What are the characteristics of Italian Cuisine?

Answer 1

Italian cuisine is extremely varied: the country of Italy was only unified in 1861, and its cuisines reflect the cultural variety of its regions and its diverse history (with culinary influences from Greek, Roman, Norman and Arab civilizations). Italian cuisine is imitated all over the world.
To a certain extent, there is really no such thing as Italian cuisine in the way that one usually understands national cuisines. Each area has its own proud specialties, primarily at regional level, but also even at provincial level. Italian cuisine is not only highly regionalised, it is very seasonal. The high priority placed on the use of fresh, seasonal produce distinguishes the cuisine of Italy from the imitations available in most other countries.

Regional differences

Roman cuisine, for example, uses a lot of pecorino (sheep milk cheese) and offal (frattaglie, frattaje in dialect), while Tuscan cooking features white beans, meat, and unsalted bread. Pizza also varies across the country, the crusts of pizzas in Rome are thin as crackers, while Neapolitan pizza and Sicilian pizza is thicker.

The influence of Northern Italian cuisine can be seen in French and German cuisines. Piemonte and Lombardia each grow their own different kind of rices, which are used to make risotto. The North of Italy is the home of polenta. Emilia-Romagna is known for lasagna and tortellini (stuffed pasta), mortadella, prosciutto, and parmigiano. Naples (Napoli) is the home of pizza, mozzarella cheese and pastries (babà, sfogliatelle). Calabria's cuisine uses a lot of hot pepper for its distinctive salami (that are common, in several varieties, throughout the country) and uses capsicum. Sicily is the home of gelato (ice cream) and granita but its cuisine also has many influences from Arab cuisine (lemon, pistachio) and also includes fish (tuna, swordfish). Sardinia is famous for lamb and pecorino. Every province (sub-division of a Region) has proper desserts and many other recipes.

Northern versus Southern Italian cooking
Traditional Italian cuisine is very regional and does not follow strict North-South patterns. To most, northern and southern Italian cuisines are differentiated primarily by the north using more butter and creams and the south more tomato. In general terms, however, there is a marked difference between regional use of cooking fat and traditional style of pasta. Inland northern and north-eastern regions tend to favour more butter, cream, polenta, mascarpone, grana padano, and parmigiano cheeses, risotto, lasagna and fresh egg pasta. Coastal northern and central regions are somewhat of a bridge between north and south and often use tortellini, ravioli and are known for prosciutto. The southern regions are traditionally known for mozzarella, caciocavallo, and pecorino cheeses, olive oil, and dried pasta. Southern Italian cuisine also makes far greater use of the ubiquitous tomato.

Types of Italian coffee
Italian coffee (it: caffè also known as espresso) is a strong coffee prepared by forcing live steam under pressure, or boiling water, through ground dark-roast coffee beans. It is usually served in a demi-tasse in relatively small quantity. Caffè macchiato is a demi-tasse of espresso topped with a bit of steamed milk or foam. Caffè ristretto is a shortened (less water) version of espresso resulting in a stronger taste. Caffelatte is generally equal parts espresso and steamed milk, similar to cafè au lait, and is typically served in a regular cup. A cappuccino is espresso mixed or topped with steamed, mostly frothy, milk.

Italian wines
Italian cuisine cannot be separated from Italian Wine. Most Italian wines of great renown are produced in three main Italian regions: Piemonte (Barolo), Veneto (Amarone, Pinot Grigio, etc.) and Toscana (Chianti, Brunello). Other great wine producing regions such as Puglie (Primitivo) and Sicily (Planeta) also produce some highly respected wines.

Traditional menu structure

A traditional Italian menu consists of:
antipasto - hot or cold appetizers
primo ("first course"), usually consists of a hot dish like pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta or soup. There are usually abundant vegetarian options.
secondo ("second course"), the main dish, usually fish or meat (pasta is never the main course of a meal). Traditionally veal is the most commonly used meat, at least in the North, though beef has become more popular since World War II and wild game is very popular, particularly in Tuscany.
contorno ("side dish") may consist of a salad or vegetables. A traditional menu features salad after the main course.
dolce ("dessert")
caffè ("coffee") (espresso)
liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro, limoncello) sometimes referred to as ammazzacaffè ("Coffee killer")

One notable and often surprising aspect of an Italian meal, especially if eaten in an Italian home, is that the primo, or first course, is usually the more filling dish, providing most of the meal's carbohydrates, and will consist of either risotto or pasta (both being excellent sources). The secondo, or second course, which in French or British cuisine really is the main course, is often scant in comparison. The exception to this tends to be in Tuscany, where a traditional menu would see soup served as a primo and a hefty meat dish as the secondo.

