The famous food and drink in Italy you need to try

Italian cuisine appeals to most people, perhaps because Italians pride themselves on the simplicity of their food, relying on the intense flavours of quality produce, rather than complicated recipes.

Dishes in Italy are creative, like the locals themselves, with a few must-try items that come from one of the oldest civilisations in the world.

From fish and shellfish to pasta, cheese, espresso and sweet delights, you will not be short of culinary choices on trips to the city, countryside or coastline in Italy.

Where to try: Naples

The home of pizza is Naples, and the best pizza is found there, but anywhere you eat pizza in Italy will still be the best version you can try.

The pizzas are generally baked in wood or coal-fired ovens and the crust is the traditional hand-tossed thin style.

Top tip: Peperoni in Italy is not pepperoni, the hot spicy sausage meat popular on pizzas in the UK – in Italy, peperoni means red and yellow bell peppers. If you love pepperoni pizza, look for salami on the list of ingredients.

Where to try: Verona

Originating from the north of Italy, risotto is a short-grain rice dish cooked in a broth that usually contains a generous helping of butter and wine. The best thing about risotto is how versatile this dish is; the Italians make the most of the hearty rice base by throwing it together with vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, beans and cheese.

Eating out in Verona will change any established notions you may have about the humble risotto. In Verona, risotto is king - and never from a packet.

Vialone Nano is a local speciality rice which lifts Verona's trademark risotto dishes into the realm of culinary excellence.

Recommended specialities to look out for on the city's many fine 'osteria' (restaurant) menus include risotto all'Amarone, with an intense flavour underpinned by the regional Valpolicella wine, risotto al radicchio (deriving a sweet taste from the eponymous vegetable), and the peppery pork sausage risotto known as risotto al tastasal.

Try the cuttlefish/squid ink risotto. This unusual dish is made with the ink of a cuttlefish or a squid, boasts a very dark (almost black) colour, and has the distinct flavour of the sea. If you’re a seafood lover, this should be top of your holiday treat list.

If you don't fancy a Veronese risotto regionally-focused meat signature dishes are plentiful, and the local 'bigoli' pasta choices - a larger cousin of your everyday spaghetti - are joy on a plate.

Where to try: all over Italy

It’s said there are over 600 different types of pasta, so any trip to Italy is going to provide ample opportunities to try some new pasta shapes and sauces.

Different regions will have different specialities, with different ways of preparing pasta. For example, in the south it’s traditional for pasta to be made with just durum wheat semolina and water, while in the north it’s more common to find egg in the pasta due to the northern tradition of making pasta with bread wheat instead of durum wheat.

Different shapes are also found in different regions – look out for ear-shaped orecchiette in Puglia and spaghetti or linguine in Campania, for example.

In northern Italy you’re also more likely to find meaty pasta dishes – it’s home to the famous Bolognese, after all.

In Campania try spaghetti puttanesca, a simple dish with tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and garlic, or spaghetti alle vongole, a creamy clam pasta dish.

Along the coast you’ll find seafood pasta dishes. Squid ink is a speciality food in Venice (the city is dubbed 'Bride of the Sea', after all) and you can find this unusual ingredient in a pasta dish called spaghetti al nero di sepia. Perfect accompanied with a glass of wine.

In Emilia-Romagna you’ll find tortellini stuffed with prosciutto and pork loin, in Sicily tuck into the famous aubergine pasta alla Norma, and in Liguria you can enjoy pesto alla Genovese. This classic pesto is made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts, seasoning and Parmigiano Reggiano. In Liguria it’s traditionally served with a short twisted pasta shape called trofie, but you'll find pesto on a range of different pastas throughout the country.

Wherever you are in Italy you’re bound to find a delicious local pasta to try.

Where to try: Bologna

Authentic homemade pasta is a universal favourite and two of the most iconic Italian pasta dishes are bolognese and creamy carbonara, topped off with some tempting parmigiano-reggiano (parmesan) cheese.

Bolognese originated in Bologna and it's not actually served on spaghetti but tagliatelle, which is a wider, ribbon-type pasta.

The garlic-flavoured meat sauce is made with beef mince, but the Italians usually throw in a bit of pancetta for that extra smoky taste. Don’t expect any meatballs with this dish, as that was an American innovation from Italians who moved to New York.

If you can try bolognese in Bologna that is the place to go, but anywhere in the north will know how to serve up this dish.

Most importantly, remember not to order ‘spaghetti Bolognese’ on your holiday because it’s called tagliatelle al ragù in Italy!

Where to try: Rome

It has been much disputed where carbonara originated, but all evidence seems to point to Rome. Romans pride themselves on making the perfect carbonara and if you visit this city, it is worth trying their iconic pasta dish.

In the UK, carbonara tends to consist of pasta with a white sauce and bacon; the real Italian dish meanwhile is made with eggs, cream and usually pancetta, a dry cured meat that generally comes in thick diced cubes rather than the paper thin slices you get in the supermarkets here.

Where to try: Venice

Gnocchi are Italian dumplings made from potatoes, flour and eggs, and they are used as a base for pretty much any sauce you can think of. It's popular throughout Italy, but it believed to have originated in the Veneto region where the weather is cool enough for potato cultivation.

