Italian food is one of the world's most loved cuisines, yet most people know only a handful of dishes. In Italy, food is intensely regional: what people eat in Milan has little in common with what they eat in Palermo, and each of Italy's 20 regions guards its own recipes, cheeses, cured meats and wines. The Mediterranean diet, shared by Italy and several neighbouring countries, is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, as is the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo. This guide goes beyond pizza and pasta to explore the regional dishes worth seeking out.

How Italians eat

A traditional full meal has several courses: antipasto (starters), primo (a first course of pasta, rice or soup), secondo (meat or fish) with a contorno (vegetable side), and dolce (dessert), followed by espresso. Few people eat all of these every day, but the structure explains why pasta is usually a modest first course, not a huge main dish. Cappuccino is a breakfast drink; ordering one after lunch or dinner marks you as a tourist.

The North: rice, butter and slow cooking

  • Risotto: the Po Valley's rice fields make risotto a staple of Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto. Risotto alla milanese is coloured with saffron and enriched with bone marrow; Venice makes risotto al nero di seppia with cuttlefish ink.
  • Ossobuco: Milanese braised veal shanks with white wine and vegetables, finished with gremolata (lemon zest, garlic and parsley) and often served with saffron risotto. The marrow is the prized part.
  • Polenta: cornmeal porridge, served soft or grilled, common in the Alps and Veneto.
  • Bollito misto: a Piedmontese feast of mixed boiled meats served with salsa verde and mostarda, a spicy candied-fruit condiment.
  • Vitello tonnato: cold sliced veal with a creamy tuna-caper sauce, a summer classic from Piedmont.

Liguria and Venice: the coast

Liguria gave the world pesto alla genovese, made with basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano, pecorino and olive oil. Its focaccia is dimpled and generously oiled, while focaccia di Recco is a thin, crisp bread filled with soft cheese and protected as a PGI product. In Venice, locals graze on cicchetti — small bites such as creamed salt cod (baccalà mantecato) on crostini, sarde in saor (sweet-and-sour sardines) and meatballs — in wine bars called bacari, with a glass of wine (an "ombra").

Central Italy: Rome, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna

  • Emilia-Romagna is often called Italy's food capital: it produces Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena, all protected designations under EU rules. Bologna's ragù and tortellini in brodo are local icons.
  • Tuscany is known for simple, hearty food: ribollita (bread and vegetable soup), bistecca alla fiorentina (a thick T-bone steak grilled rare) and pecorino cheese.
  • Rome's cuisine includes the famous pastas cacio e pepe, carbonara and amatriciana, but also saltimbocca, carciofi alla giudia (fried artichokes from the Roman Jewish tradition) and abbacchio scottadito, grilled lamb chops eaten hot off the grill with your fingers.

The South and the islands

  • Naples: pizza napoletana, but also fried pizza, sfogliatella pastries and ragù napoletano simmered for hours on Sundays.
  • Parmigiana di melanzane: layers of fried aubergine, tomato sauce, mozzarella or caciocavallo and Parmigiano, baked until bubbling, claimed by Campania, Sicily and Calabria.
  • Sicily: arancini (fried rice balls filled with ragù or ham and cheese), caponata (sweet-and-sour aubergine), pasta alla norma, and cannoli filled with ricotta. Arab rule left a legacy of citrus, almonds, saffron and sweets.
  • Puglia: orecchiette pasta, burrata cheese and excellent olive oil.
  • Sardinia: pane carasau flatbread, culurgiones (stuffed pasta) and slow-roasted suckling pig.

Pasta shapes and the sauces that go with them

Italians match pasta shapes to sauces carefully. Long, thin pasta such as spaghetti and linguine suits olive oil, tomato and seafood sauces; flat ribbons such as tagliatelle and pappardelle, traditionally made with egg in the north, carry rich meat ragù; and short shapes with ridges or hollows, such as rigatoni and penne, trap chunky sauces. Filled pastas — tortellini, ravioli, agnolotti — are regional treasures, often served in broth or simply with butter and sage. Fresh egg pasta is typical of the north, while dried durum-wheat pasta dominates the south, where Gragnano near Naples has been a pasta-making centre for centuries.

Wine and aperitivo

Every region makes wine, from Piedmont's Barolo and Barbaresco to Tuscany's Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino, Veneto's Prosecco and Amarone, and Sicily's Nero d'Avola. In the early evening, aperitivo culture — a Spritz, Negroni or glass of wine with small snacks — bridges work and dinner, especially in Milan, Turin and Venice. Dinner usually starts later than in northern Europe or North America, often around 8pm, and later still in the south.

Protected foods and what the labels mean

Italy has more EU-protected food and wine names than any other country, according to the EU's geographical indications register (eAmbrosia). Look for DOP (protected designation of origin) and IGP (protected geographical indication) labels: they guarantee a product comes from a specific area and follows traditional methods. That is why "Parmigiano Reggiano" can only be made in a defined zone, while "parmesan" sold elsewhere may be quite different.

Cheese and cured meats

Italy produces hundreds of cheeses, from fresh mozzarella di bufala in Campania and burrata in Puglia to aged Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Gorgonzola and Pecorino Romano. Cured meats (salumi) are equally regional: prosciutto from Parma and San Daniele, mortadella from Bologna, 'nduja, a spicy spreadable salami, from Calabria, and lardo di Colonnata from Tuscany.

Festive foods

Panettone, a tall domed sweet bread with candied fruit and raisins, comes from Milan; pandoro, a star-shaped buttery bread dusted with icing sugar, from Verona. Both take days to make and are eaten at Christmas. At Easter, the dove-shaped colomba cake is traditional.

Tips for eating well in Italy

  • Eat seasonally: menus change with the produce, from spring artichokes to autumn truffles and porcini.
  • Look for trattorie and osterie with short handwritten menus rather than long multilingual ones near tourist sites.
  • A coperto (cover charge) of a few euros per person is normal; tipping is optional, and rounding up is common.
  • Lunch is often the main meal outside big cities, and many restaurants close between lunch and dinner.

For practical information on living costs if you are planning a longer stay, see our Italy country guide. The Italian National Tourist Board also publishes regional food itineraries.