DCAS 208:

INTERNATIONAL CUISINE

ITALY
DIPLOMA IN CULINARY ARTS

BY LIYANA SHAHIMIN
 What strikes your
mind when you hear
the word ‘Italy’?
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 ITALY
• Italy is a long, thin peninsula
that extends from the
southern coast of Europe.
• The country has a coastline
of about 4,700 miles,
bordered by the Adriatic
Sea to the east, the Ionian
Sea to the south, the
Tyrrhenian Sea to the west,
and the Ligurian Sea to the
northwest.

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 ITALY
• On a map, the Italian
peninsula resembles a tall
boot extending into the
Mediterranean Sea
toward the northern coast
of the African continent,
which at its closest point is
only about 90 miles away.

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 ITALY
• Italy includes a number of
islands; the largest two
are Sicily and Sardinia.
• It has two small
independent states within
its borders: the Republic
of San Marino and
Vatican City.

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HISTORY
• Italy has been ruled by emperors,
popes, monarchs, democratically
elected presidents, and prime
ministers.
• The country has experienced periods
of astonishing development, from the
grandeur of the Roman Empire and
the beauty of the Renaissance to
devastating wars in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries and an
economic boom in the 1960s.

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 HISTORY
• The migrations of Indo-European
peoples into Italy probably began
about 2000 B.C. and continued to
1000 B.C. Know as the Etruscans, this
founding civilization ruled from about
the ninth century B.C. until they were
overthrown by the Romans in the
third century B.C. By 264 B.C., much
of Italy was under the leadership of
Rome.
• For the next seven centuries, until the
barbarian invasions destroyed the
western Roman Empire in the fourth
and fifth centuries A.D., the history of
Italy is largely the history of Rome.
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HISTORY
• From A.D. 800 on, the Holy Roman
Emperors, Roman Catholic popes,
Normans, and Saracens all fought
for control over various segments
of the Italian peninsula.
• Numerous city-states, such as
Venice and Genoa, whose
political and commercial rivalries
were intense, as well as many
small principalities, flourished in
the late Middle Ages.
• The commercial prosperity of
northern and central Italian cities,
beginning in the eleventh
century, combined with the
influence of the Renaissance
starting in the fourteenth century,
reduced the effects of these
medieval political rivalries.
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HISTORY
• Followed by a monarchy, a dictatorship,
and a new Italian government after World
War II, Italy has maintained its unity. Today,
Italy is officially the Italian Republic, with
twenty regions that are based primarily on
history and culture.

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 Italians trace their culinary heritage to
Romans, Greeks, Etruscans, and other
Mediterranean peoples who developed the
THE PEOPLE methods of raising, refining, and preserving
foods.

Dining customs acquired local accents

influenced both by culture and a land
divided by mountains and seas.

Additionally, independent-minded spirits

developed among the regions during the
repeated shifts of ruling powers that
fragmented Italy throughout history.

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• Because of its geographical
position, Italy has direct contact
with and the influence of the
main ethnic and cultural areas
of old Europe (neo-Latin,
Germanic, and Slavic-Balkan
areas) as well as through North
African countries, along with the
world of Arab-Islamic
civilizations.

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The Food

• Italians are very proud

of their cuisine since
their food is renowned
throughout the world.
Italian cooking is still,
however, very
regional, with different
towns and regions
having their own
traditions and
specialties.

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The Food
• The Tomato, one of the signature
ingredients of Italian cuisine,
however, it did not exist in Italy until
Columbus brought some back from
the New World after his voyage.

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THE FOOD
Pasta in the south is
Olive oil is the principal normally tubular-shaped
cooking oil in the south. and made from eggless
Butter is preferred in most of dough, while in the north it is
the north. usually flat, ribbon-shaped,
and egg-enriched.

Northern cooks strive more

for subtleties. Antipasto
Southern cooks season
means “before the meal”
more assertively than
and is the traditional first
northern ones, using garlic
course of a formal Italian
and lots of strong herbs.
meal and may consist of
many things.

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 The most traditional offerings are cured
meats, marinated vegetables, olives,
pepperoncini (marinated small
peppers) and various cheeses.

Other common food in Italy is

The Food anchovies & bruschetta (toasted
bread) – serve with meats or cheeses.

The antipasto is usually topped off with

some olive oil.

