Understanding Italian cuisine

Let's go out for some Italian food tonight,” a common request in almost every family. However, apart from all the pizza one can eat and all the pastas one can choose, we often tend to forget that Italian food doesn’t really mean one thing. Very much like Indian cuisine, which differs vastly as you move from one region to another, Italian food, too, has its versions. While it’s known to be mostly influenced by ancient Greek, Roman, Jewish and Arab cuisines, among a few others, regions of Italy comes with their intrinsic cuisine. Globally of course, it’s just Italian food!

Each zone has its own specialties that is again divided into local flavours.

For instance, Venetian cuisine, from North Italy, is what made the risotto and the polenta famous. Similarly, the devilishly famous Tiramisu is actually a dessert from Treviso. And the next time you’re tripping on Spaghetti Bolognese, remember that the meat-based sauce is actually from Bologna and while pretty much everywhere across the world it’s identified by the heavy dose of tomatoes, the original recipes of the bolognese sauce has very little tomato in it!  Similarly, there’s the local Tuscan food that uses a lot of fresh fruits, bread, cheese and vegetables in its cuisine. And given that the region has a lot of rich game — dishes using hare, pheasant and wild boar are quite famous. Even the Arrabbiata originates from Rome — made of garlic, tomatoes and red chillies, with parsley sprinkled on top, this creation is served with pasta.

Of course, with borders turning nearly invisible and developments taking place in the food business around the world, Italian food too is gradually finding a more universal space in the business. From the top-of-the-line restaurants and Michelin star chefs to a small café on the streets, the so-called Italian cuisine is being unified by various changes as far as technique and process are concerned. Modernisation has enabled the cuisine to make a more global impact with consumers not really caring about where the dish has come from as long as it tastes good. Incidentally, Italian food is considered to be one of the most popular cuisines in India, so much so that the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce has collaborated with Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners (ICIF) to train Indian students in the fine art of Italian cuisine.