Northern Italy

Piemont, Valle d'Aosta, Lombardia and Liguria in the norhwest and Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in the northeast. Formed by the influence of its northern neighbors and mountainous terrain. Polenta and rice are staples and its dairy products and wines are among Italy's best. Piemonte is home to highly prized white Alba truffle sprinkled over melted fontina on pasta or eggs. This region also produces Italy's greatest wines, Barolo and Barbaresco.

Val d'Aosta most famous for its alpine cheeses, fontina, toma and robiola which are central to the region's cuisine.

Lombardia is characterized by its rich agricultural areas and has a very diverse cuisine. Many of Italy's finest cheeses such as Gorgonzola, Taleggio, Bel Paese and gran padano are produced here and fresh pasta, polenta and rice are all enoyed.

Ligurian cuisine uses plenty of herbs in which the mountains provide plentiful herbs for cooking. Specialties are focaccia and walnut sauce.

Trentino Alto Adige can be gastronomically divided into two. Alto Adige to the north is Austrian Italy and the cuisine includes speck (cured ham), canederli (dumplings) and gulasch. Trentino is more Italian, though canedirli are popular and the excellent apples of this region are made into a local strudel. Polenta and breads accompany meals.

Veneto Is known for its simple preparation of seafood such as moleche (soft shelled crabs).

Fruili Venezia Giulia is known for its proscuitto di San Daniele a fine sweet ham.

Pasta, rice, polenta and gnocchi figure in one form or another in each region's diet, though local preferences present a study in contrasts. Fresh pasta, usually made with eggs, prevails south of the Po in Piedmont, Liguria and, most gloriously, in Emilia-Romagna. Rice dominates in the flatlands of Lombardy and Piedmont, where it is usually braised and stirred as risotto, and in the Veneto, where it is often simmered in broth in dishes that range tastily between risottos and thick soups.

Polenta, made from corn or also from buckwheat or chestnut flour, was the sustenance of northern country people for ages, eaten as a mush or porridge with cheese or sauces or sliced and fried or grilled to go with meat dishes. Today's polenta strongholds are the Tre Venezie and the Alpine flanks of Lombardy and Piedmont. Gnocchi are often based on potatoes, though dumplings are also made from semolino or ricotta and greens. In Trentino-Alto Adige, round bread dumplings are called Knödeln or canederli.

Perhaps the most popular category of primi, though not only a first course, are soups, which may include pasta, rice, polenta, gnocchi, bread, vegetables, beans, meats or seafood. Prominent examples of northern minestre are the noodle and bean pasta e fagioli of the Veneto and Friuli, the fish chowders of Liguria and the Adriatic coast, Milan's tripe-based busecca and Emilia-Romagna's delicate pasta in brodo (afloat in broth).

A meat dish eaten nearly everywhere in the north is bollito misto. But the mix varies between beef, veal, pork sausages and poultry, while sauces range from parsley-based salsa verde to Piedmont's tomato red bagnet ross, Verona's beef marrow and pepper pearà and Cremona's candied fruit and mustard mostarda. Fritto misto is also eaten in most regions, though compositions of fried meats, cheeses, vegetables, fruits and pastries are never the same from one place to another.

Pork plays a prime role in salt-cured meats, whose hallmark is Prosciutto from Parma and San Daniele, the salt-cured ham described as dolce due to the ripe flavor and soft texture that develop over a year or more of maturing. But the delights of salumi range beyond pork to beef for the bresaola of Lombardy's Valtellina, as well as goat, goose and chamois for salame and sausages.

Northern Italy is a paradise for cheese lovers. They may begin with Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, which account for a major share of national production, and nibble their way through blue-veined Gorgonzola, buttery Fontina, tangy Asiago and a vast array of mild, creamy, ripe and sharp cheeses, mainly from cows but also from sheep and goats.

The eight northern regions produce about a third of Italian wine. The leading region for volume of classified wines is Veneto, where Verona's Soave and Valpolicella head production. Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia have sterling reputations for white wines, though they are increasingly admired for reds. Lombardy is noted for aged reds from the Alpine Valtellina and classical sparkling wines from the hills of Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese. The north's most vaunted reds are Barolo and Barbaresco of Piedmont, a region that also makes Gattinara, Barbera, Dolcetto and sparkling sweet Asti.

A byproduct of wine is grappa, which was long considered a common sort of spirit. But class has been upgraded dramatically in recent times by distillers in Friuli, Veneto, Trentino and Piedmont, whose grappa often comes from select grape varieties and specific vineyards.

Friuli Venezia Giulia