Top 10 Regional Dishes to Try in Italy

When you're traveling to Italy, you know you're in for some seriously good eats. Welcome to Mojo Travels, and today we're counting down our picks for what you have to eat in every part of Italy. Are you a fan of our videos? Be sure to subscribe to Mojo Travels and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos. For this list, we're looking at the best local delicacies in some of Italy's most popular regions. You know how on a map, Italy looks like it's shaped like a boot? Well, the heel of that boot is where you'll find the Apulia or Puglia region. There are lots of delicious things to eat here, but the area is known for a particular shape of pasta called orechiette, which translates to little ear. In the capital city of Bari, it's common to find women selling fresh homemade orechiette on the streets outside their homes. The most traditional way to prepare this shape of pasta is in a dish called orechiette alle cime di rapa, which is made with delicious rapini greens. Known as the green heart of Italy, Umbria is located right in the center of the country. The traditional food in this region is often very straightforward, rustic, and deeply satisfying. A particular item that may be luxurious elsewhere is relatively commonplace here, the truffle. When you're in Umbria, you must enjoy the local truffles, which are usually black and earthier than the famed white truffles of northern Italy. And the most simple way to do so is in a dish with tagliatelle pasta, garlic, olive oil, and perhaps some grated pecorino. Abruzzo may be one of the least visited regions by international tourists, but that doesn't mean it isn't well worth a visit. Located in southern or central Italy, depending on who you ask, Abruzzo borders the Adriatic Sea, which of course makes for some incredible seafood. One of the ingredients that you find in many dishes from the area is saffron, that notoriously pricey spice. And here it's used to make a dish called cozze allo zafferano, or mussels with saffron. When you're in the area, don't miss trying a dish with lamb, another local delicacy. Wait, you're probably thinking, strudel in Italy? Everyone knows that strudel is famous in German and Austrian cuisines, but surely not Italian. Parts of northern Italy, however, offer up a very different type of food than the rest of the country. In fact, the region of Trentino Alto Adige actually belonged to the Empire of Austria-Hungary until 1919. That's how the strudel di mele, or apple strudel, came to be part of the Italian tradition. Their version usually adds raisins, pine nuts, and spices to the apples to create a unique treat. Alright, it's time to get down to the heavyweights. If you're a foodie, you know that the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy is basically paradise. They're known for a countless number of the Italian foods we know and love, like prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and stuffed pastas like tortellini and ravioli. But the most iconic dish is lasagna bolognese, whose rich meat sauce gets its name from the city of Bologna. While you're visiting, you'll surely want to try all the foods, but you'll want to sample as many lasagnas as you can. Back off, Garfield! In many ways, Sicily is distinct from the rest of Italy, with its own culture, its own traditions, and its own cuisine. One of the region's most famous dishes, however, has become a mainstream Italian staple, arancini. In Sicily, though, arancini is traditionally prepared in a specific way, being filled with peas, meat, and, again, saffron. Of course, exported versions found around the world are often far more simple, often just featuring cheese. These fried rice balls make for the perfect appetizer, but in Sicily, they're filling enough that they could almost constitute an entire meal. The Lombardy region in northern Italy is home to the famed design metropolis of Milan, as well as many other small towns and gorgeous landscapes. The dish known as risotto has become synonymous with Italian cuisine, but in fact, many of the foods traditional to this area are very different from what you'd normally find at an Italian restaurant near you. Risotto alla milanese is a particular preparation that involves beef marrow and saffron. Hello, old friend. Although the marrow is often subbed out for something more easily accessible like stock. When you're visiting, though, you must find a place that prepares it the original way. When people think of Italy, they very likely imagine the rolling hills, red-roofed buildings, and cypress trees of Tuscany. Because of its location in central Italy, it's easy to find dishes from all over the country represented here. But Tuscans, of course, have local specialties that are totally distinct. One is ragù di cinghiale, or wild boar sauce, which is served with a long and flat thick noodle like pappardelle or tagliatelle. The ragù meat sauce is prepared in a similar way to traditional bolognese, but because of the fattier cut used, it's even richer and more decadent. Raw good as gold. You may not have even heard of the Lazio region, but you've definitely heard of the capital city of Rome. The foods that are most traditional to Roman cuisine are primarily based in high-quality, simple, fresh ingredients. Decadent carbonara, which is actually a more modern culinary invention from the 20th century, is usually made with cream in Italian-American restaurants. But this is a big culinary no-no in Rome. Make sure to try some original carbonara when you're in Rome. Which is made with just a few inexpensive ingredients, like guanciale or cured hog jowl, but is one of the most luxurious things you'll ever eat. You've probably been wondering when we'd get to this quintessentially Italian dish. Of course, you have to eat pizza when you're in Italy, but you may be surprised to discover that it actually varies greatly depending on what region you're in. The Italian-style pizza you know and love, though, is most likely based on pizza Napolitana, which hails from the city of Naples. Made in a wood-burning oven, this pizza has a thin, crispy crust on the bottom, and is topped simply with fresh mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes. It is divine. Most other pizza, good as it often is, can only approach the delectable purity of its ancestor. Buon appetito! Do you agree with our picks? Check out these other great clips from Mojo Travels, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.