Italian cuisine

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Test yourself
How many of these famous
Italian cuisine foods
can you describe?

Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Calzone
Caponata
Carta de Musica
Fegato alla Veneziana
Fettucine al Burro
Fonduta
Osso Buco
Pesto
Ragu

Quick descriptions
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pages on an Italian cuisine region
Bistecca alla Fiorentina

A thick, choice steak cut from the local Chianina cattle, charcoal broiled and flavored with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Tuscany & Florence

Calzone

Deep-fried, crescent-shaped dough stuffed (usually) with ham-flecked mozzarella cheese. 

Campania & Naples

Caponata

Chopped vegetables such as eggplant (the most essential ingredient), tomatoes, onions, green peppers, olives, and celery individually cooked in olive oil, then combined.

Sicily

Carta de Musica

Literally, music paper. It's a thin, crisp, circular flatbread. Also called pane carasau by inlanders and pane fresa by coastal denizens.

Sardinia

Fegato alla Veneziana

Though meat dishes are a minority in Venice, one is world famous: Fegato alla Veneziana, tissue-thin calves' liver slices sauteed with onions

Veneto & Venice

Fettuccine al Burro

Also known as Fettuccine Alfredo or alla Romana. Flat ribbon-shaped pasta is tossed, generally, with cream, butter and cheese, then given a good sprinkling of freshly ground peppercorns.

Latium & Rome

Fonduta

It's made by melting Fontina cheese (from the neighboring Val d'Aosta region) with milk, butter and eggs. The cook tops the resulting "fondue" with sliced white truffles.

Piedmont & Torino

Osso Buco

A veal shank braised with tomato, onion, stock and wine, then topped with Gremolata, a garnish made with parsley, garlic and lemon rind. The choicest morsel in Osso Buco ("hole in bone") is the cooked marrow clinging to the hollow of the bone.

Lombard & Milan

Pesto

The region of Liguria is the birthplace of pesto, that fragrant, thick, green sauce that is now prepared by cooks around the world. Pesto is made by pounding its ingredients together with a pestle (hence, the name) in a mortar. The essential ingredients are basil, garlic, Parmesan and Sardinian ewe's milk cheeses, along with pine nuts and olive oil. 

Liguria & Genoa

Ragu

Pork is the chief meat ingredient in the famed sauce. It is a thick, rich, and complex tomato sauce ideally suited for pasta. It is often called "Bolognese sauce", named after the region's leading city.

Emilia Romagna & Bologna

Does "Italian cuisine" exist?

Italian cuisine is only a generalized concept embracing the country's 20 distinct regional cuisines.  Each area has it own cooking style and personality.

To truly know Italian cuisine, you must know its regional cuisines.

Click links to learn
Italy's famous culinary regions

Campania & Naples
Emilia Romagna & Bologna
Latium & Rome
Liguria & Genoa
Lombard & Milan
Piedmont & Torino
Sardinia
Sicily
Tuscany & Florence
Veneto & Venice

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Italian cuisine - Facts & tidbits
Italian cuisine - Home page
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