Italian food is well-known and appreciated worldwide but Italian cuisine is not just one. There are many regional differences and a wide variety of ingredients and recipes which characterize each of the 20 Italian regions. 
Liguria’s regional staple food is pasta with pesto. Pesto is a traditional basil, garlic and pine nut sauce and its name comes from the word ‘pestle,’ which was the tool traditionally used to crush the basil leaves in a mortar. Some Italian nonne (grandmothers) still make pesto the old fashioned way using the mortar and the pestle but an electric food mixer can also be used for the same purpose. Although pesto sauce is prepared worldwide using a wide variety of basil leaves, Ligurians believe the ‘real’ basil leaves are only grown in Pra’, a hilly neighborhood within Genoa’s city limits, which is known for its basil fields. Pesto is considered a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) product and it’s protected under the Slow Food Association, an organization which aims to preserve local organic products and culinary traditions worldwide.  Pesto is normally used on pasta, especially on gnocchi, spaghetti and trofie (a type of local fresh pasta made with egg and flour).



Another typical Ligurian dish is farinata. Farinata is a thin crispy layer prepared by mixing chickpea or wheat flour with olive oil. This mixture is then cooked in a giant round copper baking tray which is placed for a couple of minutes in a wood oven to achieve perfect crispiness. Farinata is so popular that people queue at the door of local shops to buy some to take home or get in line to get a table at a farinata tavern, which usually does not take reservations due to its homey and casual setting.



  We locals also love to eat on the go because we wish to enjoy the region’s mild climate and we often want to stroll while having a quick snack so we often grab some focaccia farcita (stuffed focaccia) and head to the seaside or to a park to enjoy this specialty.  Focaccia farcita is Ligurian flat bread with a wide variety of toppings and fillings: cheese, olives, tomatoes, rosemary, onions and even chocolate spread.  Some Ligurian bakeries open to the public very early in the morning, at dawn, and sell their warm freshly-baked focaccia to partygoers returning home from local dance clubs.


Liguria boasts an amazing coastline and the Ligurian Sea is a great place for fishing so it’s not surprising that fish and seafood are widely used in Ligurian cuisine especially anchovies, octopus and pignolini, small silver color fishes which live in the Mediterranean Sea.
Anchovies are usually stuffed with parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic and marjoram and then deep fried, octopus is boiled, chopped and used in salads and pignolini are often fried whole and sold by local fishermen directly on the beach.
Liguria has something to suit any taste and any stomach so…Buon Appetito! (Enjoy your meal!).