When talking about the great and delicious Italian type of cuisine, two things always come to mind: pizza and pasta – true that they may be very well loved and famous dishes but these aren’t the only foodstuffs which represent Italian cuisine, Italian style of cooking offers so much more. Significantly they have a variety of very tempting dishes that are rich with history.
Starting from the pre Roman period until the current times, Italian foods have evolved with significant changes. During olden times and up to now, meal preparation is always important. 1 of the oldest cookbooks that have survived is the – Apicus. It dates back to the first century BC.
After the Roman Empire’s downfall, Italian dishes and overall, its cuisine slowly began to spread everywhere. Regional states already began to develop their own separate identities and traditions. Each region began to establish their own unique and special methods of how to cook, and then they established their own basic foundations in meal preparation from creating that distinct meatball taste to producing different cheeses as well as producing wine in different locales.
States in the Northern part developed their own Tuscan-beef, while truffles became widely popular and were prepared at Marches, while the famous provolone-cheeses & mozzarella were developed in Italy’s southern region and it also simultaneously hosted various fruits within the citrus family.
Different types of pasta & bread plus diverse preparations and methods of food were each created by the various Italian states. Their habits in eating were always different – Southern states enjoy hard boiled spaghettis versus people from Northern areas who prefer soft egg noodles.
Cities slowly began to be popular for their different specialties – Milan became prominent for a specialty called Risotto, while Bologna became prominent for a specialty called Tortellini and Naples became prominent for their Pizza.
Through the years, Italian cuisine has greatly evolved because of significant external influences that also added extra appeal and flavor to their dishes. The Greeks, who were importers in ancient days, contributed to introducing certain exotic spices and ingredients to Italian dishes.
Italy’s coastal areas are really popular in presenting great tasting fish and seafood dishes. A good example would be Sardinia which offers classical ways in Italian cuisine by presenting fish dishes like sardines, lobster, anchovies and swordfish. While Sicily embodies a really heavy North African influence.
Up to today different types of Italian cooking shows real distinctions among Southern and Northern cooking styles. Each region portrays individual traditions that would reflect their own history. Truly this amazing culture continues to provide never ending ways to serve up meal starters or appetizers, cook up amazing main courses plus desserts which will forever continue in tempting our palates.