Regional Foods and Traditional Dishes

If you're in Italy to eat, bring it on! Visiting Italy can be — and often is — non-stop eating! It’s safe to say most travelers visit Italy for the food.

But don’t come expecting spaghetti and meatballs.

To understand Italy food, it’s important to understand the Italian food culture and the food products of Italy — the building blocks on which traditional Italian dishes are made.

The more you travel Italy’s regions, the more you’ll know exactly where you are just by what you’re eating.

Food in Italy is especially regional.

So the Italian dishes you eat in Naples won’t be the same as in Bologna, and won’t even resemble what you’ll find in northern Italy, where Italian cuisine is influenced more by Germany and Austria than the Mediterranean.

Expect heartier foods and younger frizzante wines in northern Italy, and lighter foods paired with citrusy, fruit forward, and bold regional wines the further south you go.

Nearly 300 fine food specialties including cheese, olives, truffles, tomatoes, grains, and grapes are produced in Italy under under strict laws and production guidelines of the DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta; literally in English, Protected Designation of Origin), and IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta; literally in English Protected Geographical Indication) designations, the highest number of specialty products certificated by the EU.

These food products are significant in Italy’s food culture, and are the Italian foods to taste on a food tour or on the farm, grown by producers over time — sometimes as long as 25 years!