Food guides

Aglianico del Vulture

Basilicata's great red: volcanic land, the DOC and Superiore DOCG, the tuff cellars of Barile, Venosa and autumn in Melfi.

Sulmona red garlic

Neither PDO nor PGI: it is a traditional Abruzzo product, confirmed in the 2026 national list, and an Ark of Taste entry. A Valle Peligna ecotype that flowers every year, is harvested in early summer and keeps for a long time; the July festival at Campo di Fano and Sulmona's Giostra.

Gargano citrus

Arancia del Gargano PGI, Limone Femminello del Gargano PGI, bitter-sweet melangolo and a Slow Food Presidium: walled groves, an export history, the harvest calendar and Saint Valentine in Vico.

Amaro Lucano from Pisticci

How a herbal liqueur born in the back room of a Pisticci biscuit shop became a historic trademark: the documented story, the company museum, the pacchiana label, Lucania's traditional liqueurs and the town between badlands and the Ionian.

Lesina eel

The fish of the Lesina lagoon: the biology of a migrant, traditional fishing from October to December, PAT scapece, the December festival and how to visit the lagoon and San Clemente islet.

Abruzzo arrosticini

Mutton skewers cooked on the canala, a story tied to transhumance, recognition as a traditional product and the road towards EU protection: how and where to understand them.

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Reggio Calabria bergamot

The essential-oil PDO, the three varieties, the winter harvest, the story leading to eau de cologne, the citrus museum and a day between Reggio, its seafront and the coast of bergamot groves.

Cultivated biodiversity in Calabria

A historical biodiversity project suggests a more attentive approach to gardens and cooking.

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Lauria figure-of-eight biscuits and gassosa

Lauria's and Latronico's traditional biscuits and sweets in the 2026 national list, the figure-of-eight recipe according to the Comune of Latronico, the Pollino tarallo, gassosa between memory and sources, and two towns between Monte Alpi and the Noce valley.

Ceglie biscuit

Ceglie Messapica's piscquett'l: local almonds, Brindisi cherries and grapes, Slow Food Presidium and PAT, weddings and favours, and a day between castle, collegiate church and trulli.

Cisternino bombette

Capocollo and canestrato rolls, the butcher's grill and Cisternino's old town: history, technique and how to experience them.

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Burrata di Andria PGI

What burrata is, how it is made, the story told in Andria, its PGI protection, Castel del Monte and how to enjoy it fresh.

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Agnone caciocavallo

Pasture milk, hand stretching, ageing in hanging pairs: the caciocavallo of Upper Molise, with stracciata, Capracotta pecorino, the town of bells and copper and the transhumance trails.

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Caciocavallo podolico

The Podolica cow, the caciocavallo of the Gargano and Basilicata, the Slow Food Presidia, ageing and documented festivals.

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Zungoli caciocavallo podolico

Podolica cattle, the Pescasseroli-Candela drove road, Byzantine tuff caves and a village between Irpinia and Daunia: how it is made, how to recognise it and how to visit.

Caciocavallo Silano PDO

A PDO named after the Sila and made in five regions: cow's milk, hand stretching, cheeses tied in pairs, a fire brand and ageing up to Gran Riserva.

Canestrato di Moliterno PGI

Sheep and goat milk, baskets, cellars above 700 metres: how the PGI canestrato is made, its three ages, the fern-wrapped casieddu and the village of Moliterno.

Canestrato Pugliese PDO

A sheep's milk cheese from the Capitanata and the Murgia, aged two to ten months in rush baskets that mark its rind: PDO rules, transhumance and kitchen uses.

Calitri cannazze

Hand-broken mezzi ziti, slow-cooked ragù of meat rolls and a story starting with a notarial deed of 1749; with Calitri bread, ceramics and the festivals of the village above the Ofanto.

Martina Franca capocollo

The cured meat of the trulli country: the cut, the method, the Slow Food Presidium, the road to PGI status and a day between Martina Franca, Locorotondo and Cisternino.

