Food of Northern Italy

    Depending on who you talk to, the line of Northern Italy can be disputed but Rome is a good place to start. Food in Italy is something that has been changing as long people have occupied the land and it will continue to change. Rome is particularly important because it was a meeting place of a large diverse group of people over a very long history. The result of all this mixing of cultures especially pertaining to food had produced some of the best most enjoyable dishes in the world. 

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    Rome being as old as it is you would think it would be very complicated in what foods would represent it but surprisingly it’s not. The foods that are the most common in the recent past are the foods that are easily accessible in the area, like any other place in Italy. The type of food that is most interesting is the food that the everyday citizens eat not the foods the tourists eat because then you would have to jump from trend to trend. 

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Rome is in the Region of Lazio were the land is very fertile thanks to the natural topography and the leftover of volcanic ashes creating some of the best tasting produce in the world according to Diana Viola who is a writer who enjoys the study of Italian food and cooking.(Viola) In an article Viola comments on the famous saying that all roads lead to Rome and this is exactly true even today and this fact is what helped shape what Romans ate. Sheep herders would wonder into town providing sheep meat and milk; this made lamb the meat staple for the area. A writer for an Italian food and wine based website, Pacelli writes about how artichokes holds about as much importance as the lamb does for Roman food. Salted meats from pork were also important in this area and like many cultures the reason this started was to prolong the shelf life of the meat. What is interesting is many people today would turn down a fresh piece of meat for a good thin slice of salted meat proving that time doesn’t change good taste. The cheeses from this area Romano and ricotta made from the sheep milk which grazes in the area. The unique taste of this cheese will only be found their because of the land the sheep grazed in cannot be duplicated anywhere.(Pacelli)

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     Umbria this region is known for its sweets that are important during holidays and date back long into history celebrating many important traditions. An article was written by Logan Lessona talking about the theory of origin for many of the sweet treats that are still eaten by the people in Umbria and it is interesting to find out that the story is based on Native Saints to the area. This is another link between the strong faith the Italian people have and strong bond they have with their traditions that include food. The region is known for its wonderful sausage that has closely guarded secrets by the people who live there. The sausage is hog meat and the secret is how they make the sausage. Different parts of the hog are ground up and mixed with various ingredients including, pine nuts, orange peels, raisins, and sugar. (Lessona) 

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    Marche is known for its cooking with fish; the Italians in this area have an abundance of on hand and they have utilized in every way. The dishes in this area with fish go from fish stew to basic fried fish with some seasoning. Marche had its own type of fish stew called Brodetto.  According to Villa San Rafaelo website, the stew consisted of red and grey mullet, cuddle fish or squid, oil, garlic, and saffron served on toasted bread. They also cooked the native cod in this area and cooked mussels, clams, and bream. The people of Marche ate many different types of animal meats like rabbit, bore, and different species of birds. Marche has its own type of lasagna like many regions in Italy that is made with meat that is on hand and topped off with truffles from the area. 

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    Tuscany is known all over the world and immediately gives us a mental picture of what to expect but with further research, it is even grander than people think.  Tuscany has all of the traditional Italian foods that people are familiar with but they also have very unique type of foods that many people are not familiar with. The unique types of foods are the most important because these are usually the foods that kept people from hunger in hard times, like Garfagnana Biroldo which is a blood sausage. Like many dishes that were made in hardship it consists of harder to eat parts of the animal like pigs head. 

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    Emilia-Romagna is an area with all kinds of different ways to eat the food they have in this area. The many food inventions the Italians in this area have come up with are ingenious. A favorite of many is gnocchi. Gnocchi is basically a dumpling and there are a variety of ways to make them but for the most part they are potato and flour made into dough. The sauce that is used for the gnocchi can have wide variations but in this area many people favor eating it with cured meats. 

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    Veneto is the place where the famous Polenta is eaten by the locals. Polenta is another type of pasta that is distinct in the way that it is made. Polenta is grinded down cornmeal mixed constantly stirred for almost an hour. Polenta can be eaten in many different ways with different sauces; one way polenta is eaten is a dish called Pasticcio di polenta in which layers of fried polenta and stew of wood pigeon with mushrooms baked in pie crust (Massetti). Sea food is another food staple in this area because it is so accessible. Polenta and can be paired with numerous types of fish like Baccela. Baccela is a dried and salted codfish that many in the area enjoy on a regular basis. Food writer Massetti writes about how some make a cream called Baccala’ alla Visentina; it is often eaten as a starter.