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NORTHERN ITALY
• Northern Italy encompasses eight
of the country’s twenty regions:
• Emilia-Romagna
• Fruili-Venezia Giulia
• Liguria
• Lombardy
• Piedmont
• Trentino-South Tyrol
• Asota Valley
• Veneto

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 Food in Northern Italy
These eight regions boast the nation’s highest standard of
living and its richest diet in terms of both abundance and
variety.
The plains that extend along the Po and lesser rivers from
Piedmont to the northern rim of the Adriatic proliferate
with grain, corn, rice, fruit, livestock, and dairy products.
Vineyards on slopes along the great arc formed by the
Alps and Apennines mountains are Italy’s prime sources of
premium wine.
Northern Italy also has a flourishing tourist trade on the
Italian Riviera, in the Alps, and on the shores of its lakes.

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
 The cuisine here is characterized by the use of
butter (or lard), rice, corn (for polenta), and
cheeses for cream sauces.

An exception would be the olive oils of the Liguria

and the Lakes regions.

Pasta in the north is less popular than risotto and

FOOD IN NORTHERN polenta.
ITALY
Seafood and shellfish are very popular on the
coasts, and rivers and streams provide carp and
trout.

The eight northern regions produce about a third of

Italian wine

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• Emilia Romagna Known as “Italy’s
Food Basket,” this area produces
some of the country’s most famous
foods, including Prosciutto de
Parma, Mortadella, Parmigiana-
Reggiano, and balsamic vinegar.
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia Slavic, Austrian,
and Hungarian influences make the
cuisine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia unique.
Trieste, the region’s capital, straddles
the Adriatic Sea and has long been
the gateway to the East; the city’s
Viennese sausage, goulash,
cabbage soups, and strudel pastries
come from years under Austro-
Hungarian rule. To the cooking of the
Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a pungent
fermented turnip preparation known
as brovada, served alongside spiced
pork dishes.
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• Liguria Ligurian cuisine is called cucina del
ritorno, or “homecoming” cooking, as a tribute to
the sailors who would return home after months
at sea.
• Fish dominates the menu, found in soups, stews,
and salads. Liguria’s best-known seafood
specialty is burida, a seafood stew made with
various fishes.
• The most famous of dish from Liguria is its basil
pesto sauce. Traditionally basil, olive oil, garlic,
pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese are put in a
mortar and pounded with a pestle to achieve a
smooth sauce.
• Gnocchi also popular in this region. Gnocchi can
be made with ingredients such as squash, bread,
and semolina flour; and they can be flavoured
mixing the dough with spinach, saffron, and
even truffles. They are boiled in water or broth,
and like pasta, they can be dressed in many
sauces such as pesto, tomato, butter and
cheese. Today, gnocchi are primarily made with
potatoes.
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• Lombardy The region’s capital city of Milan is
the most modern and cosmopolitan of cities
and the cutting-edge fashion center of Italy.
Lombardy occupies the central part of the Po
Valley. It is known for its rice dishes including
minestrone alla Milanese, made with
vegetables, rice, and bacon. Risotto alla
Milanese is a creamy dish of braised short-grain
rice blended with meat stock, saffron, and
cheese.
• Cream sauces are more popular here than in
other regions.
• Meat (especially veal) is most popular. The
internationally renowned dish osso buco is veal
shank braised with tomato, onion, stock, and
wine, then topped with gremolata, a garnish
made with parsley, garlic, and lemon rind.
• Regional Lombard cheeses include the blue-
veined Gorgonzola, the creamy and mild Bel
Paese, mascarpone, and the surface-ripened
Taleggio. Panettone is the cherished Italian
holiday bread. The traditional recipe calls for This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

using nothing but white wheat flour, sugar, top-

quality butter, eggs, and sultana raisins.

