typically, however, pasta is only one part of an Italian meal that can consist of four courses, each served separately on a mid-sized plate: 

First Course or primi piatti - The best known of the first courses is pasta enjoyed by all from north to south. Rice dishes enjoyed primarily in the north of Italy is another popular first course. 

Middle Course or piatto di mezzo - A light break in the meal to allow guest to relax and engage in conversation, the middle course is served only at the most elaborate and formal meals or at an exclusive restaurant. Toast topped with olive paste, a slice of grilled polenta topped with cooked eggs or fresh mozzarella cheese with basil and olive oil are typical middle courses. 

Second Course or secondo piatto - Meat, fish or fowl comprises the second course. Rabbit is an especially favored meat in Italy. This course is most often served with fresh vegetables such as spinach, artichokes or broccoli among a abundance of vegetables grown throughout the country. 

Dessert or i dolce - Although Italians have a long tradition of fine pastries and confections, these types of sweets are seldom eaten at the end of an every-day meal. A piece of fruit is by far the most popular final course. 

Regional Italian Cuisines

Although each of the Italian provinces has their own food specialties, Italian food can be classified into three regional types -- Northern, Central and Southern. Most travelers to Italy will be surprised by the diversity of foods if the typical Italian restaurant in the United States is their only point of reference.  

Northern cooking is characterized by its use of butter, rice, corn and cheese rather than olive oil, pasta and tomatoes. The much colder north tends to produce heartier dishes with more emphasis on meat, fish and fowl, especially rabbit and quail, and with abundant use of its famous cheeses such as Fontina, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Gorganzola. 

Central Italy is where the more familiar of Italian cuisine originates - pasta and eggplant dishes, roasted chestnuts, and let's not forget gelato (Italian ice cream). Summers are hotter than in the north, so tomato-based dishes are more prevalent. Tuscany is not a place where you would expect to find fine beef, but cattle in this region produce some of the best steaks in Europe. Italian pork roast or porchetta is found on many a dinner table. The richness of the cuisine of central Italy is what makes it a food-lovers delight. 

Pizza, Italy's most generous culinary gift to Americans, originated in southern Italy -- in Naples to be exact. The south is dominated by bread and pasta, fish and pork, and some of the best olive oil in all of Italy. The foods of southern Italy are riotous in both color and combination. It is as different as the history of this region which was ruled over the centuries by Greeks, Arabs and Normans.