Australians are all about Italy these days, and it’s not just The White Lotus that has us in its thrall – this magnificent nation is a food-lover’s paradise.
As the world has opened up, so too has the expression of love from afar for la bella Italia. More people are searching delicious.com.au for Italian recipes like our sausage and Taleggio one-tray pizza, minestrone or easy burrata pasta; or hitting us up with searches for the best places in Italy to visit or eat. These have doubled on our site this year.
On Google, Australian searches for Sienna and Sicily have also roughly doubled. The success of The White Lotus continues to drive this. Heck, even searches for “flights to Italy from Sydney” are up a whopping 1,000 per cent in the last 12 months.
So, it seems Italy is set to be filled with Aussie travellers! Here are my eight favourite reasons as to why you should join them.
THE WHITE LOTUS
Sicily has been firmly in focus thanks to the success of this mad drama set in the five-star San Domenico Palace Hotel in Taormina. The pretty town, with its Roman amphitheatre, is now packed with tourists, and a room at the hotel will cost you about $4,500 a night. Instead, spend a day there, have a drink in the bar or eat early on the balcony of the hotel, overlooking the gardens, with Mt Etna to your right and the sparkling Ionian Sea to your left. But then base yourself on the island of Ortigia, off Syracuse some 90 minutes south. There’s just as good an amphitheatre and the vibe is far less touristy.
THE ICE CREAM
The chocolate gelati of Trastevere and Bologna, the almond and mulberry granita of Noto in Sicily… nothing comes close for a cool end to a meal. Not to mention those tartufo that haunt the rose-tinted memories of childhood visits to the local Italian trat, and the very Italian way of mixing booze and ice cream, such as the sgroppino (prosecco and lemon sorbetto, with a little vodka or strawberry puree) or the affogato (vanilla ice cream with coffee and whatever liqueur you damn well want).
THE ARGUMENTS
Italians love to argue. And with the waning of Italy’s two other religions (football and that one with the Popes) it’s now food that provokes the best stoushes. Ask the Romans what’s supposed to go in a real carbonara, or head to Northeast Italy and ask around the town of Treviso as to whether the first tiramisu was actually invented in nearby Veneto.
THE ART
Put simply, Da Vinci’s Last Supper mural, painted on the wall of an old Milanese convent refectory, and the shimmering beauty in the marble-made pain of Michelangelo’s Pietà in St Peter’s in Rome should both be on everybody’s must-see list.
THE COUNTRYSIDE
You may find that the stupidly beautiful vistas of Tuscany are enough to help you overlook all the rich Americans, but if not, head south into Umbria for wonderful cured meats, truffles and the chance to eat Baci in their home town – the hilly medieval city of Perugia. Along with Bologna, Ortigia and Naples, it’s my favourite Italian city to hang out in.
THE TRUE PIZZA OF NAPLES
‘Nuff said.
THE MASSIMOS
Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in the arcaded city of Modena and Massimo Spigaroli’s Antica Corte Pallavicina in a medieval customs fort on the banks of the Po River north of Parma are both worth the trip alone. The first Massimo is one of the world’s great culinary thinkers. The second is a champion of locavore dining at the highest level. This area is now a place of gastronomic pilgrimage, thanks to the culinary trinity of ancient balsamic vinegars, prosciutto and parmesan.
THE RESTAURANTS
Italians might be notoriously conservative with all their rules about when you can or can’t have cheese on your pasta, milky coffee, or gelato, but in the last The World’s 50 Best Restaurants – which lists the world’s most innovative restaurants – Italy was a standout, with two in the top 10 and four more in the top 30. That’s a bucket list of a holiday right there.
Source : Delicious