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• Piedmont Piedmont means “the foot of
the mountains” in Italian.
• The white Alba truffle is considered the
most delicious and sought-after truffle in
the world. An uncultivable mushroom,
the valuable fungus can only be found
between the months of November and
February, in a few spots in France and
Italy, including the Piedmont region.
• Italians eat them raw, shaved paper-thin
over egg dishes, in plain pastas (dressed
only with butter and cheese), fonduta
(fondue), risotto, and other light foods.
Bagna cauda is dipping sauce made
with olive oil, chopped garlic,
anchovies, butter, and sometimes sliced
white truffles

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CENTRAL ITALY
• Central Italy encompasses
six of the country’s regions:
• Abruzzo
• Latium
• Marches
• Molise
• Tuscany
• Umbria

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• Abruzzo This region is sparsely populated and
geographically diverse. It is known for its livestock
production and farming, the growing and production
of the highly prized herb saffron, and an abundance
of seafood specialties. Pasta, vegetables, and meat
(especially lamb and pork) are the staples of this
region.
• The pasta most often associated with Abruzzo is
maccheroni alla chitarra, a square spaghetti, it is
named after the device used in its production, made
of a wooden box strung with steel wire, resembles a
guitar. This is traditionally served with a lamb, tomato,
and pepperoncino sauce, sprinkled with local
pecorino (sheep’s milk) cheese. The red chile pepper
peperoncino is known as diavolino, or little devil, and
is a key ingredient in the cuisine of this area.
• The region’s cheeses include a vast assortment of
pecorino, and scamorza, a close relative of
mozzarella. Three types of wine are predominant:
Montepulciano, a robust red; Cerasuolo, a rose ́; and
Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, a crisp white.

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• Tuscany The Etruscans, who likely hailed
originally from Asia Minor, settled primarily
in Tuscany around 1000 B.C., planting
vines and olive groves and spreading
their cultural and culinary influence as far
as the islands of Corsica and Elba.
• The region is home to the extra-virgin
Tuscan olive oil, an intense oil with a
green to golden colour.
• Florence offers its famous alla fiorentina
steak and specialties that include ribollita
(a thick vegetable soup), fagioli
all’uccelletto(beans autéed in garlic and
sage with tomatoes),and fagioli al
fiasco(beans with oil, onions, and herbs
cooked in a round bottle over a coal fire.

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• Seafood dishes include triglie (red
mullet) and a delicious fish soup
known as Cacciucco alla Livornese.
Known as “strong bread” and once
considered an aphrodisiac,
panforte is a cake containing
almonds, honey, candied lemon
and orange peel, flour, sugar, and
spices. Tuscan wines are known
worldwide, including Chianti, which
comes in both red and white
varieties.

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• Umbria Nicknamed “The
Green Heart of Italy,” Umbria
is just southeast of Tuscany. It
relies on pork for most of its
classic preparations, and its
pork butchers are said to be
the best in Italy: every scrap
of the pig is put to good use.
Specialties like guanciale (the
salted and cured meat from
the pig’s cheek) are added
to pasta sauces and pots of
fava beans or peas. Norcia in
the Apennine foothills is the
home of Italy’s best black
truffles (tartufo nero).
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• Many types of handmade pasta
like strozzapreti (priest stranglers)
are not typically found outside
Umbria. Besides homemade
fresh egg pastas, the production
of much of the dried pasta
consumed throughout Italy
occurs in Umbria.
• The wines of Umbria rank among
Italy’s finest. They include
Orvieto, Rosso di Montefalco,
Sagrantino di Montefalco, and
vin santo, a sweet dessert wine
often consumed with biscotti.
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 SOUTHERN ITALY
• Southern Italy, often referred to
as the Mezzogiorno,
encompasses four of the
country’s regions:
• Basilicata
• Campania
• Calabria
• Apulia (Puglia)
and the islands of:
• Sicily
• Sardinia

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• Campania Best known around the world for
its pizza, Campania’s cuisine relies on
vegetables and herbs, capers, dried pasta,
and fresh farmhouse cheeses. In the
nineteenth century, people living in the
capital city of Naples were nicknamed
mangia maccheroni (maccheroni eaters)
and to this day, Neapolitans remain
devoted pasta eaters. Their pasta is
considered among the best and the most
varied in all of Italy. Italian food would not
be the same without spaghetti with
pommarola, the famous tomato sauce.
• The volcanic soils of Campania grow some
of the best produce in Italy, including San
Marzano tomatoes, peaches, grapes,
apricots, figs, oranges, and lemons.
Campania’s most famous cheese is
mozzarella di bufalo campania, made from
the milk of local water buffalos.
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• The region is also renowned for its fish
and seafood specialties. Octopus is
tenderized by stewing it in a sealed clay
pot with olive oil, garlic, capers, olives,
and parsley or with chiles and
tomatoes. Squid and cuttlefish are
boiled and served in salads, stuffed and
baked, or fried into rings, while mussels
and clams are cooked and tossed with
handmade pasta or added to seafood
salads.

