Properties in Calabria - Italy's best kept secret

Eating Out In Calabria

The delicious regional cuisine is the cornerstone of Calabria cuisine and social life. Its cuisine is considered the best in the world, with Italian chefs well known around the globe for their exquisite dishes. Italians often eat out, and in this sunny climate prefer to dine alfresco.

Streets are rich with delicious aromas from the local restaurants. The ambience is sociable and informal, and the food universally fresh and enticing. The most typical dishes are pasta and pizza, prepared with the most genuine local ingredients, such as tomatoes and olive oil. Southern Italy has a strong regional culinary tradition, quintessentially Italian but with unique influences from its contact with Africa, Greece and Byzantium.

These varying influences create a wide variety of innovative dishes, some simple and wholesome, some spicy and exotic. Specialities include marinated and sun dried vegetables, swordfish, blue fin tuna and calamari, along with roasted meats and spicy sausages. These are combines with local delicacies, wine, strawberries, olives and aubergines, and everyone makes their own pasta fresh. Eating out is so universal, and the region so affordable, that food of the finest quality is everywhere, available in beautiful surroundings at prices that will surprise and delight everyone. It is still possible to have a full evening meal of several courses for less than eighteen euros.

Very little Calabrian wine ever leaves the region. The wine stock dates back to ancient Greek times and the varieties Gaglioppo and Greco still dominate.

The wineries are small and local. Described since ancient times as "purest nectar" the wines of Ciro are justly revered, the Rosso Riserva is of wide fame and the rare Greco di Blanco is one of Italy's finest sweet whites.