The most difficult thing about eating in Italy is that you can’t try everything. Every day you have a finite number of meals, and a finite amount of space in your stomach, whereas there seem to be an infinite number of Italian dishes that you “absolutely need to try”. From regional specialties to the finest seasonal delicacies, you would need multiple lifetimes to sample all the best Italian food, and that’s before you even consider dessert and drinks. Before you start to panic, we’ve come up with a little bucket list of Italian foods for you to try on your trip. 

This isn’t a best of, and it’s certainly not exhaustive – for one thing, we’ve avoided the topic of cured meats and cheeses because they are worlds unto themselves – but on it are the dishes that we think everyone should try at least once when they visit Italy. Taken together, they sum up the heart and soul of the various cooking traditions that exist around the country. If we’ve missed your favorite dish, and we’re sure their are a few of them, please let us know in the comments.