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Castagna di Montella PGI

The PGI chestnut of upper Irpinia: varieties, history, water-curing and drying, the castagna del prete and the autumn festivals in Montella and Bagnoli Irpino.

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Cedro di Santa Maria del Cedro PDO

The citron of Cosenza's upper Tyrrhenian coast: the Liscia di Diamante variety, the 2023 PDO, its link with the Jewish feast of Sukkot and the Citron Museum.

Ciceri e tria and rustico leccese

The chickpea pasta, part of it fried, of 19 March and the filled puff pastry born in 18th-century salons: history, technique, festivals and where to taste them in the Salento.

Montoro copper onion

A sweet, long-keeping onion: traditional growing, genovese sauce and the Sunday parmigiana, the path towards PGI status, Montoro and its September festival.

Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Calabria PGI

Spring onion, fresh onion and storage onion: the PGI of Calabria's Tyrrhenian coast explained with its calendar, history, kitchen uses, Tropea's July festival and a day between Capo Vaticano and the old town.

Colatura di alici di Cetara PDO

From Roman garum to the monks of Amalfi, salting in terzigni, the PDO rules, Cetara as a fishing village and the Christmas Eve dish.

Sulmona sugared almonds

Sulmona, town of Ovid and confetti: the history of the craft, copper pans, the museum of confectionery technology, Piazza Garibaldi and the Peligna valley.

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Taranto mussels

The mussel of the Mar Piccolo: freshwater springs, pole and long-line farming, Slow Food Presidium, crisis and revival, and two days in Taranto between the old town island, the MArTA and the lagoon.

Arbëreshë food and culture in Civita

The Italo-Albanian village of talking houses and the Devil's Bridge: the migration story, Byzantine rite, Easter and vallje, Pollino produce for the table and how to approach a cuisine handed down within families.

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Sweets through the year

Three household traditions marking Christmas, Easter and remembrance.

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Fagiolo di Sarconi PGI

A PGI since 1996 in eleven towns of the upper Agri Valley: cannellini and borlotti in twenty ecotypes, hand-picked and quick to cook, Grumentum and the August festival.

Beans and cooking of the Pollino

From Rotonda white beans to the Calabrian poverello bianco, from Terranova beans to paddaccio and mischiglio: the cooking of Italy's largest national park, across its Lucanian and Calabrian sides.

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Patron saint festivals and food fairs of Puglia

Winter bonfires, carnival, patron saints, illuminations, folk music, food fairs and the Fiera del Levante: a year of Apulian festivals from official sources.

Fiano di Avellino DOCG

An ancient grape, 26 towns between Partenio and Terminio, DOCG rules, Lapio as the Fiano village, harvest, August festivals and food pairings.

Fichi di Cosenza PDO

Passuluni wilting on the tree, cane racks in the sun, crocette and plaits: the PDO of Cosenza dried figs explained through its specification, history, traditional preparations and a day between Cosenza and the Crati valley.

Fico bianco del Cilento PDO

The dried Dottato fig: history from Greek colonists to 1486, sun drying, spatole and mustaccioli, fillings, PDO rules and a journey through the hills of the Cilento.

Prickly pear

From fresh fruit to preserves, an ingredient linking countryside and table.

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Bari focaccia and panzerotti

Potato dough, cherry tomatoes and oregano; the fried half-moon filled with mozzarella: history, technique, local variants and how to taste them in Bari.

Salento frisella

Barley or wheat, sourdough, double baking and hanging tomatoes: how the frisa is made, how it is eaten in the Salento and where to look for it between Otranto, Lecce and the coast.

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Greco di Tufo DOCG

Eight towns, soils with sulphur deposits, the Tufo mines, the DOCG rules, the September festival and pairings for a savoury, structured white.

Lampascioni and turnip greens

Lampascioni, turnip greens and broad beans: simple ingredients worth tasting thoughtfully.

