While every country has a national dish and a few regional specialties, Italy is the one little corner of the world that has elevated cooking from a daily necessity to an art form. For centuries Italian cuisine has embraced regional variations, taking in everything from the sun-kissed hills of Tuscany to the thriving markets you will find seemingly everywhere in Naples. The result is a style of cooking that emphasises freshness, variety, and simplicity to create flavours that live long in the memory.

Let’s take a closer look at how this all came to be, starting with the regions that have shaped the way cooking is seen in Italy.

Regional Differences Still Matter
Italy is a country with a rich past and a wide array of different landscapes that take in mountain ranges, coastal boltholes, and so much more in between. The result is a beautiful variation of ingredients, flavours, and dishes that has to be experienced to be believed.

Liguria
Head to this little corner of the country and you will find beautifully balanced culinary creations such as Pesto Genovese and Focaccia. They are simple, homely, and hearty in a way that instantly makes you feel at ease when you are sitting around the table. Add in a little touch of Trofie al Pesto and you truly will get to know everything that the region has to offer.

Tuscany
Freshly butchered wild boar is the meat of choice for many of the hearty dishes that form the centrepiece of Tuscan cuisine. The meals may be a little heavier than you will find in many other parts of Italy, but they come with the same simple yet imaginative balance of flavours you would rightly expect from Italian cooking.

Lombardy
If you love your Risotto alla Milanese or your Ossobuco, not to mention a delightful serving of Panettone, Lombardy is the place to be. The refined elegance and gentle balance of the flavours are something you simply have to try for yourself to fully appreciate. Sounds like the perfect problem to have when you want to get to know Italian food on a deeper level.

Southern Italy
Head south and you will find the hills populated with a seemingly endless array of citrus fruits and vineyards. Zesty flavours and elegantly balanced wines are what the region is known for, but don’t forget about the thousands of olive groves either. In many ways, Southern Italy has long been the beating heart of Italian cooking because of the way it connects every dish back to the soil that gave birth to the key ingredients.

Simple, Fresh Ingredients Work Wonders
Ingredients are celebrated in Italy in a way that few other areas of the world can compete with. A less-is-more approach focuses on quality, purity, and freshness as opposed to complex combinations and a dozen different additions. Simple touches like extra virgin olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar can season a dish in style.

Freshly made pasta is light and airy while sun-ripened tomatoes straight off the vine introduce a whole new world of flavour. Add in the simplicity of freshly picked basil and oregano and you get a real sense of what’s possible when you focus on the quality of the ingredients. This is what allows each flavour to come to life when combined with signature Italian cooking techniques.

Timeless Techniques Create Flavour
Cooking in Italy is more about celebrating and working with the ingredients than it is about attempting to reinvent the wheel with complex recipes. Focusing on three timeless techniques and working to master them will bring even the most humble recipe to life in a whole new way:

● Braising allows you to slow-cook ingredients and simmer to infuse the perfect flavour
● Sautéing with olive oil will bring natural flavours to the fore with real authenticity
● Grilling is all about finishing meat and vegetables in a way that introduces rich flavours

Working on these fundamentals throughout the year will allow you to find new ways to hone your skills while also adapting to the authentic variation of seasonal ingredients.

Cooking With the Seasons Creates Authenticity
If you want to learn to cook the Italian way, all it takes is a few pointers in the right direction and a passion to work on your craft. Focus on quality ingredients, allow them to move with the seasons, and learn about traditional flavour combinations and cooking techniques.

The more you see Italian cooking as a journey through the country, the more you will learn about the regional variations and timeless specialties that make it so loved the world over. You never know, you may just find a way to add a little something extra to one of the age-old classics so that you can create your own homemade favourite.