Italian cuisine varies widely by region but is characterized by fresh, seasonal ingredients. Common northern Italian dishes rely on butter, meat and potatoes while southern cuisine uses more olive oil, tomatoes, vegetables and fish. Italian meals typically include a first course like pasta or soup, a second course of meat or fish with vegetables, and are eaten slowly with family or friends. Traditional Italian dishes also vary by festival, with Christmas featuring dishes like timballo and Easter including lamb dishes and Easter eggs.

1. OUR CUISINE
"Life is a combination of magic and pasta"
/Federico Fellini/
WE ITALIAN
FOOD!!!

2. Italian food is one of the most popular
on earth and Italian cuisine is widely
adopted all over the world. For Italian
food is not merely a means of survival.
It belongs to Italian history and culture.
In Italy, cooking and sharing food is a
way of life. Italian cuisine is always
based on fresh, seasonal products,
which is the main reason why it is hard
to talk about “Italian food” as a single
entity. In fact, Italian food varies widely
from region to region – and even from
village to village – and according to the
time of the year. Many ingredients are
used across the country with some
more in certain regions than others.
Northern Italian food relies on butter,
meat, potatoes, pork, Parmesan, while
southern cooking is focused more on
olive oil, tomatoes, different types of
cheese, vegetables, capers and
fresh fish.
While travelling from the north to
south of Italy you could experience as
many different dishes as you travelled
around the whole continent.

3. ITALIAN BREAKFAST
Italian Food is conviviality and joy. And slowness of course. Enjoying a
meal with friends or family is the main ingredient of any Italian dish.
The traditional Italian breakfast
consists of a cup of milk and
coffee, some biscuits or a piece
of cake.
Children drink hot
chocolate, or hot milk with
very little barley coffee.
Other products such as
cereals, fruit salad, fruit
juice and yogurt are
becoming increasingly
common as part of the
meal.
If breakfast is
eaten in a bar it is
composed of
cappuccino or
espresso and a
croissant or other
pastries.

4. ITALIAN STARTERS
“Antipasto”
On special occasions Italians start their lunch or dinner with “antipasto”. It
literally means "before the meal," and it’s a beloved combination of small
bites of tasty food, usually accompanied by wine or a soft drink and meant
to stimulate the appetite before the main meal.
It consists of cured meats, fresh cheeses, herbs or fish salad.
Wine for adults is an important part of Italian cuisine. Children usually have still
or sparkling water, coke or orangeade with their meals.

5. ITALIAN LUNCH
Lunch is usually the most important meal of the day. A typical Italian lunch consists of
a first course “il primo” (pasta, rice, soup or potage), a second course “il secondo”
(meat or fish) served together with a side dish “il contorno” (vegetables or salad) and
fruit. Italians finish their lunch with an espresso and on special occasions with a
dessert.
ITALIAN FIRST COURSE DISHES
Pasta with tomato, meat or
fish sauce
Tortellini in broth Lasagne or Timballo Rice with vegetables,
fish or saffron
ITALIAN SECOND COURSE DISHES
Grilled or fried fish
Roasted chicken, rabbit, lamb
or beef
Meat balls
Omelette

6. ITALIAN SIDE DISHES
Cooked vegetables
Roasted potatoes
Fresh salad
FRUIT
Seasonal fruit
Fruit salad
CLASSIC ITALIAN DESSERTS
Tiramisù cake
PastriesSponge cake
Italian ice-cream
“Panna cotta”
ITALIAN LUNCH
At lunch Italians eat
white bread too.

7. ITALIAN DINNER
Dinner is a light meal in Italy. People usually have pizza, soup, meat or fish, eggs,
cheese, salami, vegetables or salad.
ITALIAN DINNER IDEAS
Each pizza is topped with special
ingredients (mozzarella cheese,
tomatoes, chips, frankfurters, ham,
mushrooms, basil, artichokes…). In
our region, we like pizza and
“arrosticini”.
“Arrosticini”: little
pieces of grilled lamb
on a stick.
Delicious!!!PIZZA
Steak with chips or
other cooked vegetables
Cutlet with mushed
potatoes or salad
Salami and cheese
with white or
brown bread Fish with salad or
cooked vegetables
Mozzarella cheese with
tomato salad

8. ITALIAN SMALL BITES
“Aperitivo” (APPETIZER): The Italian “aperitivo” is a very
social and functional way of meeting up with friends, having
a cocktail and something to eat before lunch or dinner. It has
become very common in summer, especially on the beach.
But it is also served in bars and restaurants all over the
country.
It usually consists of a drink (crodino or bitter) and some
snacks, such as salami, olives, crisps, peanuts, small
sandwiches or pizza. The drink may taste a bit bitter at the
first sip, but once you’ve tried it, the taste is quite nice.
“Ricreazione” (School breaks): During the morning school
children usually have a sandwich, white or red pizza and they
drink ice tea or fruit juice. They bring it from home or buy it at
school.
“Merenda”: afternoon snack for children (bread,
cakes, biscuits, fruit, yoghurt, chocolate bars,
crisps or ice-cream).

