Summer Holidays/Vacanze in Italia

21st July 2010, 10:22

Italian cuisine has a great variety of different ingredients which are commonly used, ranging from fruits, vegetables, saucesIn central Italy (including Emilia-Romagna), common ingredients include ham (Parma ham), sausage (Zampone), different sorts of salami, truffles, lasagna, grana, parmigiano reggiano), tomatoes (Bolognese sauce or ragu), and tortellini are important elements. Finally, in Southern Italy, tomatoes (either used fresh or cooked into tomato sauce), peppers, olives and olive oil, garlic, artichokes, oranges, ricotta cheese, aubergines, courgettes, certain types of fish (anchovies, sardines and tuna), and capers are important components to the local cuisine.
Italian cuisine is also well known (and well regarded) for its use of a diverse variety of pasta. Pasta include noodles in various lengths, widths and shapes, and varieties that are filled with other ingredients like ravioli and tortellini. The word pasta is also used to refer to dishes in which pasta products are a primary ingredient. It is usually served with sauce. There are hundreds of different shapes of pasta with at least locally recognized names.Examples include spaghetti (thin rods), macaroni (tubes or cylinders), fusilli (swirls), and lasagne (sheets). Two other noodles, gnocchi, are sometimes considered pasta. They are traditional in parts of Italy.