When in Rome, do as Romans do…
There is such a wide range of choice in our Country that it is difficult to find a winner in the challenge among the regional cuisines. But the battle is challenging also if we talk about the easiest and traditional food: the sandwiches, a delicious street food and the king of the fast meals.
Thinking about sandwich as a sad meal in a motorway café is a terrible mistake. In fact Italy boasts, region after region, real specialities enclosed between two slices of bread (soft, crispy and black), lots of stuffing that as the tradition says are made of high quality products of the territories to reflect the typical cuisine and the local products.
From north to south: all the sandwiches to taste in Italy
Trentino Alto Adige
Three ingredients are sufficient to create the flag sandwich of this region: bread, cold cut and cheese… but not by chance! The bread can be the Pusterer Breatl, typical rye bread coming from Val Pusteria, savoury, soft and crispy crust or the Schuttelbrot, thin and crispy bread typical of the Val d’Isarco that sometimes is seasoned with fennel seeds. The cold cut is the best Speck Alto Adige IGP and Malga cheese or the fantastic Dobbiaco.
Veneto
In Veneto, the sandwich par excellence and the typical snack of the people from Treviso is bread with Porchetta. The bread is the soft milk bread or the Rosetta with a crispy crust filled with slices of pork Porchetta, cut with the knife, seasoned with salt and spices. Unavoidable is a glass of red wine!
Friuli Venezia Giulia
You can get wrong in Friuli: simple white bread with raw ham of San Daniele DOP or, for the real experts try the bread with the raw ham of Sauris. Obviously paired with the typical pickled.
Lombardy
Here the bread is the typical Mantovanina or Ciabatta, stuffed with a creamy layer of Gorgonzola DOP or the exceptional Taleggio DOP together with a couple of slices of Bresaola IGP of Valtellina.
Liguria
Here the typical focaccia replace the bread but the concept is the same: a unique and delicious comfort food! The must is Focaccia di Recco with IGP Cheese; a thin and soft focaccia stuffed with creamy and savoury cheese; a drizzle of oil in the surface and the break is ready!
Emilia Romagna
If you like the crispy bread choose the Coppia Ferrarese, and if you prefer the soft part of the loaf choose the typical “pane con il bollo”, which name derives from a round of dough that is added in the middle as a stamp. On the stuffing there is no doubt: Mortadella di bologna IGP and for the veggie people squacquerone and arugula.
Toscana
The entire city is full of kiosks that propose two specialities par excellence: bread and “lampredotto” or the typical filled “schiacciata”. The former is a real pleasure for who loves strong tastes: the traditional rosetta stuffed with boiled lampredotto, smashed with with the knife and seasoned with green sauce (garlic, oil, parsley and salt). You shouldn’t miss the typical “schiacciata”: bread without salt with a soft heart, light and rich with a crispy crust. It is traditionally stuffed with what you like most… but we advise it with the typical finocchiona!
Lazio
Here the typical stuffing for a sandwich is the Roman porchetta or “lardo di colonnata”! The loaf is the soft “cirola romana”, the typical Pane Casereccio di Genzano IGP cut in slices or the Roman “ciabatta”. The stuffing won’t leave you disappointed: besides Porchetta and Salami, Roman Pecorino or trippa and boiled meat with roman chicory.
Abruzzo
Here the bread is homemade, prepared with durum wheat flour, cut in thick slices and stuffed with Ventricina cut in pieces. Ventricina is a pork cold cut with fat added in rough pieces, spices and chilli pepper. The result is a dry and tasty cold cut.
Puglia
The typical sandwich in Puglia is: Altamura DOP bread with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella fiordilatte and basil. For the greediest there is the Puccia, a small loaf stuffed with the ingredients that you like most. If you travel around Puglia you will see diverse “puccerie” with counters full of fresh and genuine ingredients to stuff your puccia.
Calabria
In Calabria the must is crispy bread with Buffalo mozzarella and hot chilli schiacciata or n’duja, delicious also with Caciocavallo Silano DOP.
Sicilia
If you are visiting Palermo, a food truck on the road is a compulsory stopover and the typical sandwich here is pani câ meusa, sandwich with spleen. Soft stuffed bread with boiled spleen, smashed and seasoned.
All these sandwiches are delicious… which one do you prefer?
