Italian Cuisine Recipes

There are numerous delicious Italian cuisine recipes that are popular across the world. Here is an article that introduces you with some of the finest Italian food recipes...
Italian cuisine needs no introduction since it is one of the most popular food cultures of the world. It is an ever developing type of cuisine with huge impact of various food cultures across the world. Italian cuisine has been influenced by various of its culinary counterparts like Arab, Jewish, Etruscan, ancient Roman, ancient Greek and Byzantine cuisines. Italian food dishes, their ingredients and condiments vary greatly according to the region where they originated. However, coffee or espresso, cheese and wine are three main parts of Italian cuisine. As I said earlier, compiling the whole history of Italian food at a single stretch, is not practically possible. It is the reason why I am here today with a few Italian cuisine that are popular, delectable and traditional. These Italian food recipes may not sound appealing to those who are in search of popular Italian foods that we usually have in restaurants, but they are surely a real treat for the people who wish to explore this delicious food culture.

Authentic Italian Cuisine

Italian cuisine is often referred as one of the best examples of world's best cuisines. It is a perfect combination of various cultures that collaborated in Italy, during the period of Italian unification. However, it is often mentioned that authentic Italian recipes evolved from the traditional Mediterranean food culture. Italian food mainly contains fresh fruits, vegetables and fish rather than meat, various types of breads, roasted meats, baked pies, stuffed pastries, pastas, types of cheese, pickled vegetables, etc. Traditional Italian meal is divided into 7 courses, namely: Anti-Pasto or appetizer, Primo (soup, pasta, risotto), Secondo (main dish, fish and meat), Contorno (salad or side dish), Dolce (dessert), Caffee (espresso) and Liqueurs which is also referred as coffee killer - wine! Here are the details.

Antipasto
First course of Italian cuisine is called Antipasto. In English, we can call them as the dishes that are served before pasta. This course contains hot as well as cold yet delectable appetizer recipes made using some local food products. Primo
The prime course of Italian food recipes is called primo. During this course, many types of pasta, risotto, soup and such light dishes are served. Secondo
Second course of Italian cuisine is actually the main course. This course is called Secondo and it contains all the main Italian dishes made of rice, meat and fish. Apart from those mentioned below, dishes like pancetta, prosciutto di parma, prosciutto cotto, salame, bistecca fiorentina (steak florentine), fritto misto di pesce, frittata di bianchetti, zuppa di pesce (fish soup), riso con piselli or risi e bisi (rice with peas), etc. are also served for the second course of Italian meal. Contorno
An interesting fact about Italian cuisine is that salads and side dished are always served after the main course. It means, if you are at a traditional Italian restaurant you will have to save place for the side dishes after the main course. Dolce
After all the scrumptious Italian pastas and main course dishes, come the extremely palatable Italian dessert recipes. This is only the fifth course of an Italian meal, which is called Dolce. As the name suggests, Dolce is the course of various mouth-watering dessert recipes like Macedonia fresh fruit salad recipes and anisette cookies for your sweet tooth. Caffee
After the desserts, is the time to have some steaming hot espresso with that superb layer of froth on top. Italian coffee is adored worldwide, no wonder it is the sixth course of traditional Italian cuisine. Apart from those mentioned below, coffee types like espresso, ristretto, grolla dell'amicizia (made of coffee and grappa), marocchino, macchiato, corretto, bicerin (hot chocolate, coffee and whipped cream), etc. are also popularly savored in Italy.
Liqueurs
Now we come to the seventh and the final course of Italian cuisine. This course is also called the coffee killer course that consists of some alcoholic beverages that belong to various regions of Italy. Most of the time, Italian wine and liquor types like Amaro, pale lager, Limoncello, or lemon liqueur, Campari, various savory martini recipes, Vermouth, Grappa or prosecco, which is a substitute for French champagne. are served during the course of liqueurs.

So, you were thinking that Italian food is only about pastas and pizzas! As you can see now, there are numerous other Italian cooking recipes that have helped in increasing the richness of Italian food culture apart from the authentic Italian pizza. As a matter of fact, in this article we will get to know about some typical Italian food recipes belonging to various Italian provinces, namely, north, central and south. But, before that, let's find out some sauce recipes that are required for almost all the Italian recipes. Northern Italian Cuisine

Various regions of Italy that belong to the northern province are: Val d'Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Liguria. Northern Italian cuisine is characterized by olive oil, tomato sauce, pastas, lard (butter), corn, cream sauces, rice and of course loads of cheese! Some of the most popular northern Italian food recipes are: basil pesto sauce with trenette (trenette pasts with basil pesto sauce), zuppa di datteri (shellfish soup), ravioli, pandolce Genovese (fruit and nut, sweet Italian pizza), prosciutto, guguluf (ring cake), gnocchi (dumplings), risi e bisi (rice with peas), white truffles, veal chops with fontina cheese, etc.

Central Italian Cuisine

Most of the world famous Italian dishes hail from the central provinces of Italy. Central region of Italy is the motherland of rich oils, popular types of cheese, cured meats various types of Italian sauces, delicious beef recipes, seafood delicacies and basically, a LOT OF FOOD! Italian regions that belong to the central Italy are: Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria mountainous region, Lazio, Rome, Abruzzi and Molise. All these regions share some interesting heritage of mouth-watering Italian food recipes and different types of cheese like Pecorino, Caciocavallo, Scamorza and Latticing, Pecorino and Casciotta d'Urbino, pecorino cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, etc. Lasagna, Cappelletti or egg pasta, Spongata tart, Pesto di Modena, Crema paradiso or creamed bacon, Panini sandwich, Filone bread, Capocollo sausage, coppa sausage, different types of red wine and white wine, etc. popular dishes belong to the central region of Italy.

Southern Italian Cuisine

Southern region of Italy is said to be the heart of the Italian food culture. Regions of the southern province of Italy are: Campania, Sicily, Sardinia, Puglia, Calabria and Basilicata. These regions of southern Italy are rich with a variety of vegetables, fruits, especially citrus fruits, durum wheats (pasta), vineyards, olive groves, etc. Some of the best olive oil of the world is exported from southern Italy. This area is also a rich source of seafood like clams, tuna, sea urchins and anchovies. Similar to rest of the Italy, these regions are also popular for some of the delicious types of cheese like Caciocavallo, Canestrato, Ricotta, Mozzarella, Pecorino, Pecorino Sardo and Fiore Sardo, Scamorza and many other types of cheese made of goat and sheep milk. This region also produces some of the finest types of wine like Marsala, Malvasia, Etna and Lipari, Greco di Tufo, Lacryma Christi, Taurasi, Vesuvio, Castel del Monte and a few other popular white and red wines.

Well, then, as I said earlier, Italian cuisine or Italian cooking culture is a really vast and interesting topic to discuss. I hope the information that the above write-up about Italian cuisine recipes, was found comprehensive! Enjoy!
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Last Updated: 9/20/2011
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