Italian cuisine as the national wealth of the country

 What people outside Italy know about Italian food? In general, they only know about pasta and pizza, but Italy has more things to offer lovers of delicious food! Since food is one of my favourite topics, and Italy is very famous for its cuisine all over the world, in this article I would like to talk about it. So now I would like to highlight the main components of Italian cuisine and make out them in detail below.

 Let’s start with pasta and pizza. When I was on my way to Italy, I thought it is a stereotype that Italians always eat pizza and pasta, but now I think that it is more true than a stereotype. But it should be noted that pasta, for example, has so many varieties that all of them can be considered different dishes, so the Italians do not get tired of eating pasta almost every day! Italian pizza also has many types which differ from each other depending on the region. One interesting fact: pineapple pizza is very popular almost all over the world, but not in Italy. For Italians, it is very weird, so do not even try to find a pizza with pineapples in Italy!

 Risotto. This is a northern Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, and parmesan cheese. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.  Since I live in northern Italy, I can conclude that people here eat risotto quite often, and this dish seems simple, but in fact it is tasty, especially with meat.

 Gelato (Italian ice cream). It became my favourite dessert immediately after arriving in Italy. Gelato typically contains 70% less air and more flavoring than other kinds of frozen desserts, giving it a density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.

 It has many various flavors, but what you really must try in Italy is pistachio gelato! Pistachios, as a rule, are popular in Italy, they even have ham with pistachios, but ice cream with such taste is recognized first of all by Italians, therefore, it is certainly worth trying

 Formaggio (cheese). Along with gelato Italian cheese is something that I will miss after finishing my project. Italy is one of the world's most productive cheese regions, with over 2500 traditional varieties, among which about 500 commercially recognized cheeses and more than 300 kinds of cheese with protected designation of origin.

Because of the sanctions, it is very difficult to find good Italian cheese in Russia, and also it is very expensive. In Italy cheese has a very high quality and rather low price. My most favourite variarity of formaggio is gorgonzola. Gorgonzola is one of the world's oldest blue-veined cheeses. The Cheese is mainly produced in the northern Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy, Gorgonzola. What truly sets it apart from other blue cheese is its deep roots in Italian artisanship, still influencing production today.

 Tiramisu. This is an elegant and rich layered Italian dessert made with delicate ladyfinger cookies, espresso or instant espresso, mascarpone cheese, eggs, sugar, Marsala wine, rum and cocoa powder. Italian dessert making is like all of Italian cuisine with one distinct rule: to create dishes that provide pleasure above all else. Among the most popular Italian desserts, tiramisu is undoubtedly number one.

 And finally I should mention coffee, which is the most popular drink in Italy. Italians love coffee and they can’t imagine their daily life without this refreshing drink. Italians drink tea much less often, so there are always huge shelves with different types of coffee in the stores and just a small selection of tea. Here are 3 interesting facts:

1) if you want to order an espresso, you just need to order un caffè (one coffee), and they will bring you an espresso, because in Italy coffee by default means espresso.

2) Cappuccino is a breakfast drink, so do not order cappuccino in Italy after 12:00, otherwise  you can get a very funny look!

3) Latte is known worldwide as one of the options for making coffee, but the word “latte” in Italian means milk, so do not order a latte in Italy if you want to drink coffee, and not milk.

 And this is just a small overview of Italian cuisine, in fact it is bigger and more diverse and depends on many factors, such as region and neighborhood with other countries.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risotto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelato

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_cheeses

https://www.delallo.com/blog/tiramisu-italys-pick-me-up-dessert/#