Italy: Food and the National Dish

A country that thinks in regions, not one cuisine

Italy did not exist as a unified nation until 1861, and its food still carries that history directly: regional identity, Tuscan, Sicilian, Neapolitan, Emilian and dozens more, matters more to most Italians than any single national cuisine. Pasta itself varies so dramatically by region, in shape, sauce and technique, that treating it as one dish would misrepresent the country entirely.

The closest thing to a national dish: pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita, a simple round of dough topped with tomato, mozzarella and basil, comes with a famous origin story: a popular legend holds that the pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito, whose shop is now Pizzeria Brandi in Naples, created it in 1889 for the visiting Queen Margherita of Savoy, with the tomato, mozzarella and basil echoing the colours of the Italian flag. Later research cast doubt on the tale, and similar toppings were already used in Naples decades earlier, but the dish's Neapolitan roots and global spread make it one of Italy's strongest claims to a national dish. In 2017 UNESCO inscribed the art of the Neapolitan pizza maker on its intangible cultural heritage list, and in 2025 it added Italian cuisine itself.

Pasta, olive oil and a genuinely regional pantry

Pasta, in hundreds of regional shapes and forms, olive oil, tomatoes and a wide range of regional cheeses form the backbone of Italian cooking, but exactly how they're combined shifts sharply by region: rich, butter- and-cream-based cooking in the north, tomato- and olive-oil-driven cooking further south. Parmigiano Reggiano, mozzarella di bufala and prosciutto di Parma are among hundreds of foods tied by law to a specific protected region of origin.

History behind the dish

Pizza's rise from Neapolitan street food to global icon reflects Italy's broader 20th-century culinary export, carried worldwide largely by Italian emigrants, especially to the Americas. Italy's food history more generally is one of strong regional courts, city-states and local farming traditions that predate national unification by centuries, which is why so much Italian food law today still protects specific, narrowly defined regional products rather than treating "Italian food" as one thing.

Dishes to know

Five more to recognise across Italy:

• Risotto alla Milanese — a saffron-infused rice dish from Milan, a

northern Italian specialty distinct from the south's pasta focus.

• Ragù alla Bolognese — a slow-cooked meat sauce from Bologna, often

served with tagliatelle rather than spaghetti in its home region.

• Carbonara — a Roman pasta dish of egg, guanciale, pecorino and black

pepper, made without cream in most Italian recipes.

• Osso buco — braised veal shanks, a Milanese specialty often served

with risotto.

• Tiramisu — a layered coffee-soaked dessert with mascarpone, which

originated in northeastern Italy around the late 1960s, with Treviso in the Veneto the best-known claimant.

Drinks

Espresso, taken quickly and standing at a bar counter, is a genuine daily ritual, and Italian wine, produced in nearly every region and protected by the DOC and DOCG appellation system, is deeply tied to local food rather than treated as a separate category. Aperitivo, a pre-dinner drink often served with small snacks, is a genuine everyday social custom in many Italian cities.

Eating as a traveller

Vegetarians will find pasta, pizza and vegetable dishes easy to build a meal around, though meat and fish remain central to many traditional regional dishes. Tap water is generally safe to drink. Ordering regionally, asking what a restaurant's area is actually known for rather than defaulting to familiar dishes, is the best way to eat well in Italy.

What to take from the table

Pizza Margherita, with its famous Neapolitan origin story, is Italy's clearest candidate for a national dish — but the deeper truth of Italian food is regional, and worth exploring one region, and one plate of pasta, at a time.