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FOOD AND DRINK

EXPLAINED: How do you find good Italian food abroad?

It's a challenge all Italians outside of Italy will be familiar with, but there are restaurants out there known for cooking simple, traditional dishes using quality ingredients. Here's how to track them down.

Published: 16 May 2023 14:25 CEST
EXPLAINED: How do you find good Italian food abroad?
Tracking down a good Italian restaurant abroad is not always easy. Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash

Frustrated fans of good food living outside of Italy may have rejoiced at the recent news that the Italian agriculture minister (the ‘Minister for agriculture and food sovereignty’, to be exact) has proposed the creation of an official ranking system for Italian restaurants abroad.

The minister said he’d had enough of “chefs who can’t cook Italian” and of supposedly Italian restaurants which have “nothing to do with Italy” – a feeling many people can likely identify with after coming across one too many disappointing versions of their favourite Italian dish.

READ ALSO: How Italy’s government wants to rank Italian restaurants abroad

As any of the estimated five million Italian citizens living outside of the country would probably agree, sourcing quality raw ingredients with which to recreate nonna’s recipes, never mind finding acceptable restaurant versions of classic dishes, is generally a challenge.

And though big, cosmopolitan cities have no shortage of credible-sounding Italian restaurants, it can take a lot of effort (and expense) to find out which are the real deal.

Luckily for lovers of Italian food around the world, the ratings system proposed by the agriculture minister already exists. And there are a few other things you could try if you’re craving well-executed Italian classics, but can’t make it back to Italy just yet.

Here are a few suggestions that we hope will take you one step closer to the authentic cacio e pepe of your dreams:

ITA0039 100% Italian Taste Certification

This certification scheme seems to be exactly what the minister is looking for: created by Italy’s main agricultural association Coldiretti with the Asacert certification body and national food safety and education authorities, it aims to help consumers abroad identify and appreciate quality Italian ingredients.

It has so far been used mainly to certify that products sold abroad and labelled as Italian were in fact made in Italy – but has also now begun to certify international restaurants which use authentic ingredients and meet other quality standards. 

READ ALSO: Why do Italians get so angry if you mess with classic recipes?

The certificate has only been applied to a few dozen restaurants around the world so far, including pizzerias in Malta and France, a restaurant in Suzhou, China, and a small chain of restaurants in UK cities including London and Manchester. However the website states that it’s planning to add many more to the list – which you can see here.

A traditional Italian pizza.

A traditional Neapolitan pizza. Photo by Nik Owens on Unsplash

Restaurants have to apply for the certification themselves, which may be one barrier to more small businesses signing up – though the scheme’s creators say it’s a valuable marketing tool for Italian restaurants abroad who want to set themselves apart.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Chamber of Commerce has also reportedly been working on the creation of another, similar certification scheme jointly with the National Tourist Research Institute.

Gambero Rosso

Many visitors to Italy look to the Michelin guide for restaurant recommendations, but when searching for truly Italian restaurants abroad you may want to turn instead to the listings compiled by prominent Italian food and wine magazine Gambero Rosso.

Within Italy, the Gambero Rosso Top Italian Restaurants guide is considered a significant influence on the country’s culinary scene. The international version of the guide is similarly well-regarded, and highlights the work of some of the top-rated Italian chefs around the world at restaurants everywhere from Stockholm to Los Angeles.

As well as fine dining, the list features pizzerias, wine bars, bistros and other venues, many of which put a creative twist on traditional cuisine. You can search the guide by city in Italy and worldwide here.

Word of mouth

Perhaps one reason there aren’t more online resources signposting authentic Italian restaurants abroad is that Italians themselves simply don’t tend to rely on them.

As you might have discovered, in Italy the best (or only) way to get reliable information is usually to go somewhere and ask in person – attempts to phone or search online are often a path to frustraton, or just a waste of time. And as far as Italians are concerned, personal recommendations from family and friends are the only ones to be trusted.

READ ALSO: Four myths about ‘traditional’ Italian food you can stop believing

The same rule appears to apply abroad: Italians who move to other countries usually develop a network of close Italian contacts in their chosen city who they’ll ask for recommendations for just about everything.

So if you want to know where the good Italian food is in your area, the best way to find it might be to follow their lead and, well, ask an Italian.

It’s obviously much harder for non-Italians who don’t have the contacts, but if you have an Italian acquaintance, colleague, or coffee shop barista, it’s worth asking for some tips – you’ll probably find they’re more than happy to talk to you about Italian food.

Do you have any other tips for finding authentic Italian restaurants outside of Italy? Please share them with us in the comments below.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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