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Puglian dairy and cheese

From burrata’s centre to Murgia cheeses: understanding textures, processes and places.

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Lenticchia di Altamura PGI

A PGI since 2017 in nineteen towns of the Bari and Matera Murgia: large green varieties, winter sowing, iron-rich limestone soils, Altamura bread and lentil soup.

Mormanno lentils and bocconotti

A tiny, mottled lentil recovered from family plots and the shortcrust-and-jam bocconotto: Mormanno in the Pollino Park, its Votive Lighthouse and nearby villages.

Santo Stefano di Sessanio lentil

The Slow Food Presidium from fields above a thousand metres: sowing, hand harvesting, the soup that needs no soaking, the Medici village and a route through the Baronia, Campo Imperatore and Castel del Monte.

Limone Costa d'Amalfi PGI

The Amalfi Coast PGI lemon: shape and scent, seafaring history, terraces and straw covers, twelve towns, the Lemon Path and its uses in the kitchen.

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Limone di Rocca Imperiale PGI

A PGI tied to a single town: the nearly seedless lemon of Rocca Imperiale, its history since the 17th century, year-round picking, kitchen uses and an itinerary through the upper Ionian coast of Cosenza among castles, roses, rice and clementines.

Liquirizia di Calabria PDO

Fresh root, dried root and extract: the Calabrian PDO, its industrial history between the Sibari plain and the Crati valley, and a day in Corigliano-Rossano.

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Melannurca Campana PGI

Melannurca Campana PGI: two varieties, Annurca and Rossa del Sud, 137 Campanian towns, hand picking and compulsory reddening on the melai by 15 December.

Rotonda red aubergine and white bean

Two Lucanian kitchen-garden PDOs in the Pollino park: origins, growing on chestnut stakes, harvest, Garibaldi and the beans, recipes, preserving and a day between Rotonda and Viggianello.

Longobardi violet aubergine

A Slow Food Presidium on the Cosenza Tyrrhenian coast: a long, glossy aubergine grown upright, its preserve in oil and a day around Longobardi, Belmonte and Fiumefreddo.

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

The grape that dominates Abruzzo's vineyards, its subzones, the Cerasuolo rosé and the Colline Teramane DOCG: rules, history and a wine route between the Tirino and Peligna valleys.

Mortadella di Campotosto

Neither PDO nor PGI: a traditional Abruzzo product and Slow Food Presidium. Lean meat, a strip of lard at the centre, oak or beech smoke and the north wind at 1,300 metres.

Moscato al governo di Saracena

Grapes dried on racks, boiled must and six months' maceration: the Saracena Slow Food Presidium, its story from the 16th century to Grand Tour travellers, its relationship with the Terre di Cosenza DOC and pairings.

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO

History, stretching and hand-cutting, PDO rules, landscapes and practical tips for recognising and enjoying buffalo-milk mozzarella.

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Gioia del Colle mozzarella

Cow’s milk, whey starter and shapes: exploring an inland cheesemaking tradition.

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Calabrian 'nduja

Pork, plenty of chilli, casing and smoke: 'nduja told from its home on Monte Poro, between Tropea and Capo Vaticano, with its disputed origins, how it is made, how to cook with it and how to buy it.

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Nocciola di Giffoni PGI

Twelve towns near Salerno, one cultivar, the Tonda di Giffoni: the long history of the Campanian hazelnut, PGI rules, the late-August harvest, uses in pastry and cooking.

Puglian Ogliarola olives

Barese, Garganica and Salentina Ogliarola: understanding olive names and their regional connections.

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Venafro olive oil and the Olive Park

Cato owned an olive grove here, Pliny and Strabo praised its oil, aurina may be the ancient Licinia: in Venafro, Molise, old olive groves have a regional park.

Puglian olive oil

Fruitiness, bitterness and pepperiness: exploring Puglian olive oils through flavour and place.

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Leccine table olives

Leccine olives in Salento: a concrete processing example and ideas for comparing table olives.