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• Sicily The cuisine reflects the
many invaders in this island’s
history and focuses on
seafood (swordfish, tuna,
mussels, prawns, sea bass, red
mullet, anchovies, and more),
eggplant, tomatoes,
potatoes, beans and other
vegetables, pecorino and
many other cheeses, figs,
capers, olives, almonds, pine
nuts, fennel, raisins, lemons,
and oranges. In parts of Sicily
there are sweet-and-sour
combinations like capers with
sugar in caponata, a mix of
eggplant, tomatoes, celery,
olives, and capers cooked
with vinegar and sugar.
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• The ceci, or chickpea, has played an
important role in Sicilian history and is
well represented in the diet. Panella is
a thin paste made of crushed ceci
and served fried. Maccu is a creamy
soup made from the same bean.
Pasta is often served with a rich, spicy
tomato sauce. Popular seafood dishes
include grilled swordfish or snapper,
finocchio con le sarde (fennel with
sardines), and sepia (cuttlefish) served
in its own black sauce with pasta. The
best known Sicilian meat dish is vitello
al Marsala (veal marsala)
• Many desserts are derived from Arab
and Greek influences and are made
with almond pastes, candied fruits,
ricotta, honey, raisins, and nuts. The
best-known wine is Marsala, which is
dark and strong.
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• Sardinia The island of Sardinia has been inhabited
since the Neolithic age. Phoenician, Greek, Arab,
Spanish, and French invaders have come and gone,
marking the local language, customs, and cuisine. The
mountainous inland terrain is home to wild animals
(boar, mountain goat, and hare), which are
transformed into pasta sauces, stews, and roasts.
Lamb, the island’s favourite meat, is often cooked with
wild fennel, and sheep’s milk cheese appears at nearly
every meal. Spicy fish soups called burrida and
cassola, along with lobsters, crabs, anchovies, squid,
clams, and fresh sardines are all very popular along the
Sardinian coast. Favourite Sardinian pasta dishes
include spaghetti con bottarga, with dried gray mullet
roe shaved on top, and malloreddus, gnocchi
flavoured with saffron and served with tomato sauce.
Culingiones are round ravioli stuffed with spinach and
cheese. Sardinia is known for its rustic sheep and goat
cheeses like Pecorino Sardo and Fiore Sardo.

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DAYTIME MEAL STRUCTURE

• Italian breakfast (prima colazione) consists of caffè

latte (hot milk with coffee) or coffee with bread or rolls,
Breakfast butter and jam. A cookie-like rusk hard bread,
called fette biscottate, and cookies are commonly
(Colazione) eaten. If breakfast is eaten in a bar (coffee shop), it is
composed of cappuccino and cornetto
or espresso and pastry.

• Lunch is usually regarded as the most important meal.

Most shops close for the pausa pranzo (lunch break)
Lunch between 13:00 and 15:00. A typical Italian lunch
consists of a first course il primo (pasta, rice or similar), a
(Pranzo) second-course il secondo (meat or fish) served
together with a side dish il contorno (vegetable or
salad), fruit, dessert and coffee.
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DAYTIME MEAL STRUCTURE

• Merenda is often like breakfast, and might

Mid-afternoon consist of a hot milky drink with bread and
honey/jam or brioches; other foods are also
snack eaten, such as yogurt, gelato, granita, fruit
(Merenda) salad (or just fruit), nuts, biscuits and cookies,
cake, sweets, etc.

• For cena, people tend to eat sometimes a

primo, sometimes a secondo. Or at least they
Supper (Cena) can eat the food unfinished during
lunch. Panino is often consumed as cena as
well.
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 ARANCINI

PASTA
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PIZZA
 PROSCUITTO

LASAGNE
OSSO BUCO ALLA MILANESE

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 GELATO

TIRAMISU RIBOLLITA

SALTIMBOCCA

TORONE

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In conclusion, Italy has so much culinary history and
the cuisine has strong influence by their history where
they were invaded by many different cultures and
races. By having these influences, they have variety of
interesting dishes and this cuisine was widely gain its
popularity all over the world especially for pasta and
pizza.

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