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Italy Gourmet food and wine information - Index | Aosta Valley | Piedmont | Lombardy | Trentino-Alto Adige / Südtirol | Friuli-Venezia Giulia | Venetia (Veneto) | Liguria | Emilia Romagna | Tuscany | Umbria | Marche | Abruzzo | Lazio | Campania | Molise | Basilicata | Apulia | Calabria | Sicily | Sardinia

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The capital of Liguria is Genoa. The Cinque Terre, Portofino are also part of Liguria, and A La Carte Italy Tours will be delighted to put together a private chauffeured tour including these parts of Italy. Liguria's terrain is mostly hilly, and the region produces mainly olives, fruit, and flowers. This is where Christopher Columbus was born; and he would have eaten Insalata Nizzarda (another name for Nicoise salad made with anchovies on a base of raw vegetables and salads and hard boiled eggs drizzled with olive oil and topped with onions and basil). Other favorites are ratatouille, sardines, anchovies either fried or cooked in carpione - in a marinade of garlic, wine vinegar and sage. On your gourmet tour to Liguria, your tour guide will introduce you to the following culinary specialties and recipes, and to the following wines and liqueurs:

Basil Pesto Sauce; a cold sauce of fresh basil, olive oil and pine nuts

Focaccia is a flat bread with salt and olive oil

Farinata, a thin pancake made of chick pea flour and baked in wood ovens around the region

Sciacchetra -(DOC) white

Pigato - (DOC) white

Vermentino - (DOC) white

Rossese di Dolceacqua - (DOC) red

Minestrone is made velvety through long slow cooking to develop its symphony of tastes and smells. Pot roasts are cooked lengthily and braised beef is known as stracotto 'overcooked'. The juices are rich and concentrated and are used as the base for the sauce with which ravioli and lasagne are flavored. If you wish a private Italy tour customised to include Friuli gourmet foods and wines, please enquire; at A La Carte Italy Tours we will be delighted to design a special itinerary for your privately guided tour.