The dishes, produce and wines of every Italian region, and the restaurants in the guide that cook them especially well.
Tap a region for its dishes, produce and wines.
A cuisine between the Alps and the hills, shaped by butter, egg pasta, meat from the Fassone, the Piedmontese breed of cattle, and long sequences of antipasti. In autumn white truffles from the Langhe and the Roero dominate the menus, joined by Nebbiolo wines from Barolo and Barbaresco.
Dishes: Vitello tonnato, Tajarin al tartufo, Agnolotti del plin, Brasato al Barolo
Wines: Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG, Moscato d’Asti DOCG
Alpine mountain cooking with a French touch: butter, rye bread, polenta, cured meats and above all fontina, the cheese made from the milk of the valley’s cows. The dishes are hearty and made for long winters, and the wines grow on steep terraces up to around 1,200 metres.
Dishes: Fonduta valdostana, Carbonade valdostana, Costoletta alla valdostana, Zuppa alla valpellinese
Wines: Valle d’Aosta Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle DOC, Valle d’Aosta Fumin DOC, Valle d’Aosta Torrette DOC
Rice instead of pasta, butter instead of oil: Lombard cooking lives off the Po Valley with its rice fields and dairy farms. Add freshwater fish from the lakes, the mountain cooking of the Valtellina and, in Milan, top-flight dining with international ambitions.
Dishes: Risotto alla milanese, Ossobuco alla milanese, Cotoletta alla milanese, Pizzoccheri della Valtellina
Wines: Franciacorta DOCG, Valtellina Superiore DOCG, Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG
Two cuisines in one region: in South Tyrol speck, dumplings and crisp Schüttelbrot flatbread shape the Tyrolean tradition, in Trentino polenta, mushrooms and cheese from the valleys. Add apples, white wines from high vineyards and a strong fine dining scene in South Tyrol.
Dishes: Canederli (speck dumplings), Schlutzkrapfen, Strangolapreti, Apple strudel
Wines: Trento DOC, Alto Adige Lagrein DOC, Teroldego Rotaliano DOC
Lagoon, plain and foothills: in Venice fish and seafood dominate, often with spices dating from the days of the trade with the East, while on the mainland it is rice, polenta and radicchio. Typical are cicchetti, small bites served with a glass of wine in the bacari, the Venetian wine bars.
Dishes: Sarde in saor, Baccalà mantecato, Risi e bisi, Bigoli in salsa
Wines: Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, Soave Classico DOC
A border region between the Alps and the Adriatic where Italian, Austrian and Slovenian influences meet. Ham from San Daniele, Montasio cheese and frico shape the interior, Trieste cultivates its coffee house culture and its buffets of boiled pork, and the Collio produces sought-after white wines.
Dishes: Frico, Cjarsons, Jota triestina, Brovada e muset
Wines: Collio DOC, Friuli Colli Orientali DOC, Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit DOCG
A narrow coast with steep slopes: Ligurian cooking works with herbs, vegetables, olive oil from the Taggiasca olive and fish, while meat plays a supporting role. Basil, focaccia and savoury vegetable pies, the torte salate, are still part of everyday life.
Dishes: Trenette al pesto, Pansoti con salsa di noci, Cappon magro, Focaccia di Recco col formaggio
Wines: Cinque Terre Sciacchetrà DOC, Colli di Luni Vermentino DOC, Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC
The region of pasta all’uovo, fresh egg pasta rolled out by hand by the sfogline, the pasta makers. Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, mortadella and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale come from here, while the Romagna on the Adriatic cooks more simply, with piadina and fish.
Dishes: Tortellini in brodo, Tagliatelle al ragù, Lasagne alla bolognese, Piadina romagnola
Wines: Lambrusco di Sorbara DOC, Romagna Albana DOCG, Romagna Sangiovese DOC
A cuisine of simplicity and produce: unsalted bread, beans, olive oil, meat from the charcoal grill and game in autumn. Many classics come from cucina povera, the cooking of ordinary people, and today stand alongside great red wines made from Sangiovese.
Dishes: Bistecca alla fiorentina, Ribollita, Pappardelle al cinghiale, Pici all’aglione
Wines: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Chianti Classico DOCG, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG
The only region of central and southern Italy without access to the sea, Umbria cooks in a down-to-earth way: black truffle, lentils, olive oil and pork. The butchers of Norcia gave their name to the art of making sausages and hams, norcineria.
