Philadelphia, PA - 5 Italian Foods You Must Try - Italy is a foodie’s paradise mainly because Italians like to use the freshest local products when preparing their dishes.
Traditional Italian food is known to most people worldwide but tasting it in Italy, where recipes have been handed down for generations, and the ingredients were probably picked yesterday, just a mile away, is a whole new experience! Apart from prepared dishes, be sure to try olive oil, wine, fresh mushrooms, Italian cheese, garlic, and Italian pesto.
Italian food you must try...
Pasta - Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, with the first reference dating to 1154 in Sicily. It is also commonly used to refer to the variety of pasta dishes.
Places to Try Homemade Pasta in Philly:
- Le Virtu - 1927 E. Passyunk Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19148
- Osteria - 640 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19130
Make sure you’re eating the pasta which has been freshly made on the premises and explores all the shapes and sizes of pasta as well as the traditional sauces – you’ll discover the many forms the humble pasta can take and the individual flavored sauces depending on what part of Italy you’re in.
Gelato - Gelato is the Italian word for "ice cream," derived from the Latin word. In English, this word commonly refers to varieties of ice cream made in a traditional Italian style.
Enjoy your gelato in a waffle cone or a tub. The gelato is delicious because of the high-quality ingredients used, and no calorie counting is taken into consideration when the gelato is created!
Places to Try Gelato in Philly:
- Capogiro Gelato Artisans - 119 S 13th St (at Sansom St), Philadelphia, PA
- Gran Caffe L'Aquila - 1716 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA
Pizza - A baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow breadlike crust covered with toppings such as seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, or sausage.
Places to Try Italian Pizza in Philly:
- Barbuzzo Mediterranean Kitchen & Bar - 110 S 13th St (at Sansom St.), Philadelphia, PA
- Pizza Brain - 2313 Frankford Ave (between York St & Dauphin St), Philadelphia, PA
You’ll discover that pizza comes in many forms and mainly in squares (pizza al taglio), but can be in triangles or circles! Try the Pizza Bianca; a white pizza made using thick, fluffy focaccia bread as the base. In Rome, you’ll find thin-crust pizza, and in Naples, there is a thick bread base. A pizza should bake good pizza in a wood oven, and it can be piled high with fresh vegetables, meat, and basically anything else.
Truffles - A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean Ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many genus Tuber species. Some of the truffle species are highly prized as food.
Places to Try Truffles in Philly:
- Rouge - 205 S 18th St (between Walnut and Locust), Philadelphia, PA (black mushroom truffle scramble & truffle fries)
- Tinto - 114 S 20th St, Philadelphia, PA (Truffled chestnut soup)
- Vetri - 1312 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA (Sweet Onion Crepe with White Truffle)
You can try the white truffles (the most precious) or black truffles and enjoy the delicacy in its country of origin – because of its price, truffles are often added in sparse quantities, and you can find them on the menus of only the finest restaurants.
Tripe - Tripe is a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals.
Places to Try Tripe in Philly:
- Amis Trattoria - 412 S 13th St (btwn Pine St & Lombard St), Philadelphia, PA
- Scannicchio's - 2500 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA
- Le Virtù - 1927 E Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA
Trippa, may sound like an unlikely candidate for this list, but for that reason, it is here; it is unusual to foreigners! The stomach lining of a cow’s first stomach is simmered and served in a tomato or meat sauce. You can also make it into a stew – tripe became a popular dish because it is cheap, but today it is a respected item in classy restaurants.