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Monte Sant'Angelo filled wafers

The nuns' sweet of Monte Sant'Angelo: legend, recipe, the Gargano's big bread and a day between the sanctuary, the Junno quarter and the May and September pilgrimages.

Pane di Altamura PDO

The PDO bread of Alta Murgia: durum wheat semolina, mother yeast, wood-fired ovens, the history of public ovens and statutes, the masseria landscape and a day in Altamura.

Pane di Matera PGI

The bread of the Sassi: durum semolina and heritage wheat, fruit-based sourdough, cornetto and forma alta shapes, family bread stamps, cialledda and feddarauss, and the city around it.

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Pasta di Gragnano PGI

A PGI tied to a single town: local spring water, bronze dies, slow drying, a town designed to let pasta dry and the Valley of the Mills.

Teana miskiglio pasta

Wheat, broad beans, barley, chickpeas and oats milled together: the pasta born to pay taxes in grain, the Slow Food Presidium, four Pollino villages' recipes and Teana's summer.

Pasticciotto from Lecce

The Salento breakfast pastry: how it is made, what the records say about its history, its twin the fruttone and a day between Lecce and Galatina.

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Patata del Fucino PGI

A PGI since 2016, grown in the bed of the former Lake Fucino: nine Marsica towns, harvest from July to November, flavour measured by tasting panels and Avezzano's festival.

Patata della Sila PGI

Six varieties, spring planting and autumn harvest on Europe's widest plateau: the Sila PGI with mushrooms, chestnuts, mpanata, the steam train and the Camigliatello festivals.

Pecorino di Carmasciano

A raw-milk pecorino from upper Irpinia, shaped by the pastures of the Ansanto valley: how it is made, the Slow Food Presidium, the Mefite, Rocca San Felice and Guardia Lombardi.

Pecorino di Filiano PDO

The PDO pecorino of thirty towns around Potenza: sheep's milk, rush moulds, at least six months in caves, oil and vinegar on the rind, the Doria and the village of drove roads.

Diamante chilli pepper

Calabria's piparedduzzu between cooking, strings drying in the sun and a September festival: Diamante with its murals and Cirella, the Maierà museum, Cosenza's mùstica and how to taste heat without losing flavour.

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Senise crusco peppers

The PGI pepper of the Sinni valley: origins, growing, drying in strings, the powder called zafaran, fried crusco, European protection and the August festival in Senise.

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Traditional Puglian dishes

Orecchiette, focaccia, panzerotti, tiella and Salento cooking: connecting dishes with places.

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Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio PDO

Old ecotypes from the slopes of Somma-Vesuvius, hand-picked and woven into large hanging clusters: PDO rules, history, the pacchetelle preserve and how to cook with them.

Belmonte tomato

A pink tomato that can weigh over a kilo, brought back by an emigrant in the early 1900s, Belmonte's gammune, the ship-shaped village and the sea around the Isca rocks: a summer guide to the Cosenza Tyrrhenian coast.

San Marzano tomato of the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino PDO

History, forty towns, vertical growing, the rules of the PDO peeled tomato and the Slow Food Presidium for Naples' heritage tomatoes.

Primitivo di Manduria

The red between Taranto and Brindisi: grape and land, DOC rules, the Dolce Naturale DOCG, fifty years of protection, summer in the villages and a day in Manduria.

Local olive-oil producers

Muraglia in Andria, De Carlo in Bitritto and Galantino in Bisceglie: editorial references with official sources.

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Provolone del Monaco PDO

Raw milk at least one-fifth from Agerolese cows, thirteen towns between the Sorrento peninsula and the Lattari Mountains, six months' ageing and a name born in Naples harbour.

Raffo and Peroni in Puglia

The places behind two brands, explained through company sources without confusing their origins.