Italian food is best when it uses just a few quality ingredients, and our recommended gnocchi dish of choice is pomodoro e mozzarella, (tomato and mozzarella).

This is a simple but delicious dish, usually served with fresh basil and parmesan, and in Venice, they know how to make light and fluffy gnocchi that will have you coming back for more Italian cuisine.

Where to try: all over Italy

Perhaps one of Italy’s best-loved exports, lasagna in Italy might just surprise you as each region has its own way of doing things. Layers of flat pasta are stacked with fillings such as meat ragu, bechamel sauce and cheeses, but there’s a lot of wiggle room with the dish.

In Bologna spinach pasta is used to add a green layer. In Molisa the meat layer uses shredded chicken and tiny veal meatballs. In Sardinia you might find a lasagna dish made using layers of thin, crunchy flatbread. One of the best-loved is the Neapolitan lasagna of Naples, made with meatballs, ricotta and mozzarella.

Where to try: Tuscany

A Tuscan stew that literally means ‘reboiled’, ribollita takes all the best things about minestrone soup and adds a hearty helping of leftover bread to soak up all the flavours.

Made with onion, cabbage, cannellini beans, kale and chard, it forgoes the pasta found in minestrone.

Ribollita has humble origins and is the Italian way of making use of leftovers.

This is the perfect fare if you’re touring Italy when the weather is a bit cooler in autumn or winter – it’s a peasant dish designed to warm you up.

Where to try: all over Italy

Regardless of what time of year you go or what part of Italy you're in, it’s imperative that you try gelato.

Churned at a much slower rate than ice-cream, gelato has a denser, silkier consistency as well as a lower cream (and therefore fat) content. The only problem is, this delicacy comes in a rainbow of mouth-watering flavours from panna cotta to pistachio – you'll want to try them all.

Gelato comes in every flavour you could think of, including favourites like strawberry, chocolate and lemon, as well as Italian specialities such as stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate slivers) and nocciola (hazelnut), so it’s a great dessert if you’re out with a group and each fancy something different.

Where to try: northern Italy

Boiled cornmeal might not sound exciting, but this versatile ingredient can be enjoyed in a huge variety of dishes and is popular in northern and central Italy. Look out for it in menus in Piedmont, Veneto and Lombardy.

Polenta as we know it today is made with corn, but Romans used to make ‘puls’ with any starchy grain such as chestnut flour, farro, spelt or millet. Polenta taragna, popular in the alpine Lombardy region, is a darker polenta made by mixing cornmeal with buckwheat. Buckwheat grows well in the colder climate of Northern Italy and it became a staple food for farmers.

Polenta is often a thick, creamy dish with a consistency similar to mashed potatoes, but once it cools and solidifies it can be cut into chips, fried and eaten as a finger food. It makes a good side dish for a variety of other recipes, from warming ragus to grilled meat, stews, cured meat and steamed vegetables.

A deceptively simple way to enjoy polenta is 'toc' style, a popular choice in Bellagio in the Como region, close to the Swiss border. The polenta is cooked slowly with ample amounts of locally produced butter and cheese stirred in before being eaten toc style, with guests sat in a circle and armed with wooden spoons to enjoy straight from the pot. Once finished, the pot is then used to prepare ragell, a type of mulled wine.

Where to try: Sicily

Another dessert for our list, cannoli originates in Sicily. It is a tube-like pastry that is deep-fried and then filled with sweetened ricotta before being dusted with icing sugar.

Cannoli comes in different varieties, and confectioners can be very creative. Try some in a Sicilian pasticceria with a strong Italian coffee.

Where to try: Tuscany

Stunning Tuscany shouldn't just be feted for its spectacular cuisine and climate, historic city gems such as Florence and Siena and jaw-dropping landscapes.

The gloriously - and perhaps surprisingly - varied Chianti wines of that eponymous Tuscan region can proudly boast a global fame all their own, and are always worthy of a full and thorough exploration when you visit the area.

Great names and vintages such as Nobile di Montepulciano, Vernaccia di san Gimignano and Chianti Classico don't just trip off the tongue, but rest playfully and memorably on the palate when you taste them in their home territory.

A trip to a Chianti winery is never merely one of those bus-them-in, bus-them-out jobs; visits to the very places where these great wines are produced are invariably imbued with all the pride and passion in their world-class produce that's so uniquely, splendidly Italian.

When in Chianti you simply must set aside some proper time for a leisurely tour of two of the region's superlative wineries.

Where to try: Amalfi Coast and Sorrento

The distinctive lemon liqueur is a popular after-dinner digestif in Italy. It's produced in southern Italy around the Amalfi Coast, Bay of Naples and Sicily, where lemons grow in abundance. Different flavours also exist, including orange (arancello), pistachio (pistachiocello) and strawberry (fragoncello). It's served ice cold, often straight from the freezer (the alcohol content will stop it freezing) in a chilled glass.

So there you have it, some of our favourite Italian dishes, drinks and desserts to tempt your taste buds as you travel. Find out about our Italian holidays to experience some of the best cuisine in the world.