Food in Italy has a heavy influence on its culture. Not all of Italian cooking is about pizzas and pasta. Italian cuisine is very diverse and inspired by many different influences. Italy’s geographical location and its history are an important part of today’s Italian cooking.

Due to the fact that people had a hard time traveling around the country long ago, many different styles of Italian food arose nationwide. Most people were not introduced to different ways of cooking in their own country. With there being twenty different regions across Italy, there are a lot of specific kinds of food classified in Italian cuisine. So in a small country, there still can be a very large array of foods.

Northern and southern Italy are very different in climate. The south has very warm weather while in the north the weather is cold. Dry pasta, like spaghetti and rigatoni, is found more in the southern areas because it is easier to dry in warm weather. Since it was more difficult to prepare dry pasta in the north, pastas like tajarin, pappardelle, and tagliatelle were more popular. Other types of pasta popular in the north were stuffed pastas like ravioli.

The types of food and plants grown in Italy depended on how well they could grow in the different types of weather. Olive trees, for example, grow better in warmer climates and so were grown a lot in southern Italy. This resulted in olive oil being used much more in these parts. However, in northern Italy olive trees could not grow as easy and so butter and lard were used instead.

In the south, vegetables that grow better in hotter weather conditions are popular, like tomatoes, and so red sauces are used a lot. Other warm weather vegetables are eggplant, and broccoli raab. In the north, vegetables that grow well in colder weather conditions are used a lot, like cabbages, black leaf kale, cardoons, and radicchio.

One type of food that is older in Italy than pizza and pasta is polenta. Polenta is very widely used today in Italian cooking, but once it was a staple among the poor in Italy. Now there are many different ways to prepare polenta due to the wide use of it among the large impoverished population long ago.

The countries that border Italy like France and Austria also has an influence over Italian cuisine. Other foreign influences include Spain, England, and Arabic countries. These countries occupied specific areas of Italy throughout history.

As in many countries, food is a major part of culture. In Italian culture it is important to sit down with family for a pleasant, big meal. With all the different kinds of foods in Italy it would be easy to believe that there are typically ten courses lasting around 3 hours in the Italian culture. Taste is very important in eating meals in Italy, so portions are smaller to make room for the amount of food at meals.

Italian food today is representative of different influences. Climate naturally affects the types of vegetation grown in different areas of Italy. It also changes food preparation like drying pasta. Limitations people had historically helped to make Italian food so diverse, as well as foreign influences. Many aspects contribute to the distinct tastes of Italian cuisine, which in turn affects the culture of Italy. Check out http://restaurantesanmarco.net/ for more information.