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Southern citrus rosolios: limoncello, arancello, mandarinello

Limoncello is a generic name, but the lemon liqueurs of Amalfi and Sorrento are geographical indications. PGI citrus, traditional products and family customs across the Amalfi Coast, the Sorrento peninsula and the Gargano.

Food festivals of Basilicata and Irpinia

Wine, truffle, chestnut, cheese and pasta festivals documented by provinces, municipalities and official bodies, with recent editions and tips for enjoying them without rushing.

Food festivals and feasts in Calabria

From Castrovillari's Carnival to Arbëreshë Easter, from Tropea onions to Diamante chilli and Sila mushrooms: only events documented by official bodies.

Puglian sausages and butcher grills

Sammichele zampina and butcher-grill traditions: recognising different products, ingredients and contexts.

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Calabrian PDO cured meats: capocollo, soppressata, salsiccia and pancetta

Capocollo, Soppressata, Salsiccia and Pancetta di Calabria: four PDOs since 1998, pigs raised in the region, set ageing times, and what, like 'nduja, is not PDO.

Scamorza and scamorzone

Exploring Puglian scamorza, from its pear shape to the larger scamorzone size.

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Gallipoli scapece

Gallipoli's fish preserve: small fish, chestnut tubs, saffron and scapece makers; the feast of Santa Cristina, Salento fish soups and the other scapece of the South.

Puglian taralli

Dough, two-stage cooking and aromas: understanding Puglian taralli beyond the aperitivo.

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Molise truffles

White truffle and the other Molise species: regional harvesting rules, truffle hunting as UNESCO heritage, the museum and fair at San Pietro Avellana, the summer festivals and how to enjoy it at the table.

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Bagnoli Irpino black truffle

The Tuber mesentericum of the Picentini mountains: how to recognise it, where it grows, harvesting rules and calendar in Campania, the village, Laceno and 'Il Nero di Bagnoli'.

Taurasi DOCG

Irpinia's great red: grape, history and land, DOCG rules, the Castello Marchionale with the regional wine library, the village and the festival calendar.

Tintilia del Molise

Molise's signature red: history documented since the 18th century, the rules of the 2011 DOC, red, riserva and rosé, pairings with mountain cooking and a journey from the sea at Termoli to Upper Molise.

Torrone di Bagnara PGI

Italy's first torrone with a PGI: Martiniana and Torrefatto glassato, high-temperature cooking and the glassy break, the port's history and the late-November festival.

Guardiagrele torrone and Abruzzo sweets

No PDO or PGI: Guardiagrele torrone, sise delle monache and pane nobile are traditional products recognised by the Abruzzo Region and confirmed in the 2026 national list, like parrozzo, cicerchiata, Sulmona confetti and soft chocolate torrone; in August, the crafts fair.

Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo nougat

The nougat village below Montevergine: a town born for pilgrims, the two cupeto recipes, priest's chestnuts, the Juta and the devotees' footpath.

Gargano trabucchi and seafood

The wooden fishing machines between Peschici and Vieste: how they work, who protects them, which ones you can see and how to enjoy the fish of the Gargano coast.

Ventricina from the Vasto area and Molise

It is neither PDO nor PGI: it is a family of traditional salami. The Slow Food Presidium of the Vasto area, the Montenero di Bisaccia version, the spreadable Teramo type and the Altino pepper.

The wines of Brindisi

The designations around Brindisi, from Negroamaro to Susumaniello and Ostuni's Ottavianello, and a day between the Appian Way's port, the countryside and the White City.

Puglian wines

Exploring wine across the Murgia, Manduria and Salento through flavour and landscape.

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Terre di Cosenza and Donnici wines

The DOC covering the whole province of Cosenza, its seven subzones and especially Donnici, south of the city: grapes, rules, styles, history and a day between old Cosenza and the wine hills.

Zafferano dell'Aquila PDO

Flowers picked at dawn, stigmas toasted over embers, thirteen towns around L'Aquila: the Abruzzo PDO explained from field to kitchen, with an autumn day on the plateau.