Category: Italian Recipes

How to Eat Italian Food in Italy

If you want to get to the heart of Italian food, it’s best to go the source. For an authentic experience you don’t just need to get into the country of Italy, you need to get into Italian homes where traditional Italian food was birthed. That’s right, if you want to get to the heart of the cuisine you need to go where it’s cooked and served from the heart, in an actual Italian home.

There are some differences to the layout of an Italian home cooked meal versus other cuisines that you’ll want to be aware of. First off, real Italian food is not meant just to bring sustenance; it exists to bring family and friends together. An Italian meal is at least three to four courses and is not something to be rushed through. Meals in general are longer in Italy because of the cultural view that meal times are not just about feeding the body, but about feeding the soul.

One of the most surprising things to foreigners about an Italian meal is the first course it typically the most filling. There is an antipasti or appetizer course, but there is no salad or soup to ease your way into the meal. Right from the antipasti diners delve into the primo or “first course”. This is the course that will look most familiar to foreigners because it is where that delicious pasta that Italian food is famous for is served. This primo course is where most people’s knowledge of Italian food ends. Few people realize that there is much more to Italian food than just this primo pasta.

The next part of the meal is the secondo or “second course”. Here is the main dish. Yes, that’s right, the pasta that was just served in the primo, while filling, is not the main dish. The second course is where you’ll find the meat of the meal. In the North there will most likely be veal, pork, or chicken. In the South and coastal regions you’re more likely to find freshly caught fish. With this course will come a contorno or “side dish”. This is where you’ll get a chance to get your daily vegetables in. Traditionally this will come in the form of a fresh salad.

To end the meal diners get not one, but two desserts. The first is a cheese and fruit course that will help prepare you for the dolce or main dessert. The dolce will be the rich dessert of the evening, such as cake. Of course, the meal will end with coffee or espresso, a classical capstone to the array of Italian food that has been served. However, there is one last course to come that foreigners may not be so familiar with. The last course is actually the digestive course and consists of liquors and is often referred to as the “coffee killer”.

After having an authentic dining experience as the one outlined above, foreigners will leave Italy with a much better grasp on what Italian food is. There is more to this fine cuisine than pasta and pizzas. In fact, by the time the “coffee killer” comes around the primo pasta course is starting to fade in memory, buried by the exciting meat dishes, fresh vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and coffees that have made Italian food one of the most sought after cuisines in Europe.

Holiday Italian Food

Have you ever wanted to celebrate the holidays with Italian food? Maybe you want to try something different this year and love Italian food, or maybe you’ve been invited to spend the holidays with Italian friends or are fortunate enough to actually be spending the holidays in Italy. What Italian food is appropriate and traditional? Well, like many other cultures, Italians have certain food traditions for certain holidays.

The biggest tradition is with Christmas and it starts on Christmas Eve. The traditional Christmas Eve meal doesn’t include a lot of Italian food that foreigners may be familiar with. That’s because the Italians observe a type of symbolic fast which actually equates to more of a light dinner. This means that there will be no Italian food that includes the typical meats. Instead the Italian food will be centered more around seafood including fish, snails, and frogs. That may sound a little more French than Italian, but it’s a great time to experience some excellent traditional Italian food that is hard to find outside of Italy.

The next day on Christmas the food may be a little more familiar. The first course is a very well known Italian food, tortellini. This pasta dish filled with meat is more in keeping with what most people envision when thinking of Italian food. After the meal dessert consists of one of two types of cake, either panettone or pandoro. If you’re in Milan or spending the holidays with a family from Milan it will be panettone. This cake like bread takes days to make and is an Italian food that not many people know of, despite it being a symbol of Milan. The other traditional cake is pandoro, a sweet bread that is often made to look like a mountain complete with white sugar icing giving it a snowy finish. Christmas is a great time to taste the sweeter side of Italian food.

