Best regional cuisine in Italy?

While I was chatting with Jacopo Sardi Giustiniani, owner of Bar Felice on the Upper East Side, we hit upon the topic of food in Italy.  It turns out that we agreed on the region that has the best food in all of Italy.  Foods of all kinds -- meat, seafood, vegetables, olive oils, etc. -- which are bursting with flavor and freshness. 

I won't divulge the identity of this region.  Not yet.  I'd like you to chime in with your bets first.  I'll even make it easier by narrowing Italy's 20 regions to 6:

a)    Tuscany

b)    Emilia-Romagna

c)    Sicily

d)    Campania

e)    Piemonte

f)    Puglia

Come on, folks, this is audience participation at its best.

  

Comments

[David McDuff]

Hmmm... The inclusion of seafood, vegetables and olive oil pretty much rules out Piemonte (as much as I love the food there). Emilia-Romagna is too obvious -- it gets most people's votes. Tuscany? Olive oil and meat, maybe. But the rest? No way. I'll have to go with Puglia.

BTW, wine is noticeably absent from your criteria.

[michele colline]

Sicilia...

[Stefano]

I would say Puglia only because the fattest Italian girl I ever knew was from Puglia. She appeared to be eating pretty well.

[Strappo]

They do tend to be fatter down south. Just like here.

[David J]

Although I've never set foot on la bota, I was impressed by artisanal products that found their way to Puerto Rico-- from la Puglia.
I've made friends with restaurateurs from Puglia, Calabria & now, Sardegna-- why is Campania getting overlooked? I imagine it should have a better balance of meats, & equally rich variety of fresh vegetables, even if Puglia's seafood & salume are second to none...OK, I give up!

[Benito]

The answer would vary somewhat on eating the food in Italy versus the execution of that culinary tradition in the US or elsewhere. And seasons matter: I thought the Ligurian coast in the winter was pretty bland and boring.

Pugliano? Apulian? is probably the most interesting and exciting for those with adventurous palates. For so long the American concept of Italian was a series of bastardized Sicilian and Neapolitan dishes. Then in the late 80s and 90s Tuscan became super trendy and the cool kids could brag about a love of Northern Italian food. (You've seen this happen in a similar fashion with the move from Chinese to Japanese to Thai/Vietnamese.)

Surprisingly, we've got a great restaurant here in Memphis run by a guy from Puglia, and the menu is full of his family recipes. My favorite is the grilled baby octopus and grapefruit: so simple, so refreshing, so delicious.

I can't imagine having this conversation over there. All the Italians I met defended their own region, then their city, then their mom's cooking as the best in the country. Somehow this thread needs more shouting and arm waving. :)

[Steve Ritchie]

I am partial to (B), but then again, I am a sucker for parmigiano-reggiano and parma ham... that being said, after a few dinners at i Trulli, I am finding that I really like (F) for its balance of savory and bitter... who would have thought that broccoli rabe would be so exciting?

[Sfuso]

What about Lazio? The grilled lamb and cacio e pepe? Stuffed and deep fried olives Gioa Mia in Rome! A caraffe of house juice! The grilled shrimp at Il Corsaro in Rome, sweet lord!

Off the list I'd say, forgive me Tuscany. Roast pork in Montalcino.
Pici and duck ragu in Montepulciano.
A steak and Fontodi in Panzano.
Gelato at the five corners in Castellina

[Strappo]

Well, Lazio aside (ack ack), you've all made good arguments for specific regions. I've posted a link to this one on Gambero Rosso's blog clearing house, so I hope we get a few natives to chime in.

I shall reveal all on Saturday. Or Sunday. Or whatevuh. I'll be busy.

[Strappo]

I want to add this comment from Benito, who had problems submitting it through the quirky Typepad:

When I spent some time in Italy back in 1996 with my then girlfriend,
Rome was the low point for everything. She had the flu, all the sites
were painfully crowded, and we were staying in a little hotel that was
actually the back bedroom of a family's apartment. (Nothing like
learning about Italian family life by standing in line for the
bathroom in the morning and watching dubbed Japanese cartoons with the
unemployed 30 year old son.)

The Lazio region disappointed on the food front as well--even the
accent bugged me somehow. I've heard that part of this is due to
deliberate mistreatment of tourists, but even studying recipes later
didn't really get me excited about the cuisine of the region.

I was actually angry enough to throw a 50 lira coin into the Trevi
fountain and wish that I not return to Rome anytime soon. And I still
haven't been back. Maybe I'm being unfair, but my experiences with
the food, language, people, and culture of every other part of Italy
has been so positive.

[M. Seaman]

You're all wrong. It's Friuli--see NYT columnist and Italian connosieur Fred Plotkin's book "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler: "the best undiscovered region of Italy," for many reasons, including cuisine (and wine, especially white).

[Jim Cramer]

Sens'altro Piemonte

[Hotel Sardinia]

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