Food I Would Miss If I Ever Leave Italy
Let me get this straight: there’s no better cuisine than Italian cuisine.
First, you have to know I’m Italian and I come from North Italy. Today while I was making Carbonara, I thought of all the food I would miss if I ever leave Italy, and this the list.
Cichetti
In Venice, there’s a particular food called Cichetti. These are small slices of bread with toppings which can be made with a lot of different things. The classic is with salted codfish, my favorite is strawberry, salmon and cream cheese. They always come along with a glass of (red) wine.
Prosciutto (Ham)
There are so many varieties! The one I would miss most would be Crudo San Daniele which I suggest you to try if you go to Friuli Venezia-Giulia region.
Carbonara and Amatriciana
These are two pasta-based dishes. The first one is pasta with egg, Guanciale, and Pecorino, the other one is made with tomato sauce, bacon and some spicy pepper if you want. I know how to prepare both, but I would miss the “restaurant” taste of the them.
PS: there’s no cream in carbonara(!)
Pasta
Here I could write a whole book, and it wouldn’t be enough. Egg pasta, home made pasta, wheat pasta, Tortiglioni, Lasagne, Fettuccine, Linguine, Spaghetti, Bucatini, Farfalle, Sedani, Penne, Mezze Penne, Fusilli, Tagliatelle.
Here in Italy there are some many brands to choose among!
Tiramisù
I have a family recipe, but I think it would be hard to find Mascarpone or Pavesini (a kind of cookie) outside Italy.
Tortellini
When you go to an Italian grocery store, you could spend half a hour to decide what kind of Tortellini to buy. There are Tortellini with ricotta and spinach, with beef, with raw ham… The dough they’re made of it’s really important too, it can taste a lot different. But I can learn how to make this at home.
Mozzarella
Let me say it: IT’S NOT CHEESE! I would have to fight with this every day, I’m sure. The one I prefer is Mozzarella di Bufala, it’s so fat and juicy. It’s a typical product of Campania region.
Sauces
And I’m not talking about tomato sauce or ragù, which I can cook at home. I’m talking about duck sauce, deer sauce, boar sauce, rabbit sauce. Those are pretty fucking tasty.
Grana
Close to Parmiggiano (which I love too), Grana is my favorite cheese. It’s salty and crisp. The best part is the center of the shape which is the tip of the slice if you buy it at the grocery store.
Salame
Here in the North we’re famous because of 3499432186 kinds of salame. I would miss to eat Polenta and Soppressa (the last one is specialty of Vicenza, Veneto).
Speck
It’s a Trentino-Alto Adige specialty, and if you like bacon, or even better, smoked bacon, you cannot try Speck. Let me clarify: it’s not bacon. Their tastes are close, but not similar.
Gelato
There’s no Gelato outside Italy.
Pastries and Cappuccino
The perfect Italian breakfast.
Restaurant Mention
Something I love to eat at the restaurant is fish-based dishes, especially Spaghetti allo Scoglio. The plate it’s always a lot of spaghetti with different seafood which includes clams, prawns, mussels and calamari. The sauce that turns out is juicy, with a taste of parsley and garlic.
Special Mention
Although its not a something you eat, coffee smell in bars on a Sunday morning is the special mention. I think there’s nothing more Italian than the smell of fresh brewed coffee. It’s just so perfect, and it feels like home.