Dishes: Strangozzi al tartufo nero, Porchetta, Zuppa di lenticchie di Castelluccio, Torta al testo
Wines: Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, Torgiano Rosso Riserva DOCG, Orvieto Classico DOC
Between the Apennines and the Adriatic, the cooking combines the fish soups of the coastal towns with hearty farmhouse cooking inland. Stuffed, fried olives from Ascoli, vincisgrassi, a local take on lasagne, and truffles from Acqualagna are among its flagships.
Dishes: Olive all’ascolana, Vincisgrassi, Brodetto all’anconetana, Coniglio in porchetta
Wines: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC, Conero DOCG, Offida Pecorino DOCG
Roman cooking is direct and robust: guanciale, the cured pork cheek, Pecorino Romano and pepper carry the great pasta dishes, joined by the quinto quarto, the ‘fifth quarter’ of offal and oxtail. Roman Jewish cooking has contributed classics such as fried artichokes.
Dishes: Spaghetti alla carbonara, Tonnarelli cacio e pepe, Carciofi alla giudia, Coda alla vaccinara
Wines: Frascati Superiore DOCG, Cesanese del Piglio DOCG, Roma DOC
Shepherd country between the Gran Sasso and the Adriatic: lamb, sheep’s cheese and pulses define the mountain cooking, on the coast it is brodetto, the fish soup. Fara San Martino produces dried pasta with a long tradition, and the Navelli plateau saffron.
Dishes: Maccheroni alla chitarra, Arrosticini, Brodetto alla vastese, Scrippelle ’mbusse
Wines: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC, Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC
Italy’s second smallest region cooks in a rural, unpretentious way: cheeses such as caciocavallo, pork, pulses and handmade pasta such as cavatelli. In the woods, white and black truffles are hunted.
Dishes: Cavatelli al ragù di maiale, Pezzata, Sagne e fagioli, Pampanella
Wines: Tintilia del Molise DOC, Biferno DOC, Pentro di Isernia DOC
Volcanic soils, sea and lemon groves: Campanian cooking lives off tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, dried pasta from Gragnano and seafood. Naples is considered the home of pizza, while the Amalfi Coast and the islands stand for light, Mediterranean fish cooking.
Dishes: Pizza napoletana, Spaghetti alle vongole, Ragù napoletano, Parmigiana di melanzane
Wines: Taurasi DOCG, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Greco di Tufo DOCG
A cuisine of durum wheat, vegetables, pulses and olive oil. Puglia is the region with the largest olive oil production in Italy. In Bari people like to eat fish and seafood raw as crudo, while inland, bread, fresh cheeses such as burrata and hand-shaped pasta dominate.
Dishes: Orecchiette alle cime di rapa, Fave e cicorie, Tiella barese, Crudo di mare
Wines: Primitivo di Manduria DOC, Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva DOCG, Salice Salentino DOC
Mountainous, sparsely populated and long isolated: the cooking is correspondingly simple and close to the produce. Dried peppers from Senise, bread from Matera, lucanica sausages and pulses shape it, along with Aglianico from the extinct volcano Vulture.
Dishes: Peperoni cruschi, Strascinati con mollica e peperoni cruschi, Lagane e ceci, Ciammotta
Wines: Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG, Aglianico del Vulture DOC, Matera DOC
Hot and spicy: peperoncino, pork specialities such as the spreadable ’nduja and red onions from Tropea shape the cooking. In the Strait of Messina swordfish is traditionally caught, and bergamot grows on the south coast.
Dishes: Pesce spada alla bagnarese, Fileja alla ’nduja, Morzello alla catanzarese, Licurdia
Wines: Cirò DOC, Greco di Bianco DOC, Terre di Cosenza DOC
Greeks, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards have left their mark: citrus fruit, almonds, pistachios, raisins and pine nuts, sweet and sour flavours and an accomplished pastry tradition. Add tuna, swordfish and sardines, and wines from Etna that attract international attention.
Dishes: Pasta con le sarde, Pasta alla Norma, Caponata, Cannoli
Wines: Etna DOC, Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG, Passito di Pantelleria DOC
Despite its long coastline, Sardinian cooking is traditionally a shepherds’ cuisine: sheep’s cheese, suckling pig on the spit, the thin shepherds’ bread pane carasau and filled pasta. From the coast come bottarga, the dried roe of the grey mullet, as well as spiny lobster and tuna.
Dishes: Culurgiones, Malloreddus alla campidanese, Porceddu, Fregola con arselle
Wines: Vermentino di Gallura DOCG, Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, Carignano del Sulcis DOC