Italy

🇮🇹Florence, Italy

Gelato

Italian ice cream churned slower and warmer than American ice cream, with less fat and air. Denser, silkier, and more intensely flavored.

🇮🇹Sicily, Italy

Gelato al Pistacchio

Pistachio gelato, the connoisseur's flavor. The best uses pistachios from Bronte, Sicily, prized for their deep emerald color and resinous aroma.

🇮🇹Piedmont, Italy

Gelato alla Nocciola

Hazelnut gelato, made with Piedmontese Tonda Gentile hazelnuts. A close cousin of stracciatella and gianduja flavors.

🇩🇪Trentino-Alto Adige, Germany

German Spätzle

Spätzle Tirolesi

Spätzle are irregular hand-cut or pressed egg noodles made from flour and eggs, served soft as a Swabian German staple and as Spätzli in Switzerland.

🇮🇹Piedmont, Italy

Gianduiotto

Turin's chocolate-hazelnut candy, the first solid chocolate made with hazelnut (gianduja). A 19th-century invention, wrapped in gold foil.

🇮🇹Italy

Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a named Italian dumpling from Italy, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Italy

Gnocchi al Castelmagno

Gnocchi al Castelmagno is a named Italian dumpling from Province of Cuneo, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Piedmont, Italy

Gnocchi alla bava

Gnocchi alla bava is a named Italian dumpling from Piedmont, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Rome, Italy

Gnocchi alla Romana

Not potato gnocchi but semolina disks baked with butter and Parmigiano until golden. A Roman comfort dish, often served on Thursday.

🇮🇹Italy

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina is a named Italian dumpling from Sorrento, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Veneto, Italy

Gnocchi con la fioretta

Gnocchi con la fioretta is a named Italian dumpling from Recoaro Terme, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Gnocchi di prugne

Gnocchi di prugne is a named Italian dumpling from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Tuscany, Italy

Gnocchi di ricotta

Gnocchi di ricotta is a named Italian dumpling from Tuscany, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Lombardy, Italy

Gorgonzola

PDO blue cheese from Lombardy-Piedmont, in two styles: dolce (sweet, creamy) and piccante (sharp, crumbly). Made with cow's milk and Penicillium.

🇮🇹Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Goulash alla Goriziana

In Friuli, Goulash alla Goriziana is Gorizia beef goulash with onion, paprika, and tender braise.

🇮🇹Bologna, Italy

Gramigna alla Salsiccia

Gramigna con salsiccia

A short, curly Bolognese pasta dressed with sausage ragù, a rustic alternative to the city's better-known flat pastas.

🇮🇹Italy

Gran Gala

Gran Gala is a named Italian spirit from Trieste, defined by its local ingredients or grape, preparation, and balance of aroma, acidity, sweetness, or bitterness.

🇮🇹Parma, Italy

Grana Padano

PDO hard cow's milk cheese from the Po Valley, similar to Parmigiano but milder and aged less (9+ months). A daily grating cheese.

🇮🇹Sicily, Italy

Granita

Sicilian semi-frozen dessert of water, sugar, and fruit or nuts (lemon, coffee, almond, mulberry). Eaten for breakfast with brioche in summer.

🇮🇹Italy

Grappa

Italian pomace brandy distilled from the skins, seeds, and stems left after winemaking. Strong, clear, and aromatic—drunk as a digestif or with espresso (caffè corretto).

🇮🇹Piedmont, Italy

Grissini

Long, thin, crisp breadsticks from Turin, traditionally hand-pulled (rubatà) and baked dry. Often wrapped in prosciutto or served alongside antipasti.

🇮🇹Rome, Italy

Guanciale

Cured pork jowl, the irreplaceable fat base of Roman pastas—carbonara, amatriciana, gricia. Richer and more flavorful than pancetta.

🇮🇹Italy

Insalata Caprese

Capri's salad of sliced mozzarella, tomato, and basil, dressed with olive oil (no vinegar). The colors of the Italian flag on a plate.

🇭🇷Istria, Croatia

Jota

La jota triestina

Traditional stew popular in Istria with sauerkraut, beans, and potatoes, tangy and hearty, a winter comfort food.

🇮🇹Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Lambrusco

Emilian sparkling red wine, slightly sweet or dry, drunk cold with salumi and pasta. The everyday wine of Emilia-Romagna.

🇮🇹Florence, Italy

Lampredotto Sandwich

Panino col lampredotto

Florence's iconic street food: the fourth stomach of the cow, slow-cooked in herb broth, chopped and served in a salted roll with salsa verde or chili.

🇮🇹Tuscany, Italy

Lardo di Colonnata

Tuscan cured pork back fat aged in marble vats with herbs and spices. Melt-in-the-mouth, sliced paper-thin on warm bread.

🇮🇹Bologna, Italy

Lasagne alla Bolognese

Layered fresh egg pasta sheets with ragù bolognese and béchamel, finished with Parmigiano and baked until golden. A Sunday-lunch icon of Emilia-Romagna.

🇮🇹Italy

Limoncello

Southern Italian lemon liqueur made by infusing lemon zest in alcohol, then sweetening with sugar syrup. Served ice-cold as a digestif.

🇮🇹Campania, Italy

Linguine allo Scoglio

A seafood pasta of linguine with mixed shellfish—clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari—in a light tomato-garlic-white wine sauce. A coastal Campanian classic.

🇮🇹Parma, Italy

Malvasia di Candia Aromatica

Malvasia di Candia

An aromatic white wine associated with the Colli di Parma and the city's wider Food Valley table.

🇮🇹Naples, Italy

Manfredi con la ricotta

Manfredi con la ricotta is a named Italian pasta from Naples, pairing its characteristic shape or filling with a defining sauce, broth, or seasoning; the form distinguishes it from a generic version.

🇮🇹Rome, Italy

Maritozzo

Roman sweet bun filled with whipped cream.

🇮🇹Sicily, Italy

Marsala

Sicilian fortified wine from the city of Marsala, in dry (secco) and sweet (dolce) styles. Used in cooking (sugo, zabaglione) and as a digestif.

🇮🇹Lombardy, Italy

Mascarpone

Lombardy's rich triple-cream cheese made by curdling cream with citric acid. The base of tiramisu and many desserts, buttery and spreadable.

🇮🇹Italy

Minestra di ceci

In Italy, Minestra di ceci is a rustic chickpea soup simmered with onion, rosemary, and olive oil until creamy.