14-Day Italy
Itinerary

Neapolitan Pizza Margherita

The original and still the greatest — a disk of 00-flour dough fermented for 24 hours, hand-stretched to a disc with a thick, air-filled cornicione crust, topped with San Marzano DOP tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella di Campania DOP and fresh basil, then baked for 60 seconds at 485°C in a wood-fired dome oven; the Margherita was created for Queen Margherita in 1889; the TSG certification protects the method in law.

Pasta Carbonara

Rome's most imitated and most violated dish — spaghetti or rigatoni tossed off the heat with guanciale (cured pork cheek), Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano and a sauce of egg yolks thickened by the residual heat of the pasta; no cream, ever; the emulsification of egg, cheese and pasta water is a technique that takes weeks to master and seconds to ruin.

Risotto alla Milanese

Milan's liquid gold — Carnaroli rice toasted in butter and onion, built with hot veal bone stock ladle by ladle and finished with an entire sachet of powdered saffron, Parmigiano and a cold butter mantecatura that emulsifies the rice into a wave-like flow (all'onda); served beside ossobuco braised veal shank in gremolata; the saffron turns the rice the colour of a Lombard sunset.

Arancini

Sicily's street food masterpiece — a fist-sized sphere of saffron-scented risotto rice, filled with ragù, peas and mozzarella (or spinach and béchamel), coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried until the exterior is a crackling gold orb; Palermo's version is round (arancina), Catania's is conical (arancino) and this distinction is taken with deadly seriousness.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

Tuscany's cathedral of beef — a Chianina breed T-bone, at least 4 cm thick (a 'finger of meat' rule), grilled over seasoned oak charcoal to a charred exterior and a cold, bloody, almost raw interior; seasoned only with salt after cooking, never before; eaten standing up at the grill if necessary; wine is Chianti Classico Riserva; negotiation of the doneness is not entertained.

Ragù Bolognese

Bologna's great slow-cooked meat sauce — a soffritto of celery, carrot and onion in lard and butter, combined with minced beef and pork, a splash of white wine, whole milk and just enough tomato to provide acidity; simmered for four hours minimum until the sauce turns a deep terra cotta; served only with fresh tagliatelle (never spaghetti) according to the Bologna Chamber of Commerce's registered recipe.

Tiramisù

Italy's greatest dessert export and its most argued-over origin — Savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits) dipped in strong espresso and Marsala, layered with a mascarpone cream of egg yolks and sugar, dusted with cocoa; invented at the Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso in the 1960s; now reproduced in every country on earth with varying results; the coffee must be strong enough to stain.