Holiday Cuisine

Italians celebrate each holiday with a different cuisine, each in turn having a specific meaning.
At Christmas, Italians will celebrate the birth of Jesus serving as first course tortellini. The typical cake then is Panettone.

On Christmas Eve they have a variation of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Then a symbolic fast is observed (the so-called "cena di magro", the "light dinner") excluding meat but including many courses which are not by any means light, based mainly on fish and other seafood, but also on snails, even frogs, which curiously enough are not considered "meat".

La Festa di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day in English) is the feast day of St. Joseph. In Sicily, many Italian-American communities, and other Italian communities worldwide, thanks are given to St. Joseph ("San Giuseppe" in Italian) for preventing a famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages. The fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation, and is a traditional part of St. Joseph's Day altars and traditions. Other customs celebrating this festival include wearing red clothing, eating Sicilian pastries known as Zeppole and giving food to the needy.

On Easter Sunday, lamb-based dishes are commonly served throughout both northern and southern Italy. Typical at Easter Sunday in Umbria and Tuscany is also a breakfast with Salami, boiled eggs, wine and easter Cakes and pizzas.

The Mediterranean diet

The cooking of coastal southern Italians was one of the inspirations of the so-called Mediterranean diet, which is incorrectly believed to be characteristic of Italian cuisine in general. An Italian writer remarks sarcastically:

Around 1975, under the impulse of one of those new nutritional directives by which good cooking is too often influenced, the Americans discovered the so-called Mediterranean diet.... The name... even pleased Italian government officials, who [renamed it] Mediterranean cuisine. They kept the American selection, which excluded ingredients which are historically indispensable for us, such as pork meat, pork fat, butter, and, in the quantities allowed by family budgets, the noble meats, veal and beef. It wasn't accepted that our true eating habits, extending over the greatest part of our national territory, was middle European, and not the diet of coastal peoples.

Answer 2

Characteristics Of Italian Cuisine

Answer 3

Each area has its own proud specialties, primarily at regional level, but also even at provincial level. Italian cuisine is not only highly regionalised, it is very seasonal. The high priority placed on the use of fresh, seasonal produce distinguishes the cuisine of Italy from the imitations available in most other countries.
Roman cuisine, for example, uses a lot of pecorino (sheep milk cheese) and offal (frattaglie, frattaje in dialect), while Tuscan cooking features white beans, meat, and unsalted bread. Pizza also varies across the country, the crusts of pizzas in Rome are thin as crackers, while Neapolitan pizza and Sicilian pizza is thicker. The influence of Northern Italian cuisine can be seen in French and German cuisines. Piemonte and Lombardia each grow their own different kind of rices, which are used to make risotto. The North of Italy is the home of polenta. Emilia-Romagna is known for lasagna and tortellini (stuffed pasta), mortadella, prosciutto, and parmigiano. Naples (Napoli) is the home of pizza, mozzarella cheese and pastries (babà, sfogliatelle). Calabria's cuisine uses a lot of hot pepper for its distinctive salami (that are common, in several varieties, throughout the country) and uses capsicum. Sicily is the home of gelato (ice cream) and granita but its cuisine also has many influences from Arab cuisine (lemon, pistachio) and also includes fish (tuna, swordfish). Sardinia is famous for lamb and pecorino. Every province (sub-division of a Region) has proper desserts and many other recipes

Northern versus Southern Italian cooking
Traditional Italian cuisine is very regional and does not follow strict North-South patterns. To most, northern and southern Italian cuisines are differentiated primarily by the north using more butter and creams and the south more tomato. In general terms, however, there is a marked difference between regional use of cooking fat and traditional style of pasta. Inland northern and north-eastern regions tend to favour more butter, cream, polenta, mascarpone, grana padano, and parmigiano cheeses, risotto, lasagna and fresh egg pasta. Coastal northern and central regions are somewhat of a bridge between north and south and often use tortellini, ravioli and are known for prosciutto. The southern regions are traditionally known for mozzarella, caciocavallo, and pecorino cheeses, olive oil, and dried pasta. Southern Italian cuisine also makes far greater use of the ubiquitous tomato.

