It's  famous because it's tasty and healthy at the same time. The ingredients are typical of the Mediterranean area: olive oil, a lot of different vegetables and fruits. The most common traditional foods you can find in Italy are pizza and pasta. There are also a few desserts and cakes which are well-known such as Tiramisù, Cassata, Crostata, Gelato, Panettone, Panna cotta, Cannoli. Each Italian region has its own specialties and typical products, and in the border areas, the cuisine has been strongly influenced by the bordering countries (France. Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia). Traditionally, meals in Italy contain 3 or 4 courses. I found this table on the net, it can be interesting and helpful in order to understand an official Italian meal:


Meal stage Composition:
Aperitivo - apéritif usually enjoyed as an appetizer before a large meal, may be: Campari, Cinzano, Prosecco, Aperol, Spritz, Vermouth.

Antipasto - literally "before (the) meal", hot or cold appetizers.

Primo - "first course", usually consists of a hot dish like pasta, risotto, gnocchi, or soup.
Secondo -  "second course", the main dish, usually fish or meat. Traditionally veal, pork and chicken are most commonly used, at least in the North, though beef has become more popular since World War II and wild game is found, particularly in Tuscany. Fish are frequently caught locally.
Contorno - "side dish", may be a salad or cooked vegetables. A traditional menu features salad along with the main course.
Formaggio e frutta - "cheese and fruits", the first dessert. Local cheeses may be part of the antipasto or contorno as well.
Dolce - "sweet", such as cakes (like Tiramisu) and cookies.

Caffè - coffee.
Digestivo - "digestives", liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro, limoncello, sambuca, nocino, sometimes referred to as ammazzacaffè, "coffee killer").


People abroad usually think that Italians eat the most famous dishes everyday, but it's not like that! I’m going to show some Italian habits and food facts:

-    Pizza: we don’t eat it everyday, it’s a food we eat if we have dinner out, at a birthday party or if you’re hanging around and you’d like to have a snack.

-    Pasta: we eat pasta almost every day, but usually the sauce is made with random ingredients we found at the moment at home. Obviously if we’re going to cook for a special occasion we buy all that we need to do a  good traditional recipe, without improvising! Here are different kinds of pasta:

-    Dolci: cakes, biscuits and dessert are mainly homemade. We bake pies and cakes very often, usually in the weekend or in our free time, as the most of them take not so much time to be prepared!





 

Costanza Tonti