{"id":5202,"date":"2022-11-23T06:39:23","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?p=5202"},"modified":"2022-11-23T06:42:24","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:42:24","slug":"the-italian-region-where-tomato-is-off-the-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/23\/the-italian-region-where-tomato-is-off-the-menu\/","title":{"rendered":"The Italian region where tomato is off the menu"},"content":{"rendered":"

(CNN) \u2014\u00a0Ah Italy, the land of pizza, pasta and plenty of tomato sauce. At least, that’s the impression many visitors have when planning a trip to the Bel Paese. But if they’re planning to visit popular tourist sites like Cinque Terre or Portofino, they might be in for a shock — because the traditional food of Liguria, the northwest coastal region where both are located, is far from what outsiders might call “Italian.”<\/p>

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That’s nuts:\u00a0<\/strong>Liguria’s famous raw nut pesto dates back to medieval times and has an Arab influence.<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Where other regions of Italy have traditional dishes that are what we’d recognize as “Italian” food, traditional Ligurian dishes are slightly different.<\/p>

Of course, there’s pasta with pesto. But there are also dishes like\u00a0farinata<\/em>, a kind of chickpea pancake that’s salted and served in slices, and\u00a0cappon magro<\/em>, a “salad” of seafood and cooked vegetables, slathered in basil-heavy green sauce, usually served in an elaborate pile that makes it look like a dish set for a banquet.<\/p>

As for tomatoes? You find them pepping up the odd stew or sauce but they’re not front and center as they are in our imaginings of “Italian” food.<\/p>

That’s partly down to the fact that Italy’s food scene is highly regional, with huge variation even from town to town. But, say experts, that’s not the only explanation.<\/p>

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Typical foods like focaccia were introduced before tomatoes arrived in Italy.
Magdalena Bujak\/Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Food streets:<\/strong>\u00a0Genoa’s\u00a0friggitorie<\/em>, or frying shops, have been deep-frying street food since medieval times.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Thin strip:\u00a0<\/strong>The region of Liguria is jammed between the sea (like Boccadasse on the outskirts of Genoa) and mountains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Read more here<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(CNN) \u2014\u00a0Ah Italy, the land of pizza, pasta and plenty of tomato sauce. At least, that’s the impression many visitors have when planning a trip to the Bel Paese. But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[960,961,963,962],"class_list":{"0":"post-5202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-italian-region","9":"tag-liguria","10":"tag-no-tomatoes","11":"tag-pesto"},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t