This Is the Biggest Mistake Travelers Make When Ordering Food in Italy, According to a Long-time Resident

“When you go to Italy, you will need to attempt the _______,” gushes your just-got-back-from-Italy pal. As if it have been ever that easy. In Italy, there are 20 totally different areas, lots of of regional dialects, and at the least 350 sorts of pasta. And that’s simply the pasta shapes, not the pasta sauce. The tradition of the nation, and particularly its delicacies, is something however monolithic.

That’s why proclaiming a single “must-try” dish in Italy is not simply inconceivable, it’s misguided. I’d by no means advocate you order pesto in Puglia any greater than I’d advocate you order handmade orecchiette in Liguria. Not since you received’t discover first rate variations, however as a result of they’re not regional specialties, and generations of residents there haven’t grown up cooking, consuming, and perfecting these dishes. Pizza in Venice? Most likely a go. However spaghetti con vongole? An enormous sure.

Regional dishes in Italy developed largely primarily based on what produce, livestock, or recreation was prevalent within the space. That’s why basil, which thrives in Liguria’s coastal microclimate, is the star of Genovese pesto. The durum wheat cultivated in southern Italy is the bottom for Puglia’s orecchiette pasta, usually paired with one other product of Puglian soil: turnip greens. And that’s why you’re higher off ordering fish or seafood in Venice, slightly than a mushroom and sausage pizza.

In my area of Umbria, pasta with wild boar or seasonal dishes with black truffles are specialties, however an hour south in Rome, you need to hunt down the most effective pasta carbonara or carciofi alla giudìa, the deep-fried artichokes which are an indicator of Rome’s Jewish group.

The easiest way to seek out the “must-try” dish of every area is to perform a little homework previous to your journey, and seek for the specialty of every area and metropolis you’re planning to go to. You’ll be able to seek for “finest locations to attempt X in X” lists, however chances are high these listicles are recycled from one another. Native tourism web sites and even your resort web site could provide tips about what to eat and the place to eat it. You can too ask your taxi driver, tour information, or concierge, and they’ll possible be blissful to opine about the most effective meals to eat of their metropolis or space.

When you’re visiting a number of locations in Italy, convey your urge for food, sense of journey, and style for brand spanking new meals and flavors. Simply bear in mind: it’s not all pizza, pasta and gelato—although admittedly, we do these fairly properly.