Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine is a world-renowned culinary tradition from the Mediterranean region.

It consists of specific ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Roman times. This cuisine is highly valued and was listed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2025. It is globally appreciated, with a 2019 CNN ranking it as the best cuisine in the world. Additionally, a YouGov survey found that 84% of people across 24 countries preferred it. This global popularity has led to a massive economic impact, creating a turnover of more than €200 billion worldwide.

The fundamental mechanism of Italian cooking relies on simplicity and ingredient quality. Rather than using complex preparation methods, cooks emphasize the excellence of raw materials. Many dishes are composed of only a few high-quality ingredients. This approach often follows the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in pasta, fish, fruits, and vegetables.

Central elements of the gastronomic culture also include cheese, cold cuts, wine, pizza, and espresso coffee. For desserts, chefs merge local flavors like pistachio and almonds with sweet cheeses like mascarpone or ricotta. They also incorporate exotic tastes such as cocoa, vanilla, and cinnamon into treats like gelato, tiramisu, and cassata.

Italian food is characterized by diverse regional gastronomies that are in continuous exchange. While many dishes were once strictly regional, they have since proliferated with variations across the entire country. Distinctive culinary identities exist in major cities. For example, Milan in the north is known for risottos. Trieste, located in the northeast, is recognized for its multicultural food. Bologna is famous for its tortellini.

In the south, Naples is celebrated for its pizzas.

This regionality is supported by strict protections, as many traditional specialties are protected under European Union law.

The history of this cuisine traces back to the 4th century BC. There is evidence that the Etruscans were making pasta during this period. The first known Italian food writer was a Greek Sicilian named Archestratus. He lived in the 4th century BC and wrote a poem about using top-quality, seasonal ingredients. He believed flavors should not be masked by heavy seasonings. However, as the Roman Empire developed, this simplicity changed. The cookbook *Apicius*, written in the 1st century AD, contained 470 recipes that used a heavy amount of spices and herbs.

During the Middle Ages, various groups influenced Italian food through conquest and trade. In the 9th century, Arabs conquered Sicily and introduced many essential ingredients. These included spinach, almonds, rice, citrus fruits, artichokes, chickpeas, pistachios, and sugarcane. They also brought durum wheat, which is used to make pasta. In the 12th century, a Norman king observed people in Sicily making long strings of flour and water called *atria*. This eventually became *spaghetti*, a term still used in southern Italy.

Because refrigeration did not exist, people used physical or chemical methods to preserve food. They smoked, dried, or iced meat and fish, and used brine, salt, oil, or vinegar to preserve other items.

The Early Modern era brought even more significant changes through the Columbian exchange. The colonization of the Americas introduced vital ingredients like potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, and maize to Italy.

Before tomatoes arrived, even Neapolitan pizza was a sweet dish rather than a savory one. In the 16th century, chefs like Bartolomeo Scappi wrote massive works on cooking. Scappi was the personal chef to Pope Pius V and wrote a five-volume work containing over 1,000 recipes.

His work provided a comprehensive view of the period, including details on banquets, menus, and kitchen utensils. He also noted the importance of using domestic animals and courtyard birds rather than game meat.

Italian cuisine has also left a lasting influence on other global food systems. It has shaped Italian-American cuisine in the United States and Italian Eritrean cuisine in East Africa. This spread occurred through waves of the Italian diaspora. The cuisine remains deeply connected to the land, with many recipes created by ordinary people for home cooking. These recipes respect regional specificities and prioritize seasonal, local ingredients. This connection to tradition and local identity is why Italian food remains one of the most copied and loved styles of cooking in the world.