Italy's 20 regions, dish by delicious dish
Donald Strachan, for CNN • Updated 30th November 2016, http://www.cnn.com/travel/arti...onal-food/index.html
Anthony Bourdain heads to Italy's capital where life is more than monuments from an ancient empire. Here, in a secret location, comfort food reigns supreme.
CNN) — One reason Sicilians tend to identify with Sicily first and Italy (a distant) second? Sicilian food. The same goes for Veneto in the north or Puglia in the south.
Italy is a young country in modern terms. It only celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011. Despite the successful export of the "Italian restaurant," the idea of a unified Italian cuisine is something many Italians reject. Instead, there are regional dishes, sometimes with tastes as different as you'd find between countries.
Even the basics differ -- pasta with or without egg, butter in abundance or ditched completely in favor of olive oil. Like reading tea leaves, travelers can discover much about a region's history and landscape from its special sauce.
Guaranteed: No mention of spaghetti bolognese.