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A little bit of history

Italian gastronomy has developed over the centuries and takes its roots in Antique cuisine. A collection of Roman cookery recipes written by Marcus Gavius Apicius that he named after him has influenced the Italian culture.

 

The culinary culture of Italy really started with the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 when each region of the country started to form their own traditions. The first known Italian food writer was Archestratus a Greek Sicilian. He wrote a poem about the quality of seasonal produce and the fact that dishes shouldn't be masked with spices. Italy has a lot of middle east influences. Like nowadays, they used to eat a lot of dishes based on olives, cereals, vegetables, wine and cheese.

 

When Christopher Columbus discovered America, he brought a lot of new ingredients to the country such as tomatoes, peper, chili and potatoes that significantly changed their way of cooking and eating. Marco Polo, the famous explorer also brought lots of new ingredients from China such as rice.

Produce of different regions of Italy

In the North West of Italy we can find a lot of charcuterie and cheese while in the north east black truffles are very popular. In this part of Italy, people eat stuffed pasta, polenta and risotto. In the region of Val d’Aoste (north west of Italy), Italians have the typical Tuscan beef, beef cooked in a wine sauce and often served with polenta which is made out of boiled cornmeal. In the region of Emilie Romagne (north east), the typical dishes are stuffed pasta such as Tortelloni, Capelletti or baked Lasagna. They also have the famous potato Gnocchi and lots of grilled fish, calamari and octopus.

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In the South we can find the Provolone and the Mozzarella cheese. Thanks to the dry weather, they have lots of citrus fruit. We can also find the famous pesto, a sauce made with basil, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano and olive oil. It is in the region of Campanie that we find the famous city of Naples where Pizza and Maccheroni were born. It’s in this area that they produce the best tomatoes in the world thanks to presence of the volcano Vesuve. They eat a lot of fish and seafood. In Sicily the Italian cuisine have a lot of arabic, spanish and greek influences. Dishes are often sweet and salty at the same time. We can find lots of nuts such as almonds and pistachios. They also have candied fruit, olives, capres and oranges.

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Italy is well-known for its espresso coffee. Espresso beans are roasted to a medium dark color in the north and even more darker color in the south. The wine is an important part of the italian culture. It’s commonly had during meals the same way it is in France. â€‹The typical desserts that we can find in Italy is the Panettone: a traditional christmas dessert, Gelato: the italian ice-cream, the Panna Cotta and the Tiramisu.

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Today, the differences between the north and the south are still important. Each region of Italy carries its own tradition, influences and history from the past. Over the years, these traditions have grown and have transformed to offer concepts out of the ordinary.

How Italian cuisine influenced the world’s gastronomy

Italian food started its influences abroad during the 19th and the 20th century when the country was hit by wars and poverty. A mass immigration towards the United States of America started mainly from the South of Italy. Napolitains brought pizza outside of the country which has been an emblematic italian dish in the USA ever since.

 

In the United Kingdom, Italian cuisine was brought by Claudius and his troops in the Southern British coast during the Roman Empire. The first italian restaurants didn’t however opened until the late 80’s when Mediterranean food revolution began with the expansion of olives, fresh tomatoes, and a healthier way of cooking, Italian food started influencing more and more northern countries.

 

The romantic image of La Dolce Vita made Italian gastronomy popular and many ingredients were imported in all of the countries. We could also talk about the italian soft power, with all the small italian delicatessen shops we find in almost every country, Little Italy in New York City with a smell of italian culture with all the italian restaurants and shops founded by  Italian immigrants from the 19th and 20th century.

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