About Italian Cuisine:- Italian cuisine is extremely varied: the country of Italy was only unified in 1861, and its cuisines reflect the cultural variety of its regions and its diverse history (with culinary influences from Greek, Roman, Norman and Arab civilizations). Italian cuisine is regarded as a prime example of the Mediterranean diet, and is imitated all over the world.
To a certain extent there is really no such thing as Italian cuisine in the way that we understand national cuisines to be. Each area has its own proud specialties, primarily at Regional level, but also even at Provincial levelNorthern versus Southern Italian cookingAs a general rule, northern and southern Italian cuisines are differentiated primarily by the cooking fat and style of pasta commonly used. Northern Italian cuisine (other than on the coast) favors butter, cream, Mascarpone, Grana and Parmigiano cheeses, risotto and fresh egg pasta, while Southern Italian cuisine tends toward Mozzarella cheese (usually from buffalo), olive oil and dried pasta. Southern Italian cuisine also make greater use of the ubiquitous tomato, and it is often hard to credit that it has been around for a comparatively short period.