Italian cooking celebrates a few excellent ingredients rather than complicated recipes, and it changes completely from north to south. A few classics to seek out:
- Pasta in countless regional shapes and sauces — carbonara in Rome, ragù in Bologna, pesto in Liguria
- Pizza napoletana, blistered in a wood-fired oven
- Risotto and polenta in the north
- Fresh seafood along both coasts
- Cured meats, prosciutto and a vast world of cheeses
- Espresso, cappuccino and the aperitivo ritual
- Gelato in every flavour imaginable
- Regional wines from Barolo to Chianti to Prosecco