Italy is so much known for food that in Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel, Eat, Pray, Love, the main protagonist visits 3 countries which become the embodiment of these words, and guess what was the embodiment of ‘eat’? It was Italy where the she ate and tasted a variety of Italian food.
Here six awesome Italian foods that we should all try when we visit Italy:
1. Gelato
Who can resist going to Italy and not have a bite of the mouthwatering gelato? You’ve eaten it everywhere but now is the time to eat it in its own home country. Two ingredients which are different in the Gelato found in Italy than the one found in the rest of the world is the low butterfat and sugar content.
2. Risotto
One of the classic dishes of Italy is the Risotto. It was first made in Northern Italy. Basically it is Italian rice cooked in broth that gives it a very creamy flavor. This broth can be of chicken, meat, fish, or vegetable. It is eaten as an appetizer in Italian restaurants. Sometimes, it is made with red wine as well. The texture of the Risotto itself is so traditional, it’ll remind you of ancient times.
3. Cannoli
The cannoli from Sicily is a small tube with a tempting sweet creamy cheese sauce. When you see it at first, you only see a roll kind of a thing but when you taste it, only one phrase comes to your mind which is, Divine foods come in small packages! Cannoli is also eaten as a desert.
4. Pizza
Pizza was literally born in Naples, Italy. The best pizza to eat in Italy is the Margherita which is purely made of creamy mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. An interesting thing about the Margherita Pizza is that it represents the colors in the flags of Italy, so it could be the national food of Italy? Legend has it that this pizza was served to Queen Margherita of Savoy and was then named after her.
5. Tiramisu
Tiramisu is also another desert which you shouldn’t miss while you’re in Italy. Tiramisu is biscuits soaked in coffee layered with whipped mascarpone and egg yolks. Its ingredients also contain cocoa and liquor taste. Tiramisu is said to be Italy’s most popular desert. It’s not surprising that Tiramisu means ‘Pick me up’
6. Spaghetti
Unlike Pizza, pasta was not born in Italy but the Italians still know how to make it well and Italy actually has a pasta museum in Rome! Be sure to eat your pasta with a fork since Italians consider spoons and knives rude! Italians actually believe that the character of a person is determined by the way he eats his spaghetti.
Happy Food Tripping in Italy!!!
Photo Credits (Flickr Creative Commons): Gelato by basykes/ Risotto by snowpea&bokchoi/ Cannoli by mattwunderle/ Pizza by naotakem/ Tiramisu by Robert Banh/ Spaghetti by jshj