Easter Sunday is another holiday that brings families around the table. The holiday starts out with breakfast. Not too many people think of breakfast when thinking of Italian food, but Easter Sunday starts off with a feast of salami and boiled eggs with cakes and pizzas all washed down with fine wine. That night the Italian food of choice will be dishes that rely on lamb, avoiding other meats. The evening will be finished off with wine and cakes.

The last holiday that has importance to those who love Italian food is St. Joseph’s Day. This holiday is in commemoration of St. Joseph saving Sicily from famine. This holiday centers on a rather unknown Italian food, the fava bean. It was this bean that saved Sicily from starving. So, while this bean is not native to Italy, there are many Italian food dishes that are centered on it in celebration of St. Joseph’s Day. The day is spent giving food to the needy, eating doughnut like pastries and enjoying good Italian food.

Anytime is a good time for Italian food, but the holidays really make authentic Italian food shine as families get together to celebrate with traditional dishes. Try celebrating the holidays with Italian food and you’ll be introduced to a side of the cuisine that many don’t know exist.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italian Food

Italian food varies greatly throughout Italy and pairing down Italian food to just the fifteen or so dishes that can be found at Italian food restaurants in the United States is very short sighted. There are many different regional cuisines in Italy that take their cues from surrounding countries and mix in a little local creativity in order to produce their own unique Italian food. One great example of this is the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

This region shares a border with the former Yugoslavia and shares a lot of the same traditions, including culinary traditions. The Italian food here is strong with Austrian, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Croatian influences. One of places that this is most apparent is in the beer halls of the area. Here they feature such dishes as Viennese sausage and goulash. Goulash, which originated as a Hungarian dish, has taken on a distinct Italian taste here and can often be found in fine Italian food restaurants both in and out of Italy. Goulash is immensely popular in this region and is a thick stew of beef and local vegetables such as onions and red peppers. It is very thick and seasoned with paprika and can be served with pasta. Another dish that makes a frequent appearance at the beer halls in this area is Bohemian hare.

The most often used meat in this area is pork. In fact, if visiting this area it is essential to try one of their world famous San Daniele del Friuli hams. These hams are a staple of the local Italian food. The whole region is known for their bacon and sausages. In fact there is a local dish called jota that is unique to the region and is a stew dish made with beans and bacon. The pork in this area is spicy and this may come as a bit of a shock to foreigners not familiar with this brand of Italian food. The pork is often cooked over an open hearth and is seen in many dishes even if it is not the main entre.

There are many other foods specific to the area. The sweeter side of the Italian food here includes strudel. Most of the desserts here are flour based and so strudel is very common. One of the most common dishes found in the area is polenta. This is a dish of boiled cornmeal and is a staple of the regional diet and can be found served with all types of Italian food including both meat and cheese dishes. It is most similar to American grits. Another Italian food staple that must be mentioned in this region is the cheese. The world famous Montasio cheese comes from this region. If you like your Italian food with lots of cheese, and not just mozzarella, than this is the region for you. One last dish that must be mentioned is brovada. This is a dish that is unique to the region. It is most simply turnips that are preserved in marc. This most certainly is not a dish that most people think of when thinking about Italian food, but it is a dish that is unique to Italy and is therefore an important part of Italian food. So the next time you’re up for some Italian food, branch out and try some different regional cuisines.

Cheap Italian Food in Milan

One of the highlights of traveling to Italy is naturally the Italian food. Milan in particular is a fashion and food capital of the world. With so many choices for good quality Italian food it can be hard to decide where to eat at times. Travelers are also frequently overwhelmed with how much there is to do in Milan or may only be in the city for a few days. The food here can also be very expensive and not for the budget conscious traveler. However, there must be an alternative to the ever ubiquitous McDonald’s? Surely there is a way to eat cheap Italian food in Milan? Time and budget constraints often prevent tourists from enjoying good Italian food, but that need not be the case in Milan.