Answer 4

Except pasta ?
They don't overcook the food so it keeps the flavor better.
Also the use a lot of basil,olive oil,healthy and not so heavy ingredients.I believe the Italian cuisine own it's success to it's simplicity!

Answer 5

Fresh ingredients that are in season.
Meals are centered around grains and vegetables with meats as an accent.
Simplicity in cooking and minimal saucing.

The signature of Italian cooking is that you can taste and identify the ingredients in the dish.

As compared to the french where the sauces are the key point.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

like both, fruits: berries, oranges, pears, peaches, dragonfruit, pomegranate.... Vegetables: CUCUMBERS, bok choy, green beans, broccoli,.... I actually guess the two are great.

Answer 8

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Italy is made up of twenty regions with distinct characteristics. Every town, every village, makes the same dish in vastly different ways, and every town and village has its proudest specialty. These cooking traditions define people's identities just as much as their dialects and their traditional costumes. Local cooking preferences and customs are shaped by geographic, historical, and climactic differences: some regions are landlocked and mountainous, others hug the sea and are hilly; some regions have absorbed Arab or Greek influences, others have been marked by the French or Austrians; some regions live under the dazzling Mediterranean sun most of the year, others have cold winters, snow, fog, and harsh winds. Italy is a small country (less than half the size of Texas), but it is one with a long and venerable history. From the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 to 1861, when it was finally unified under one kingdom, Italy was made up of independent city states, republics, and regions that spent much of their time fighting off encroaching neighbors and outside intruders. This, along with the fact that the large-scale exchange of culinary traditions among Italians is a recent phenomenon (linked to modern roads, technology, and an improved post-war economy), explains how Italy managed to maintain its varied cuisines into the twenty-first century. I prefer Lazio (Latium) This pastoral region is home to Rome, the capital of Italy, and much of its countryside remains as it must have been in the days of the Empire: quiet, dotted with sheep, the domain of farmers and shepherds who make a living in its hills and valleys. In Latium, lamb and pork are standard fare, and sheep's milk cheese is produced abundantly in small dairies and large cooperatives. Simple pastas made of flour and water and a wealth of vegetables round out the Roman larder. Spaghetti all'Amatriciana Spaghetti in Spicy Amatriciana Sauce Amatriciana is usually paired with bucatini (hollow spaghetti) in Rome, but it marries beautifully with spaghetti as well. Guanciale is made from the meat of the cheek and throat of a pig. The meat is salted, rubbed with pepper, and aged; less fatty than Pancetta, which is made from the belly of a pig, it is cooked in pasta sauces, with vegetables, and more. You will find Guanciale at specialty markets that import cured meats from Italy. ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ½ pound Guanciale or Pancetta, defatted and cut into ¼-inch cubes 1 medium yellow onion, minced 1 garlic clove, minced 1/8 teaspoon chili flakes 3 cups peeled, seeded, and diced plum tomatoes (or 16 canned San Marzano tomatoes, chopped) 2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon salt 1 pound spaghetti ¾ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus extra for passing at the table ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over a medium flame and add the Guanciale, onion, garlic, and chili. Cook until the Guanciale releases its fat, about 10 minutes, being careful not to brown it. Add the tomatoes and ½ teaspoon of the salt, bring to a boil, and cook until the sauce reduces somewhat, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Meanwhile, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and the remaining 2 tablespoons of salt and cook until al dente; drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss the spaghetti with the sauce, the reserved pasta cooking water, the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and ½ cup of the Pecorino, and sauté for 2 minutes. Transfer to a heated serving dish. Sprinkle with the freshly ground black pepper and the remaining ½ cup of Pecorino. Serve hot, passing additional Pecorino at the table. Serves 4 to 6 Step-By-Step Recipe Rigatoni Fatti a Mano con Cime di Rapa Homemade Rigatoni with Broccoli Raab Making fresh pasta is not at all difficult, and it's extremely gratifying. I love making all sorts of fresh pasta at home; some of the doughs I make use only all-purpose flour and eggs, others only semolina flour and water, and others still buckwheat flour, rye, or other grains. I also love combining all-purpose flour with semolina flour and eggs to create a deliciously rustic, toothsome pasta, like in the recipe below. Below is a versatile recipe for fresh rigatoni made with half all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour) and half semolina flour, plus eggs. Once the rigatoni are shaped, they can be dried, frozen, or cooked immediately. I use a handy machine called the Marcato Atlas Regina Pasta Extruder I ordered from a great online source, Fantes, to shape the rigatoni easily.