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    Friuli Venezia Giuilia is one the more northeast regions of Italy and it borders Austria. The terrain is mountainous in a large part of the region not allowing for the great growing conditions that many other parts of Italy have. The regional food shows this by depending heavily on animal meats and salted hams. Prosciutto is one of their most famous salted pork’s but they have many more. The Austrian influence really shows through in dishes like Gulash which is a stew with various types of seafood that is caught and used.

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    Trentino Alto Adige is the Northern most region of Italy it also has very close cultural ties with their northern neighbors. Wine and food of Italy comment on the German influence on this areas food and “it’s hard to find the typical Italian flavors”.  This fact is what makes the area’s food so different from the rest of the country. The cold climate adds to the uniqueness because the types of foods that are available are of smaller quantities. A dish called “speck” which is pork cut into small pieces and seasoned with juniper, salt, pepper, garlic, laurel, and other spices. The meat is then hung and smoked. This process is another example of how people over time came up with great new ideas to adapt to their area.

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    Lombardy is an area where many dishes are cooked with butter. The many dishes in other nearby regions are enjoyed here with Lombardy’s type spin onto it. Cheese is an important food staple to this area and is prized by the locals. Taleggio cheese is named after a valley in the area and is soft and creamy. This cheese goes far back into history in this area adding to the importance. This type of cheese is fitted perfectly with other local dishes like Mostarda  di Cremona. A dish that is candied types of fruit like cherries, figs, and pears mixed with sugar and white mustard. 

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    Liguria is small region but often visited; they may have one of the busiest commercial ports. This area is filmed a lot and had a lot of little seaside resorts. Liguria is known for some of the best olive oils, herbs, and of course sea food. In this area you get many dishes that will show off these assets. They have their own types of fish soup depending on what the catch of day is spiced up with the herbs of the season. A popular dish in this area would be of vegetable that are in season usually egg plant and zucchini among others; smothered herbs with olive oil. In this region you won’t find many foods made with tomatoes; they favor pesto instead because of the availability of the ingredients.

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    The Aosta valley region is a cold region so they stick to the traditional cold weather food and beverages using what they produce there. They are known for cheeses that melt really well and taste great. The cheeses are melted down and almost anything but preferably toasted bread can be dipped (fondue). They enjoy many stews and soups in this area. A stew called Carbonade consists of fresh beef, onion, garlic, red wine, butter, and nutmeg. According to Massetti, they often include polenta with this stew. The people of this region enjoy a drink called grolla after many of their meals. Grolla is a drink that is espresso mixed with wine and is served in a wooden goblet (massetti).      

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    Piedmont is a region that is known for good food, in one news article, it calls piedmont, Italy’s richest region. The region Piedmont, of course like most of Italy, cooks with what is in season and pairs all the food on a dish with the finest cheeses and wines. They have some of the best gorgonzola cheese that you will find included in many dishes that require a cheese. They also like the region to south of them use Gorgonzola cheese to melt down. Piedmont have some of the most prized white truffles in the world and has for thousands of years. Butter is what most natives to this area use for cooking. In this area you can find many other Northern Italian dishes but mastered to its finest form.  This area is also where much of the rice in Italy is grown.   

                                                                           Bibliography and links

Design, Pylon. "Villa San Raphaello." Italiano. Villa san ralphaello, 2007-2009.                 Web. 11 Nov 2010.  www.villasanraffaello.com/location/local-food.htm

Lessona, Logan. "Umbria." Regional Cooking 1994-2010: 1. Web. 10 Nov 2010. http://www.made-in-italy.com/winefood/food/regions/umbria.htm

    In every culture the basis of what they eat is based on where they live. You can learn a lot about a group of people by their diets because the first thing you would know is what type of land they come from. People who live by the ocean, lakes, and rivers are going to have fish as a large part of dishes while people who live inland are going to have land animals as a large part of their dishes. People who live on fertile land, who plant crops, are going to have numerous different ways to cook and eat what they grow. Land like Northern Italy is especially interesting because the land is diverse and plentiful. The Italians have mastered the art of food and how to enjoy it.

 By: Roxanne Vaughn