These Are The Foods You Must Try When Exploring Italy!

Italy and food are pretty synonymous, right? Most people who have found a vacation rental in Italy and are planning their trip will be researching galleries, museums and attractions to visit but they are likely to also be impatiently awaiting all of the delicious meals that they have in store. While there are countless foods to be tried while in Italy, not to mention local specialities, there are some foods that are must and should not be missed while there. Even foods you may have tried plenty of times before can taste completely different in Italy and in a very, very good way.

1. Pizza

Pizza is an obvious choice but an important one. I am not a crazy pizza fan, personally, but there really is something completely different about the pizza in Italy. It's lighter and crispier and just tastier, overall.

Pizza evolved from flatbread dishes made in Naples in the 18th and 19th centuries and the basic Margherita flavour also comes from that part of the country. Supposedly, it was first made in 1889 when the Queen of Italy, Margherita, was visiting, and it remains a classic and local and international favourite to this day. The best place in the world to try it has to be in Naples itself so why not find a villa with pool in Campania, visit Naples and give the real deal a try? Fair warning, though, you may be ruined for pizza outside of Italy forever more.

2. Gelato

Another basic and wildly popular Italian food that is a must, and goes without saying, is gelato. Again, we have probably all tried ice-cream and gelato, specifically, before but, once again, the gelato in Italy is an entirely different species.

Lower in fat, but higher in sugar, than other styles of ice cream, gelato tends to be richer and denser as it has less air and more flavoring than other kinds of frozen desserts. Gelato must have at least 3.5% butterfat, according to Italian law but this is not regulated in other countries. As such, there is a reason why it tastes different in its homeland.

While the origins of gelato are variously attributed to Sicily, ancient Rome and Egypt, there is no doubt that Italy is the spiritual and physical home to the dessert. It is the only country where artisanal gelato outsells mass-produced gelato and with more than 5,000 modern Italian ice cream parlours dotted all over the country, it is incredibly easy to get your hands on some. However, we recommend finding a luxury villa in San Gimignano in Tuscany and dropping by Gelateria Dondoli, an award-winning gelateria where countless astounding and delicious gelato flavours are invented each year and which has won the World Gelato Championship twice. It is, arguably, the best place in the world to try gelato.

There are many more foods to mention so be sure to read on to the following posts in this series for more of the must-try food in Italy.