Italian food – Did you know…?

• Italian food is the most consumed food in the world
• 75% of tourists choose a destination known for their food as their holiday destination
• Food & beverage accounts for about 25% of the expenses made by each tourist, and it can go up to 35%.
• 59% of foreign tourists will in fact buy Italian food.
• 54% of tourist will buy wine.

Italian Pranzo

• Lunch is sacred. Lunch time is a tradition. Between 12 and 14 you will find nothing but the sound of cutlery on the plates.
• Bread, water and wine, the essentials of every Italian table. You can not miss any of these at the table.
• Warning #1 The bread (served for the meal) can not be turned upside down because it could bring bad luck.
• Lunch has its steps: first there are the appetizers ( antipasto) (cheeses, olives …); afterwards there is the first course ( Primo) with a good plate of pasta; the second course ( Secondo ) of meat or fish, fruit and, finally, a good dessert accompanied, almost always, with a sweet wine or a digestfi liquor ( Amaro ). And coffee! Moka or espresso.
• Warning #2 Do you want a life-saving advice? After lunch or dinner, never order a cappuccino !! It is a sacrilege for us. We will look at you badly because you ruin the balance between pleasure and taste of the meal just finished.
• Coffee with milk, for breakfast only.
• In 2018, 13.7 million Italians took vacations or daily trips dedicated to food in the Belpaese

Pizza Margherita

• We have created and presented Pizza in the world.
• It is one of the most characteristic signs of Italy. At the beginning it was food for the poor. In the 1889 Queen Margherita tasted such delight and ordered the creation of other types.
• The largest pizza in the world, it could not be otherwise, is in Italy, and it is exactly 1,261.65 m² It is part of the Guinness Book of Records!
• Warning #3 We salt the pasta water only when it boils. Not before putting it on the stove or after it is drained.
• Warning #4 No! we do not pull spaghettion the tiles just to see if it’s cooked. We taste it directly from the boiling pot. Don’t try this in an italian home.
• We do not tread the cooking times shown on the package. We trust only our palate.
• The tagliatelle were created in honor of the hair of Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), Duchess of the city of Ferrara.
• Curiosity  #1Alfredo’s fettucine are fettuccine dressed with Parmesan and butter. The heat of the pasta just coocked, the cheese melts, mixing with butter, and forms a thick sauce. The dish owes its name to Alfredo di Lelio, Roman restaurateur who, it is said, invented it at the beginning of the last century as an invigorating dish for his wife, weakened after the birth of her first-born son. The success of the restaurant allowed fettuccine Alfredo to become popular soon and, above all thanks to tourists, they spread rapidly abroad, particularly in the United States, where, to date, they are one of the most appreciated typical Italian dishes. The paradox is in our country this dish is not only not considered typical, but it is … practically unknown!

Italian cheese

• 487 Italian cheeses. We are in first place DOP cheeses (48),second France 45 dop cheese.
• Curiosity  #2 The name mozzarella comes from the Neapolitan dialect and it refers to the same form of the product, diminutive of mozza (“cut”), or cut off (“cut”) derived, in fact, from the method of processing. The term was mentioned for the first time in 1570.
• Italy is a European and world leader in quality dairy production.
• Google users mainly look for Italian recipes and in particular: Pasta, pizza, grilled chicken and carbonara.
• 44 types of regional cuisine existing in Italy
• Italy is the largest vegetable producer in Europe. We are one of the richest countries in biodiversity, both animal and vegetable. Italy, for example, is the state of Europe with the highest number of species of plants with seeds.
• There are 4700 typical and unique regional recipes
• The record of the specialty number goes to

Ribollita Toscana

1. Tuscany with 463 typical products,
2. Campania (387),
3. Lazio (384)
4. Veneto (341)
5. Emilia Romagna (307)

• 93 fruit and vegetable products protected by brands and protected by the European Union. First country in the world in this ranking
• 299 DOP, IGP, enogastronomic STG products protected by brands and protected by the European Union
• 39 wines and liqueurs I.G. protected with trademarks and protected by the European Union
• The Italian sparkling wine Spumante has passed the champagne, with 320 million bottles exported against the 307 of the French.
• We produce 114 types of different cured meats

• 367 Michelin stars ( year 2018 ) but you eat well everywhere … and if you do not find a restaurant suitable for you it is only because you fell in love with the cooking of Italian grandmothers and mothers.
• Our kitchen is so loved that it generates a fake market of over 100 billion euros. DON’T BUY FAKE PRODUCTS !!
• Our export has a value of 50 billion euros and it is constantly growing.
• The most exported Italian foods? Nduja and Genoese Pesto
• The true Genoese pesto should be made only with the following qualities of basil: Giant Genovese Basil, Genovese Basil Common, Basilico Genovese Nano

Foreign kitchens strictly influenced by Italian cuisine:
– Argentine
– French
– Corsican
– Ticino
– Maltese
– Istrian
– San Marino
– Nicoise
– Monegasque

Cheers !