There aren’t many people out there who don’t love Italian food. Even if they don’t like everything about Italian cuisine, they are sure to enjoy some aspect of it, such as pasta or pizza. Italian food has a real universal appeal and that’s partly due to the following reasons:
Variety – every region and town in Italy has a distinctive style of cooking and their own dish that they cook to perfection. Tuscany is famed for it’s simple, rustic food and northern Italy will offer rice dishes. In Southern Italy, everything is cooked with olive oil. Some use tomatoes as a basis for most dishes and others focus on seafood. There really is something for every palate. For Italian Restaurant in Dublin, visit the Italian Restaurant in the heart of Dublin Toscana.
Freshness – the attraction and beauty of Italian cuisine is it’s emphasis on fresh, simple ingredients. Locally sourced and easy to prepare, Italian food is welcoming and doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t. It’s honest, healthy and made for all to enjoy. They let the fresh produce speak for themselves without too much and big headedness.
Adaptable – Italian food adapts itself to other cuisine. Spaghetti and meatballs is not a dish that you’ll find in Italy but as the UK and America enjoy meat with most meals, Italian restaurants adapted their menus in the early 20th century. This is another reason why this cuisine has such global appeal.
We can’t talk about Italian food without mentioning Pizza, which is one of the most delicious foods ever to be invented. Such is our love of pizza that in 2009, upon Italy’s request, Neapolitan pizza was safeguarded in the EU as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed Dish. The modern pizza evolved from flatbread dishes in Naples in the 18th century. Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and pizza bakeries. Traditional pizzerias keep this heritage alive today.
Pasta is super easy to cook and whipping up a quick sauce is also very simple. The result is a quickly prepared and extremely tasty meal or snack. The ingredients required are also easy to come by and relatively inexpensive, including: basil, tomatoes, pasta, shallots, garlic, mozzarella and olive oil to name but a few.
The desserts are manna from heaven too, from the sweet and fruity fluffiness of Panettone to the gorgeously creamy wonder of the panna cotta. Preparing and cooking any kind of Italian food also brings people together. For many families, Italian food is almost a family ritual passed from generation to generation. Recipes are passed on and a family cookbook is a much prized possession. Many famous Italian restaurants started life using their family cookbook and grandmother’s recipes. There is a long tradition of food legacies and this strong family connection is another reason why people feel that warm, snug feeling when thinking about Italian cuisine.