Pizza is certainly the most recognizable symbol of Italian food culture in the world, and that's why it deserves to be at the top of our list. In Italy, pizza comes in different forms. From the classic round pizza to the pizza al taglio (baked in rectangular trays), there is a pizza pie with your name on it!
The Mediterranean diet forms the basis of Italian cuisine, rich in pasta, fish, fruits and vegetables. Cheese, cold cuts and wine are central to Italian cuisine, and along with pizza and coffee (especially espresso) form part of Italian gastronomic culture.
Su filindeu is a rare pasta dish only made and served in Sardinia. It consists of thin, thread-like strands of pasta boiled in broth and topped with grated cheese.
A typical Italian diet consists of three meals in a day. The most common foods in the Italian diet include pasta, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, meats, and wine. Italians give a lot of importance to fresh ingredients. They use seasonal ingredients to prepare meals.
Italians eat predominantly sweet things for breakfast. This can be quite a shock if you are used to having toast, eggs, and bacon first thing in the morning. Instead, the traditional breakfast in Italy relies almost exclusively on baked goods like biscuits, cookies, pastries, rusks, and cakes.
A typical Italian lunch consists of a primo (pasta, soup or risotto dish), a secondo (meat or fish-based dish) and a contorno (side dish). Italians love their carbs and enjoy adding freshly grated Parmesan cheese to their dishes. Italians also exhibit a truly incredible talent for reinventing leftovers.
Dinner (Cena)
A typical dinner at an Italian home is usually pasta, meat, and vegetables, and takes place around 8 p.m. Going out for dinner in Italy is a pretty big thing to do, or eat, for that matter: Several courses, wine, and a long time chatting and lingering are all part of the event.
Italians eat the most pasta worldwide – about 60 pounds of pasta per person per year. Most Italians eat pasta every day but they keep their portions in check. A portion in Italy is about a cup and the meal includes a small portion of meat and a large portion of vegetables and salad.
Many people credit baker Raffaele Esposito from the Naples region of Italy for first creating the dish. Others believe that the history of pizza dates far further back than Esposito's era of the late 1800s. Much of the debate comes down to what you consider a "real pizza" and the evolution of food over the centuries.
Italian food uses fresh, natural ingredients and the healthiest of fats, both of which have been found to be associated with lower levels of cancer, heart disease, inflammatory disease, and more. Improving longevity of life might be a natural benefit of enjoying an Italian meal!
According to history, however, pasta's earliest roots begin in China, during the Shang Dynasty (1700-1100 BC), where some form of pasta was made with either wheat or rice flour. Pasta also appears to be a feature in the ancient Greek diet in the first millennium BC.
An Italian snack is known as spuntino, a term which can include anything from olives and crisps to small plates shared between friends. Bars and cafés might serve spuntino in a similar way to tapas, and while they wouldn't be eaten as the opener to a larger meal elements of antipasto are commonly consumed as snacks.
ON AVERAGE, ITALIANS SLEEP 7 HOURS PER NIGHT – The research reveals that Italians sleep, on average, 7 hours per night, but 30% of respondents sleep an insufficient number of hours.
By a statistic Italians eat at least 3 times per week pasta,4 times per week bread such as vegetables,2 times per week meat and 1 time fish and there are still some having pasta twice per day every single day.
Bread (pane)
Perhaps it would seem strange to you that we are starting with the Italian bread, but we can't miss it, because bread is among the oldest foods that has been prepared on the Italian lands (and not only).
1. Penne. Italy's most popular pasta is penne. This quill-shaped pasta is unusual in that it has a very precise origin.
There are numerous famous foods of Italy that are famous throughout the world. Some od the best ones are autare lasagna, ravioli, pizza, pasta, ribollita, arancini, carbonara, risotto, ossobuco, and bottarga. You will find all these delicacies at any Italian restaurant.
Pizza was first invented in Naples, Italy as a fast, affordable, tasty meal for working-class Neapolitans on the go. While we all know and love these slices of today, pizza actually didn't gain mass appeal until the 1940s, when immigrating Italians brought their classic slices to the United States.