Cooking World

Italy is located in the middle of the Mediterranean, thus being historically a crossroads, which has led to a significant influence from outside, so here you may see various foreign signs. Quite obvious and expected in this region is French influence (regional French, but not haute cuisine) in the close to the French border areas of Liguria, Piemonte, and the Valle D’Aosta, and Austro-Hungarian influences in the Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Spanish influence is also present, and especially in Milano, which was under the Spaniards for some time; Spanish influence is evident in the South, which historically was ruled by the Bourbons until the unification of Italy in 1850s, and in Sardinia, which was under the Spaniards for a time. Signs of the English cuisine can be seen in Tuscany with the classic bistecca alla Fiorentina and zuppa Inglese, English steak and English trifle, respectively, which were cooked for the representatives of the English colony that settled Tuscany in the 1800s. Jewish influences can be found in Rome that also has historical explanation. Finally, in Sicily you can enjoy a tasty mixture of Roman and Arab dishes, which came from that time when it was an Arab province.
In brief, Italian cuisine is many-sided and diverse, and this means that there are a lot of surprises to experience.