9. NATIONAL DISHES
There is no single national dish of Italy, as each region has local variations on classic
dishes. Dishes such as pizza, pasta, polenta and minestrone typify traditional Italian
cuisine.
There are hundreds of types of pizza, each
of which is unique to the local town or
city.
PIZZA
From simple basil pesto to creamy
cheese sauces, the collection of Italian
pasta recipes is endless!!!
PASTA
Polenta is a very old dish of Italian
origin made from flour obtained from a
number of cereals, the most commonly
used today is corn. It is served with
tomato sauce, sausages or minced meat.
POLENTA
Minestrone is a thick soup with
pasta and vegetables.
MINESTRONE

10. FESTIVAL FOOD
CHRISTMAS
Christmas is the most important Italian
festival. On Christmas Italians always have
a big lunch with their family at home or at
the restaurant, with a lot of different
things. In our region, the first course of the
Christmas lunch is “Timballo”, it consists
of layers of crêpes with mozzarella cheese,
Parmesan and meat sauce. As second
course we have roasted chicken or lamb
with some side dishes, such as roasted
potatoes, green salad or fennel. We often
finish our lunch with fruit (grapes, pine
apple or mandarins) and some desserts.
We usually have a sponge cake with cream
and custard. Other traditional Italian
Christmas cakes are Pandoro, Panettone
and Nougat. Panettone is made of raisins
and dried fruit. Nougat is made of
almonds or nuts. Traditional Christmas
pastries of our region are “sfogliatelle” and
“calcionetti”.
“Timballo”
Roasted meat and
potatoes
Which do you prefer? Both!!!
Nougat
“Sfogliatelle”
Shell-shaped pastries
filled with grape jam
or chocolate cream
“Calcionetti”
Fried pastries filled
with creamed
chestnut or jam

11. EASTER
In Italy Easter is celebrated with
traditional Easter foods. These can vary
from region to region although some can
be found all over Italy. Boiled blessed eggs
are usually eaten at the beginning of the
meal.
Lamb is usually the second course for the
Easter meal, and depending on the region,
it can be served in various ways. In
Abruzzo “agnello cacio e uovo” is cooked
in an egg, pepper and cheese sauce. In the
region of Lazio and in southern Italy, the
lamb is usually roasted simply with
rosemary, red wine and garlic. In Sardinia
and some places in Campania the Easter
meal may consist of goat instead of lamb.
“Agnello cacio e uovo”
There is no lack of desserts
on Easter day. Traditional
desserts for the Holy feast
are the “Cassata Siciliana”, a
cake with ricotta filling;
the colomba, a dove-shaped
cake with dried fruit and
almonds. Children also have
chocolate eggs.
Different types
of “colomba”
Easter eggs
“Cassata”

12. WAY OF EATING
Most Italians have their meals at home, sitting at the
table with all the family. In Italy food is conviviality
and slowness of course. Many adults still make their
own food (e.g., tomato sauce from their own
tomatoes) and takeaways are still not very frequent.
But having a cup of coffee at the bar is a daily
Italian ritual, at breakfast, mid-morning or after
lunch. Whether it is an espresso coffee, a
cappuccino or one of the many other versions of
coffee in Italy, it is generally drunk standing at
the bar rather than sitting down at a table.
In some schools children have lunch at the school
canteen. But most students have a packet lunch
when there are extracurricular activities.
Commuters and other workers have a quick meal
in a restaurant.

13. WAYS OF COOKING
How Italians prefer food
EGGS
grilled
fried
poached
MEAT
boiled
roasted stewed fried boiled
FISH
grilled baked steamedfried
poached
VEGGIES
Fresh and uncooked boiled roasted grilled

14. Eating and drinking in ATRI
A plus of our town lies in its food specialities.
A mouth watering first course is “Scrippelle m’busse”,
fine rolled crêpes served with chicken broth.
A traditional spring time dish is “le virtù”, a soup
with vegetables, beans, pork and different types of
pasta.
You can also try the locally famous “cif ciaffe”, a
mixed casserole made with pork, stewed with wine,
garlic and pepper.

15. Eating and drinking in ATRI
Every gourmet would enjoy the delicious “Cacio di
Atri”, a wonderful ewe cheese.
Last but not least, you can’t leave the town
without tasting its delicately-flavoured
PANDUCALE treats, cakes and biscuits
known all over Italy.
If you have a sweet tooth you won’t be able to resist
the Atri Liquorice.
There are also good wines: red “Montepulciano
d’Abruzzo” and white “Trebbiano d’Abruzzo”

16. We hope you have enjoyed
our presentation.
But the best way to know
about Italian food is to try
it.
So come and visit us!!!
We’re waiting for you!!!