Cooking World

Well known Italian dry pasta is made from durum wheat, water, and a pinch of salt: it is very easy to make, so very popular, especially in the South regions, where warmer climate and sufficient sunlight create nice opportunities for drying of the pasta. And now in spite of dry pasta factories everywhere, Italians generally beleive that southerners still make the best dry pasta.
Central and Northern parts of Italy (especially Emilia Romagna and Piemonte) are on the contrary known for fresh pasta, which is made with eggs, flour, and salt, for example tagliatelle, tajarin, or pappardelle, all of which are made in flat forms. The center and north are also world-wide known for their stuffed pasta, for instance, ravioli or tortellini: these kinds of pasta can be found in areas where people have not used to eat much flat or dry pasta until, for example in Lombardia.

The South of Italy has much warmer climate and consequently, much longer growing season than then in the North. It is obvious, that vegetables that thrive under hot sun, especially tomatoes, are more popular in these warm regions, which also has more dishes with tomato sauces than in the North. In the North, depending on the climate there are plants better adapted to cooler temperatures and less sunlight, for example head cabbages, black leaf kale, cardoons, and radicchio.