Regional food icons
For the last 20 weeks, Gambero Rosso and Il Sole 24 Ore have been proposing a collectible line of DVD's and summary travel guides to the best of Italian regional food and where to find it.
Most interesting has been the culinary images chosen to represent the 20 Italian regions.
Well, 17 as Calabria/Basilicata, Abruzzo/Molise and Piemonte/Val d'Aosta were combined and, surprisingly, Trentino and Alto Adige separated for the first time since 1948.
The territories of Langhe and Maremma/Versilia were also given their own volumes.
So, as for those icons, it was apples for Trentino, chocolate for Piemonte, pecorino cheese for Sardinia, hot peppers for Calabria, hazelnuts for Langhe, basil leaves for Liguria, olive oil for Tuscany and porcini mushrooms for Umbria.
A little less predictable were the almonds for Sicily, saffron for Lombardia, forest fruits for Alto Adige, grapes for Friuli Venezia Giulia, wheat for Puglia and artichokes for Lazio.
We have to admit we hadn't anticipated honey for Abruzzo and chestnuts for Le Marche.
For the rest, fresh tortellini pasta for Emilia Romagna, asparagus stalks for Veneto, chick peas for Maremma and what look like yellow tomatoes for Campania.
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