Attractions in Italy

Italy is a very beautiful country, and that is why every year many people prefer to go for Italy travel to spend their vacations. There are a lot of famous things in Italy, such as Roman ruins, wine, Renaissance castles, sunshine and mafia, pasta, pizza, and olive oil etc. The list is practically endless, and if you are a tourist in Italy, then you will experience the best time of your life. If you have decided to go for Italy travel, then you will realize that it is the great decision that you have made, because Italy is popular from its historical significance to delicious foods.

If you are planning to make a tour to Italy, then you should plan your trip well so that you will not miss out anything because this country is full of interesting things. Italy has a number of religious significance, and its roots are buried deep in the Roman Catholic faith.

You should choose the capital of Milan, Lombardia, if you are looking for a place that is good for business. You will find a number of interesting things here. Venice and Verona is one of the romantic places in Italy, which you can select during your Italy travel. Italy is famous for many things, like for beautiful landscapes and for historical and religious significance as well.

If you are searching for natural beauty in this country, then I would again recommend the city of Verona, because it is very fascinating. In case you wish to taste the different types of wines in Italy, then you must taste Barbaresco and Barolo- exquisite wines made from special grapes called Nebbiolo. The list of attractions is endless, you can go to a lot of places, that are devoted to music, modern art and music etc. The historical and artistic value of this country can be seen in various different museums.

The main center of this country is Tuscany, so you should go there if you travel Italy for the first time. The most charming factor of Italy travel is definitely the food, because it is known as the heaven of food lovers. I would recommend you to book your tickets in advance if you would like to travel to Italy for sightseeing. You will surely enjoy and would like to come here every year.

The ingredients that are the basis of the pizza as a culinary dish have their roots firmly founded in the sunny climate of Southern Italy around the city of Naples. This was historically a Greek colony rather than Italian. Naples was originally a Greek colony founded by sailors coming from Rhodos. It was a merchant colony which they called Parthenope and was situated on the island of Megaride.

Pizza is first mentioned in Roman literature around the 3rd century by Cato the Elder who records a flat and round piece of dough that was dressed with a combination of olive oil, herbs and flour with cheese and honey. This was cooked upon stones, according to translation. Pizza stones are used in many modern day kitchens to this day as they enable the heat to be distributed evenly throughout the cooking time and absorb excess moisture. This gives the benefit of a crispy crust.

Pompeii, the infamous doomed city that was devoured by the ash and smoke of Mount Vesuvius, also had the remains of several buildings resembling modern pizzerias.

Roman Pizzas

Pizzas back in Roman times were barely recognisable when compared to our modern day pizza. The bread would have been more likened to the modern focaccia bread still popular in Italy and around the world, and tomatoes were not known to them as they were not imported from the Americas until centuries later. Instead it is recorded that pigs blood and honey were popular pizza toppings, a pretty horrible thought in todays times!

Pizza Following The Introduction Of Tomatoes

Tomatoes originated in the Americas and were brought to Europe in the 16th century. For a long time the European public was nervous of the tomato thinking it to be in some way poisonous. However, by the 18th century the poor areas of Naples in Italy had no option but to begin using them as they faced starvation due to food shortages. They began not only to eat them like fruit, but also used tomatoes to bulk up their bread and to add flavour. This was the humble beginning of the modern day pizza. It became increasingly popular for visitors to Naples to venture into the poorer districts in order to try out the local's new dish. The tide was turning for the pizza, it began moving away from the stigma of a poor mans' meal to a much more acceptable and tasty meal for all.

The Pizzeria Emerges

The popular way to sell pizzas before the 1830's had been by means of street stands outside of or near to the pizza bakeries. Naples, not surprisingly, saw the very first pizzeria. It was called Antica Pizzeria Port Alba. It was described in those days as the food of the humble people in Naples and consisted of bread, oil, tallow, lard, cheese, tomato or anchovies. The pizza of today is very removed from those days and the choice of toppings is huge. Glad to say the use of tallow and lard have ceased down at your local pizzeria!

The Pizza Emigrates To America

Not surprisingly the pizza was brought to America by Italian immigrants from Naples. The first recorded pizzeria was founded in New York by Gennaro Lombardi in 1905, although there is a dispute over this. Lombardi had opened a grocery store in 1897 and from there he began to sell pizza to the local Italian residents. As money was somewhat scarce amongst them, they could not afford a whole pizza. The answer was to see what money the customer had, and to cut a slice that was proportionate. In this way, through the poverty of the local customers, the pizza slice was born.

Whilst pizza became more widespread amongst the cities of America it was largely confined to the Italian districts. However, following the Second World War, American soldiers who were fighting in Italy had discovered that local pizzerias supplied a meal unlike the boring rations that they had to endure. The love of the pizza amongst the troops was brought back to America and went from strength to strength. It is testimony to this popularity that Americans now devour 100 acres of pizza each and every day!

Italian food is world famous, and perhaps one of Italy’s greatest contributions to the world today is Pizza. Made quite by chance, Pizzas are now synonymous with take away food. However there is a lot more to Italian cooking than Pizzas and a true Italian connoisseur will tell you that a Pizza is perhaps the most basic of Italian cuisine. If you are looking for a truly authentic Italian experience, then a few authentic Italian dishes like Bruschetta Al Pomodoro are far more exquisite and enjoyable.

In fact after Pizza the most popular Italian dish is pasta, with so many types of pasta available today every single type has its own distinctive flavour and method of preparation. If you love Italian food then the best way to savour it is to cook it yourself, the reason is that so called ‘authentic’ Italian restaurants are simply offering fast food in plusher surroundings, only a handful of Italian restaurants offer authentic Italian cuisine.

To begin with the first thing you need to get a hold of is a good recipe book or a website that offers Italian recipes, a good place to start is www.italianfoodrecipes.eu, the site has some rare recipes, and the cooking techniques are all authentic Italian. In addition to finding the right site you also need to understand which recipes to begin with and which one’s to try later. Not all Italian recipes are designed for beginners and you should read through the recipe, and only when you are comfortable with the recipe should you start working on it.

Another thing, that is as important as the recipe is the ingredients you use, the best place to start buying ingredients is from a store that stocks Italian ingredients, using olive oil and virgin olive oil can make all the difference in Italian cooking. In fact a common mistake most novices make is assuming that substituting ingredients in Italian cooking is okay, this is not true, even in Pizza the kind of cheese you use makes a lot of difference. If you are looking for a really authentic Italian experience, you should make sure all the ingredients you use are exactly as they are mentioned in the recipe.

Italian cooking is nothing short of an art form, and some of the most delicious and exotic dishes are from the homeland of Italy, in fact the most impressive part about Italy is that every region in Italy has its own distinctive dish, even if a dish is common the style of making the dish varies from region to region. If you are looking to make the most of your Italian cooking experience make sure you understand the recipe, feel comfortable making it and always use the recommended ingredients.

If you are still not sure which Italian dish to start your Italian cooking with, you can always start with the tried and trusted Pizza, in this case also make sure you try to make the Pizza as Italian as it can be by using the right ingredients and the perfect recipe.

Many people believe that one type of pasta is as good as the other, this is not true. Every type of pasta has its own distinctive flavour, and usually has a special dish associate with it, in fact if you visit any Italian recipe site you will notice in most cases they clearly mention which type of pasta to use. In fact Italian chefs choose pasta based on the sauce they are using, it is believe that a particular kind of pasta brings out the flavour of some sauces where others cannot. There is no denying that in due course you will end up cooking pasta, and it is important to stick to the recipe as the type of pasta you use can make a difference. Remember always stick to the recipe, experiment only when you are confident.