In Italy one popular Italian food ingredient is rice. By far the most popular use for this ingredient is in the signature Italian food dish of risotto. Here rice is mixed with broth, vegetables and spices to make a very unique and flavorful dish. Risotto is widely known as the most popular appetizer in Italian food and different regions take great pride in their individual risottos. Rice is also used in many different soups and stews throughout Italy.



On the other hand, there is much more to Italian food than just pasta and sauce. Italian food is a cuisine of diversity. When traveling in Italy it is often amusing to see the stark difference between what Italian food is popular in America and what Italian food is popular in Italy. If you want to try some different Italian food you certainly can't go wrong with these time tested favorites.

Holiday Italian Food

With Christmas holiday cooking, the next day on Christmas the food may be a little more familiar. The first course is a very well known Italian food, tortellini. This pasta dish filled with meat is more in keeping with what most people envision when thinking of Italian food. After the meal dessert consists of one of two types of cake, either panettone or pandoro. If you're in Milan or spending the holidays with a family from Milan it will be panettone. This cake like bread takes days to make and is an Italian food that not many people know of, despite it being a symbol of Milan. The other traditional cake is pandoro, a sweet bread that is often made to look like a mountain complete with white sugar icing giving it a snowy finish. Christmas is a great time to taste the sweeter side of Italian food.

The last holiday that has importance to those who love Italian food is St. Joseph's Day. This holiday is in commemoration of St. Joseph saving Sicily from famine. This holiday centers on a rather unknown Italian food, the fava bean. It was this bean that saved Sicily from starving. So, while this bean is not native to Italy, there are many Italian food dishes that are centered on it in celebration of St. Joseph's Day. The day is spent giving food to the needy, eating doughnut like pastries and enjoying good Italian food.

The Eating of Italian Food

One of the most surprising things to foreigners about an Italian meal is the first course it typically the most filling. There is an antipasti or appetizer course, but there is no salad or soup to ease your way into the meal. Right from the antipasti diners delve into the primo or "first course". This is the course that will look most familiar to foreigners because it is where that delicious pasta that Italian food is famous for is served. This primo course is where most people's knowledge of Italian food ends. Few people realize that there is much more to Italian food than just this primo pasta.

When ending a meal in Italy, diners get not one, but two desserts. The first is a cheese and fruit course that will help prepare you for the dolce or main dessert. The dolce will be the rich dessert of the evening, such as cake. Of course, the meal will end with coffee or espresso, a classical capstone to the array of Italian food that has been served. However, there is one last course to come that foreigners may not be so familiar with. The last course is actually the digestive course and consists of liquors and is often referred to as the "coffee killer".