Milan is home to yet another Italian food innovation. It is quite simply known as Ciao. Ciao is a fast Italian food restaurant that serves up fresh Italian food made on the spot with a friendly price tag. Unlike American fast food chains, Ciao serves quality Italian food. For those a little leery of anyplace claiming to have quality Italian food fast, let me point out that there is not set menu at Ciao. The menu changes daily in order to provide the freshest Italian food that is in season. Ciao serves all manner of hot Italian foods along with snacks, alcohol, and espresso. It’s a self service restaurant so you just fill up your plate and then pay at the register. With the low price tag Ciao also presents tourists with an opportunity to try different Italian foods without worrying about the money should you not like it.

Another great feature of Ciao that endears it to American tourists is the fact that it is open all day. Ciao is one of the only options for Italian food after lunch and before dinner. In Italy many of the Italian food establishments close between meals leaving only the American fast food imports open. If you’re a tourist and visiting Milan for the first time, then it can be hard to fit everything into your schedule and get meal times in when most of the restaurants are open. Plus, many people don’t want to spend the time it takes to eat at a typical Italian food restaurant, choosing to instead see the sites. It’s a real shame that people save up for vacations to Italy and end up eating at McDonald’s because of lack of time or money.

Many people don’t know a place like Ciao exists before they leave home so take this opportunity to plan it into your Italian vacation now. In fact, you won’t even have to stop looking at the sites while eating quality Italian food at Ciao. Be sure to check out the Ciao outlet at Piazza Duomo. Get your food and head over to the third floor of the Duomo Center and grab a table. The view from this vantage point is simply amazing and will provide a nice backdrop to your meal. Italian food doesn’t have to be expensive when in Milan and you don’t have to carve large blocks of time out of your vacation in order to experience fresh Italian food, just go to the nearest Ciao and soon you will be dining on quality Italian food in the heart of Milan.

Buying Italian Food Online

There seems to be a trend today to return to authentic Italian food. People are no longer satisfied with the Americanized Italian food that is often served at restaurants, especially chain restaurants. There is also a move to make more and more Italian food at home. People like to have control over the food and make healthy substitutions or personalize Italian food recipes. This is due in large part to the internet. Before the internet people who wanted to make or buy authentic Italian food had to hope that an Italian family or international market had setup shop in their town or a neighboring city. Also, the Americanized version of Italian food became popular because it was easy and cheap to make. However, with the internet people can now learn online in the comfort of their own homes the secrets to making good Italian food and now that shoppers can buy directly from the source it is cheaper to buy ingredients and prepared food.

The internet is truly opening doors not just in Italian food, but in all international cuisine. But, you do need to be careful when shopping for Italian food online. The first thing you want to do is make sure that the vendor you are buying from is as close to the source as possible. If you are looking for a specific ingredient then look for a vendor that specializes in that particular area. This will help you maintain an authentic taste as well as cut on the costs if you’re not dealing with a middle man. See how long the vendor has been in business and what their experience is with Italian food. There are dozens of these Italian food specialty shops online, you just need to find the ones that you feel most comfortable with.

Another thing you want to pay special attention to is the shipping charges, especially if you are buying from another country. In Italian food there are many non perishable items and you will want to buy them in bulk since it is cheaper to ship it in the same order than to order it again. Avoid any online vendors that charge you shipping per item since all your purchases will be shipped together. The bulk of the shipping should be charged with the first item you order and rise gradually with each additional item. Many vendors will just charge flat rate shipping or you may be able to find specials with free shipping. Make sure you also read the fine print to understand all their charges. You don’t want to be surprised by any processing charges or other extra fees.

When buying Italian food online it is also important to look at the company’s return policy. A vendor should be willing to take back any food that is spoiled or ruined upon delivery. Italian food depends on fresh ingredients and online shopping is a great way to get not only the ingredients, but whole Italian food dishes already prepared. Just make sure you don’t get stuck paying for Italian food that isn’t fresh. These days online Italian food companies have mastered shipping fresh food to make sure it arrives fresh at your doorstep.

Demand the best from the vendors you deal with. If you haven’t already, take the plunge and try buying Italian food online. You might discover a new favorite, or experience another side of Italian food without having to go out to a fancy Italian food restaurant.